On September 11, Lynn Bain commented on the "naturalization" of
Joshua Cantrell in the paragraph...
"Pittsylvania County. I do hereby certify that Joshua Cantril, oath
taken
and subscribed the oath or affirmation of allegiance and fidelity, as
directed by an act of General Assembly, entitled, An Act to oblige the
free
male inhabitants of this state above a certain age to give assurance of
allegiance to the same, and for other purposes. Witness my hand and
seal
this 6th day of September, 1777."
I have a family copy of the same information. However, I am not certain
what this oath actually means. SInce before 1776 and even until the end
of the Revolutionary War, all citizens of the colonies were British.
Why would any of the Cantrell's/Cantrill's have to be naturalized? I
understand that most colonies at that time acted more like independent
colonies than the way the states interact under our Federal Government,
but I am not certain that this oath is for naturilization or just an
oath of allegiance to a colony.
I have other family references where my British ancestors "took
the oath" of a particular colony, such as when they moved from
Massachusetts to Connecticut, but they were not recent immigrants. I
think this oath may be for either "naturalization" of an immigrant from
another country, i.e., France, or simply stating you are now a citizen
of that colony. This may be the type of oath that was required before
joining the army during the Revolutionary War, since this person would
be pledging to the Pennsylvania colony and against Great Britain.
Does anybody have any thoughts? Should we check with the State of
Pennsylvania, Historical Library, etc., to determine what this oath
really means?
Sincerely,
Don Schmidt
grandson of Margie May Cantrall
g-g-g-g-g-g grandson of Zebulon Cantrell