How to Find Someone after Arrival USA 1903

An email from a Norwegian researcher arrived today in Olive Tree Genealogy's mailbox

My name is Silje . I need some help to find the family of my husbands great great grandfather. He left Norway in 1903 true Liverpool UK and came to port of New York, USA 10 of september 1903 with a ship called Aurenia. His name at the records I found at Ellis Island was Theodor Olson he is born in 1870 in Norway. The ships manifest says that he was going to St Paul but I dont know. The family never heard from him. He left a wife and 3 children in Norway. Hope to find some relatives who migth have some info about him.

 Silje - since Theodor arrived in America in 1903 you should look for him in the 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940 census records. These are all freely available at FamilySearch

 The ships manifest shows that he is heading to his brother-in-law so I would also look for him in the census records. As a side note it appears the ship name is Aurania in case you are referring to it in future.

Finding Answers in Naturalization Records

Olav asked

Still currently researching my grand uncle, Berger Andrew Martinsen (Social Security No. 451-22-6033), Searching for information regarding a wife or possible descendants of Berger Andrew Martinsen. He was borned in Norway October 29, 1893, was a seaman all his life. He became an US citizent aprox 1942, and he lived on Fulton st,Brooklym and leter on Church Street, Massapequa, Nassau County, New York and died 0ctober 1. 1979. He was the son of Harald and Petra Martinussen of Bergen, Norway. Searching for ANY information regarding his grave and maybe who was mentioned around his funeral We have been looking for descendents and /or caretakers for a long time.

Olive Tree Answer: Hi Olav, I know how frustrating it can be to hunt for an ancestor or a relative without much luck. So I'm pleased to tell you there is good news! Both Ancestry.com and
Footnote.com have Berger's Naturalization Petition online. These are the full petition so you will find information on his family - wife and children, when he sailed to USA, what ship he was on, where he sailed from and so on. He petitioned for Naturalization in 1928.

Ancestry has him indexed as Martinson and the image is in their World Archives Project. Footnote has him indexed as Martinsen so be aware of the differences if you use one of their links. You can also check microfilm (details are below) if you prefer.

Name: Berger Andreas Martinson
Age: 34
Naturalization Date: 9 Aug 1928
Former Nationality: Norway
Record Type: Petition for Naturalization
Court Type: District Court
Court: (Rolls 0579-0612) Petition No. 134215 - Petition No. 142460
Court Location: Southern District, New York
Naturalization Record Number: 139457
Roll Description: (Roll 0274) Petition No. 54368 - Petition No. 54646
Archive Series: M1972
State: New York

You will also find Berger in the U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards for 1942 and sailing as a crew member on many ships lists on Ancestry.com

You may want to check newspapers for an obituary for Berger, as it may give the location of his burial site. You can search Obituaries on GenealogyBank.com or use NewspaperARCHIVE.com to hunt for an obituary.