Not for Sale: A Box of Naturalization Index Cards - H-O

You never know what you may find in an old county filing cabinet.

A lot of documents pass through the Commissioners’ office daily, but these old and yellowed naturalization index cards quickly caught my eye. It turns out that this box was found a few weeks ago in a filing cabinet headed to a county surplus sale. Fortunately, someone from our Building and Grounds department inspected the cabinet and found the records before it was sold.

These little cards contain information filed by Washington County residents who were seeking American citizenship during the early half of the 1900s. These records were filed by people whose last names started with the letters H-0 and each card provides a brief glimpse into their lives on the day they were granted citizenship: name, address, age, and date. The index cards were part of an old filing system that helped office workers locate an immigrant’s oath of allegiance and paperwork. We aren’t sure where the cards are for the beginning and the end of the alphabet.

Documents like this are proof that everyone leaves behind a paper trail and it’s up to us, the caretakers of these documents, to preserve it.

As I thumbed through the cards, I was surprised to find two that contained information on my aunts: Victoria Maggi of Denbo, who was naturalized on June 24, 1940, and Melvian Lilian Maggi of Canonsburg, who became a citizen on June 9, 1947. Both ladies were war brides who married into my family.

It appears that if someone changed their name during the naturalization process, this information was included on the back of the card. For example, Carolina Jutca of Meadowlands was 62 years old when she became a citizen. On the back of the card, it states that “Name change by Decree of Court from Carolina Dzatcak to Carolina Jutca as part of the Naturalization of December 17, 1945.”

The records have since been turned over to the Prothonotary’s office and promptly sent off to be scanned. At this point it’s not certain how or when they will be made available for public research.

My office is currently compiling a list of county records available for genealogical and historical research. Once this list is complete, I will post it on this blog so that it may serve as a research guide for anyone interested in the history of Washington County and the paper trail of its residents.

Larry Maggi

maggil@co.washington.pa.us

Cleaning Up Washington County is a Dirty Job

Fern Sibert of Washington testified that it’s a dirty job trying to keep Washington County Clean and Tidy.

And It’s hard to focus on accolades and proclamations when you have six garbage bags full of dirty bottle caps in your garage that need to be cleaned.

Fern, the founder of Clean and Tidy our County, a non-profit whose mission is to clean up trash along the streets and roads in our county, was honored by proclamation at Thursday’s Board of Commissioners’ meeting. She was commended for organizing highway clean-up days and for spearheading a recycling campaign that resulted in the collection of 22,000 pounds of bottle caps. These caps were used to make 106 benches, a half dozen picnic tables, some birdbaths, landscaping timbers, and flowerpots which were sold at a discount to local residents and businesses. She pointed out that that she doesn’t accept government funding, allowing her to have more control over her project, which has included six trips to a recycling facility in Evansville, Indiana.

She pointed out that one of her goals is to make Washington County tidy when folks from around the world descend on Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft next year. This, she told the Commissioners, will make people want to visit Washington County, bring in more revenue, and give the board more money to spend on county projects.

While addressing the board, Fern commended the Clean and Tidy volunteers, along with the county and city elected officials who showed up to help with the volunteer appreciation banquet she hosted last month.

“We did have an outstanding number one dish washer… and we have evidence,” Fern said, as she held up a photo of me washing dishes in the kitchen of the Holy Trinity Church in Washington. She presented me with two copies – one for me and one for my wife Mary Jeanne to remind her that I know how to wash dishes.  

Washing dishes at the Clean and Tidy Our County Volunteer Appreciation Banquet
 at the Holy Trinity Church in Washington on February 1, 2025.

Although Fern graciously accepted the proclamation, she was more concerned with getting back to the work of recruiting and organizing volunteers. She told me about her efforts as we sat in the back of the meeting room on a bench she donated to the county.  

She explained that unfortunately the bottle cap project is on hold, because she needs volunteers to help clean the caps which must be free of food, dirt, and paper before they are transported to the recycling plant. It’s a hard job and not one for the faint of heart.

It’s been a long road for Fern who started picking up trash over 12 years ago when her children were traveling back to Pennsylvania for Easter.

“I was embarrassed because the Jefferson and Jessop exit ramps were disgusting,” she said. “So, I asked my friends to help me clean them up. We picked up 30 bags of trash on each ramp that day.”

Since then, she and her ever-growing posse of volunteers have been picking up trash on the Interstate 70 and 79 corridors of Washington County. Their efforts have been made possible by several corporate sponsors that have helped with both the trash-collecting and the bottle cap projects. And while raising money isn’t her goal, she did find a total of $400 on the side of the road in 2022, and about $86 last year. The money was used to buy supplies.

Fern is looking for volunteers to join her from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. April 5, April 12, May 3 and May 17 for highway cleanup sessions. Volunteers gather at 7:30 a.m. at either the Beau Street Park and Ride or the Jessop Park and Ride on Interstate 70. Details and signup information can always be found by clicking on the Clean & Tidy our County Facebook Page. 

With Fern Sibert on a bench she donated to Washington County.

Dedicated bottle-cap volunteers.

Keeping our roadways Clean and Tidy!


Larry Maggi
maggil@co.washington.pa.us

Ukrainian Delegation Learns about Local Government and Services

A small Ukrainian delegation visited Washington County this week to learn about local government and to express their gratefulness to our country.

As a Washington County Commissioner, I was honored to meet with the six women and their interpreter at the Bradford House Meeting Room in downtown Washington on Tuesday. Their weeklong visit was funded by the Rotary Club of Washington, the Washington County Bar Association, and the Congressional Office for International Leadership’s Open World Exchange Program. The women, who work in governmental and nonprofit roles in Ukraine, were eager to learn about ways to improve their own war-torn communities when they return home.

My presentation focused on Washington County’s role in providing human services, overseeing the jail, the courts, and the parks. I pointed out that most of the services that greatly impact our residents are provided by boroughs, townships and cities. It’s this level of government that maintains local roads and provides police protection. The ladies were quite interested when I explained that there are a few paid fire departments in our county, but most of the 67 municipalities have volunteer fire departments. I explained that fire protection is provided by men and women who hold other jobs and volunteer their time to provide emergency services.

“Why do volunteers do it, why doesn’t the government do it?” one of the ladies asked.

I explained that our government operates at a very grass roots level and that Americans are free to make decisions, whether good or bad, locally. That volunteer firefighting is often a passionate, family tradition and a way of giving back to the community.

After my presentation, some of the women detailed how every family in Ukraine has been affected by the war: villages and families have been destroyed and how thousands of children are missing. One lady showed me a navigation app on her phone that provides the level of danger, from drones and missiles, in any given area at any given time. All were thankful for the assistance the United States has provided to their country.

I would like to thank the local organizations for arranging this visit and for inviting me to participate in this program. Opportunities like this that made me proud to be a Washington County Commissioner.

Larry Maggi

maggil@co.washington.pa.us