Marie (Petersen) Christensen – United States Citizen or Not?

 

Marie (Petersen) and Christian A (C.A.) Christensen about the time of their marriage in 1904.

The United States is a "Nation of Immigrants," in a phrase popularized by a 1958 book written by then-Senator John F. Kennedy. From colonial times until now, waves of people have come to this land seeking to make a better life for themselves and their families. It must be acknowledged that these waves dispossessed the Native peoples who had lived in North America for thousands of years, and that hundreds of thousands of others were brought here against their wills to be enslaved.

Many Americans celebrate their immigrant ancestries and honor the contributions their forebears have made to building the country in which we live. The ugly side of the story is that each wave of immigrants were met with prejudice, stereotypes, and discriminatory laws and social treatment.

According to the editors of History.com

"Between 1880 and 1920, a time of rapid industrialization and urbanization, America received more than 20 million immigrants....The peak year for admission of new immigrants was 1907, when approximately 1.3 million people entered the country legally."

My great-grandparents, Marie (Petersen) Christensen, and her husband, Christian Andrew (C.A.) Christensen were part of this wave and found themselves caught up in the backlash.

Marie was born in Racine, Wisconsin, on 27 February 1883, to Danish immigrants Robert and Karen Petersen. Marie was granted citizenship by birthright, a privilege extended by the 14^th Amendment to all people born in the United States or its territories. C.A. Christensen was born in Denmark in 1881 and came as a child in 1888 to Wisconsin with his parents, Jens and Caroline. He would remain a Danish citizen until such time as he would complete the Naturalization process.

It is unlikely that Marie and C.A. gave much thought to the citizenship implications of their marriage in January 1904. I believe they were more focused on where they would live and how they would support the family they hoped to build together.

Although it may seem surprising today, there was a time in the United States when the citizenship of a married woman was tied to the citizenship of her husband. This principle was embodied in federal law when the U.S. Congress passed the Expatriation Act of 1907, which stated that "any American woman who marries a foreigner shall take the nationality of her husband."

According to Meg Hacker, of the U.S. National Archives:

If an American woman married a foreigner before 1907 and the married couple continued to reside in the United States, she did not, because of her marriage, cease to be an American citizen. The American woman remained a U.S. citizen even after her marriage to a non-U.S. citizen.

Even though Marie and C.A. were married in 1904, they apparently believed that she had lost her citizenship by marrying a Danish citizen. They must have been relieved when Congress passed the Cable Act of 1922 (approved 22 September 1922, it was also known as the Married Women's Citizenship Act or the Women's Citizenship Act). Both Marie and C.A. petitioned to become naturalized American citizens – in Marie's case, she petitioned to have her birthright citizenship restored – in August 1924.

The section of Marie's petition form where she was to declare her intention to become a citizen of the United States was crossed out...

and covered by the following typescript statement:

Marie's United States Citizenship was restored on 27 February 1925. Here is her Certificate of Naturalization:

C.A. was granted citizenship in February 1925 at the same time as Marie, but that's another story...

 Sources:

"Cable Act of 1922", Immigration History, a project of the Immigration and Ethnic History Society (2019); web page (https://immigrationhistory.org/item/cable-act/ : Accessed 30 May 2022).

Hacker, Meg, "When Saying "I Do" Meant Giving Up Your U.S. Citizenship", Prologue (Spring 2014), U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland; digital article (https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/prologue/2014/spring/citizenship.pdf : Accessed 29 May 2022).

History.com editors, "U.S. Immigration Before 1965", History, A&E Television Networks (10 September 2021);digital article (https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/u-s-immigration-before-1965 : Accessed 29 May 2022).

"Expatriation Act of 1907", Immigration History, a project of the Immigration and Ethnic History Society (2019); web page (https://immigrationhistory.org/item/an-act-in-reference-to-the-expatriation-of-citizens-and-their-protection-abroad/ : Accessed 30 May 2022).

