Who was the first person born a citizen of the United States, and when did he or she die?

lanfranco

I would love to be able to answer this, Arpeggionist, but can anyone really know the identity of the very first child born in the Colonies after the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 (or after July 4, 1776, if that's what you prefer, or after ratification of the Paris Treaty in 1784)? I doubt that the parents themselves, whoever they were, were aware that their child was the first person born as a citizen of the newly-sovereign United States. But it would be interesting to know. Does anyone have any ideas? Oct 01 05, 4:58 PM

Arpeggionist

One would think that the first natural born citizen of any country is a curiosity. Here in Israel our first natural born citizen is still very much active in B'er Sheva - she's a doctor, to be accurate. Oct 01 05, 5:11 PM

JoshCaleb12

Well, modern-day Israel was founded only about 50 years ago... when record keeping was prevelant. I seriously doubt that the type of record keeping necessary to determine who the first person born a citizen of the USA was available some 230 years ago! Oct 01 05, 11:25 PM

Arpeggionist

There are no baptismal records from the various colonies? That would be a good way to determine dates of birth. Oct 02 05, 1:21 AM

McGruff

Even if you were to find the first child born to colonists, one might argue the citizenship of Native Americans. Then there's the question of whether or not slaves would be considered citizens or property, and do such records even exist? Very often the only record of births at this time was an entry in the family Bible. News didn't travel very fast, and I sort of doubt that upon hearing they were now United States citizens, a recent mother and father would rush to the nearest seat of government claiming their child was the first US citizen. Oct 02 05, 5:46 AM

Arpeggionist

Okay. There would still, I'm sure, somewhere in someone's family bible, be a record of a child born on July 4th or 5th, 1776. Town halls or churches across the colonies would have records of the dates on which children were baptized, so any of those baptized after the 10th of July that year would have been a likely candidate. The Native Americans were not granted citizenship at all during the Union's early history. But it is possible that a slave owner did make some note of his maid giving birth or someone in his home. While there may not be a name for the very first child born on American soil, there is an earliest record of birth. That's what I'm looking for. Oct 02 05, 7:01 AM

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