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My Spanish great uncle was born Salvador Mouris Campos and naturalized as Compos. He was born July 1, 1886 and traveled from Havana to New York in 1917. Was subsequently drafted for WW1 that year. In WW2 at the age of 56 in 1942 I have a record that he was also drafted and in 1951 he was naturalized at the age of 65. All the addresses I have are for him living in NY.

I have 2 questions:

  1. Was it normal to live in the US for so long before becoming naturalised?

  2. I would like to find when he died and where he was buried?

Many Thanks

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  • Hi, Joe -- I saw your newer question. Welcome back to G&FH.SE! In this older question you asked two unrelated questions, and in the comments to one of the answers, you asked another one (about finding a pension). Going forward, could you ask separate questions about each of these record groups, so that we can have one set of answers focused on the naturalization questions, and one on the death record? Thanks!
    – Jan Murphy ♦
    Sep 2, 2015 at 15:12
  • Is this the record you saw? WW2 Draft Reg Card at FamilySearch: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTMG-VNY.
    – Jan Murphy ♦
    Sep 2, 2015 at 15:24

2 Answers 2

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One reason he may have waited is if there was a language barrier - " Applicants age 55 or older when they filed for naturalization and have lived as a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) in the United States for 15 years are exempt from the English language requirement. While they may be exempt from the English language requirement, all senior applicants are required to take the civics test, but may be allowed to take it in their native language." About the test for US Citizenship

As far as when and where is was buried, there are some ideas listed in "Related" found to the right side of this page. Others have asked questions related to finding information about a person's death. Be sure you have examined his naturalization papers as they often include helpful facts. You may also want to edit your question and post more information, including his name.

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  • While your suggestions about the language test are true, I doubt that they are relevant in this case. It would be difficult to serve two stints in the armed forces without acquiring a basic proficiency in English. Might eligibility for a military pension be a factor?
    – Fortiter
    Apr 27, 2013 at 2:21
  • That's a good thought about serving in armed forces and not leaning English, but this seems to contradict eligibility for a military pension - "United States citizenship is not a prerequisite to receipt of retired pay' Decision: 44 Comp Gen 51
    – Jeni
    Apr 27, 2013 at 12:41
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    It's possible that the original poster has confused the WWI & WWII Draft Registrations with actual military service - @Joe Jarrett should clarify.
    – bgwiehle
    Apr 27, 2013 at 17:45
  • Hi, thanks for your messages. This is the info we have to date. Born July 1 1886 Spain, 1917 01 29 Arrives from Cuba at New York, 1917 06 Drafted WW1 (age 31), 1942 Drafted WW2 (age 56), 1951 Naturalized (aged 65). In 1917 he arrived in NY and all other addresses are in Manhatten. He naturalized as COMPOS, Salvador Mouris although his actual name was CAMPOS, Salvador Mouris. Because Im assuming he lived all this time in NY I would guess that he would have spoken English by the time he nat. Thanks Jeni for link but I had no luck. Is there perhaps a pension I could locate?
    – Joe Jarrett
    Jun 9, 2013 at 21:20
  • I agree with the comment made by bgwiehle. The WWI and WWII draft registration cards are not in themselves evidence that the person registered was actually drafted and called on to serve.
    – Jan Murphy ♦
    Nov 27, 2013 at 18:05
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New York State has recently released its death records for 1957-1962 as public data on their Socrata open data portal. It's only a small (but welcome) window of data, but given that he was 65 years old in 1951, maybe you'll get lucky with the timeframe.

Here's the link: https://health.data.ny.gov/Health/Genealogical-Research-Death-Index/vafa-pf2s

(I'm currently working on a side project to make that data more easily searchable, for free. :-) )

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