“Naturalization Records, 1853-1943”, Waupaca County, Wisconsin, Clerk of Courts. Petitions, 1921-1925, Waupaca Series 16, Volume 9, Petition No. 879, Filed 2 August 1924, Marie Petersen Christensen; digital images, FamilySearch.org, “Wisconsin County Naturalization Records, 1807-1992”, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZXSV-NXN2 : 30 May 2022) image nos. 246-250. (Viewing the image of Marie's petition requires a free-of-charge FamilySearch.org account)

“Naturalization Records, 1853-1943”, Waupaca County, Wisconsin, Clerk of Courts. Petitions, 1921-1925, Waupaca Series 16, Volume 9, Petition No. 866, Filed 1 March 1924, Christian Andrew Christensen; digital images, FamilySearch.org, “Wisconsin County Naturalization Records, 1807-1992”, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ZZMK-5Q2M : accessed 30 May 2022), image nos. 206-209. (Viewing the image of C.A.'s petition requires a free-of-charge FamilySearch.org account)

Wikipedia contributors, "Cable Act," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cable_Act&oldid=1084647817 (Accessed May 30, 2022).

Remembering William Duwe, 1884-1918

With Memorial Day 2022 coming soon, I wish to share the story of William Duwe, a great-great uncle who died fighting in the First World War. My thanks go out to cousin Robert Knuth, who prompted my research on William, the "Black Lions" of the 28th Infantry Regiment, and the battles of Cantigny and Soissons.

William Duwe was born 10 May 1884, in Forestville, Door County, Wisconsin to parents William and Catherine (Tagge) Duwe. William's parents came to Door County from the Schleswig-Holstein region of Germany. The senior William Duwe served in the American Civil War (32^nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment), was postmaster of Forestville, a farmer and saloon-keeper. Both of William's parents died before he reached his eighth birthday. As a young man, William worked winters as a lumberjack in the forests of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and as a farm laborer in Forestville during the growing season.

In the patriotic fervor following United States entry into the First World War (6 April 1917), the all-volunteer Company F, 5^th Regiment of the Wisconsin National Guard was formed in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. One reason the company was formed was so that young men from the area could "stick together" and represent Door County as a unit. Company F left Sturgeon Bay on 17 August 1917 for National Guard training at Camp Douglas, Juneau County, Wisconsin. William Duwe volunteered for Company F despite being two years older than the maximum draft age of 31.

The Wisconsin and Michigan National Guards were federalized by the War Department, ordered to Camp MacArthur near Waco, Texas, and combined to form the 32^nd ("Red Arrow") Division of the U.S. Army. In Texas, William and other men from Door County were assigned to the 128^th Infantry Regiment, 32^nd Infantry Division, and on 18 February 1918, they embarked at Hoboken, New Jersey, bound for Brest, France, disembarking there 6-7 March 1918.

Before the 32^nd Infantry Division had arrived in France, General Headquarters decided it would supply replacement troops to depleted units. When this order was carried out, the 128^th Infantry Regiment saw all of its privates, privates first class, and captains reassigned to the 1^st Infantry Division (The "Big Red One"). William Duwe was assigned to Company L, 3^rd Battalion, 28^th Infantry Regiment, 2^nd Infantry Brigade, 1^st Infantry Division. 7,000 of the 32^nd Infantry Division's 27,000 men were reassigned.

Transfer to the 1^st Division, 28^th Infantry Regiment was a fateful development for William Duwe, since it placed him in two actions that would prove to be milestones for the United States Army: the battles of Cantigny (28-30 May 1918) and of Soissons (18-22 July 1918).

Cantigny was the first offensive of the war commanded and executed by the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). The 28^th Infantry led the attack on German-held Cantigny, beginning at 5:45 AM, 28 May 1918. It attacked across no-man's land with three battalions abreast after a punishing early-morning artillery barrage of the German positions. The artillery shelling pummeled the village of Cantigny and the trenches immediately to its west, but left troops in trenches to the north relatively untouched. 

William's Company L, at the far left of the line of attack, suffered massive casualties when it advanced against these entrenched German troops, whose positions were masked by dust, smoke, and debris. 

Source: Davenport, Matthew J. First over there: the attack on Cantigny, America's first battle of World War I. New York : Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, 2015, p. 108.

Although German counter-attacks continued through the 29^th, the Americans consolidated their hold by 30 May 1918. For its courageous action leading the attack in this battle, the 28^th Infantry Regiment earned the nickname "The Black Lions of Cantigny."

The Battle of Soissons was part of a much larger Allied offensive intended to interrupt German railroad supply and communication lines. Allied success in this objective is viewed as a key turning point in the war, because German forces went on the defensive afterward and never regained the offensive during the remainder of the war.

 

Source: Coffman, Edward M. The war to end all wars: the American military experience in World War I. New York : Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 419.

The Soissons offensive, which began on the morning of 18 July 1918, was intended to surprise German forces. All communications were to be ultra-secret and troop movements took place under cover and at night. On the night of 17 July 1918, the men of the 1^st Division slogged through mud in a dark forest during a thunderstorm, each one holding onto the pack of the man ahead of him in order to maintain the line. Word of the impending attack was apparently leaked by captured or deserting members of the French 153^rd. Division. This led to German shelling of the 28^th Infantry's position (at a crossroads near Cutry) just before the scheduled time of the attack, which caused 25% casualties to William Duwe's unit.

The preemptive German artillery fire wounded or killed several Company L men from Door County., According to Frank Parkman of Sturgeon Bay, who was interviewed for an article in the Door County Advocate, the same high explosive shell that wounded him wounded Ed Severson of Ellison Bay and George Culligan of Algoma, and also killed Harry Erickson of Sister Bay. Parkman said that William Duwe was hit in the small of the back with shrapnel and was weakened by a three mile walk in search of a medical aid station.

William died of his wounds, probably at Base Hospital 7, near Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France, on 23 July 1918. He was first buried in the American section of St Symphorien Cemetery in Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France. In 1920, William's remains were brought back to the United States and reinterred in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. William's grave is number 618, located in Section 18 of the cemetery. Information about William's grave site, including images of his headstone are viewable at the Arlington National Cemetery web site.

Sources:

Many sources were consulted to research the journeys taken by the men of Door County's volunteer "Company F" to the battlefields of France and Belgium. The Door County Library Newspaper Archive was especially valuable in documenting William's story. 

Specific articles that mentioned William Duwe's service, wounding, and death included:

• "William Duwe Dead," Door County Advocate, 27 September 1918, p. 1, col. 3

• "Dies of His Wounds : William Duwe Succumbs to Wounds Received in Battle July 23^rd : Was Member of Vol. Co. F," Door County News, 26 September 1918, p. 1, col. 1

• "Back from France: Frank Parkman, Company F Volunteer Returns Home Honorably Discharged," Door County Advocate, 17 January 1919, p. 1, col. 3

A good article on the history of Door County's volunteer Company F is:

• Jim Lundstrom, "War Comes to Door County: Remembering Hyper-patriotism and Anti-German Sentiments on 100th Anniversary of WWI," 14 November 2017, Door County Living, vol. 15(4), Winter 2017

A first-person account of Soissons was written as a student paper at the U.S. Army Infantry School by then-Captain, and later Commanding General of the 1st Infantry Division in the Second World War, Clarence Huebner:

• Huebner, Clarence. The Operations of the 28^th Infantry in the Aisne-Marne Offensive, July 17-23, 1918.

Books consulted included:

• Coffman, Edward M. The war to end all wars: the American military experience in World War I. New York : Oxford University Press, 1998.

• Davenport, Matthew J. First over there: the attack on Cantigny, America's first battle of World War I. New York : Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Press, 2015.

• Johnson, Douglas V. and Rolfe L. Hillman, Rolfe L. Soissons: 1918. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1999.