Mercedes McIntyre Artiga and Ricardo Ayala Artiga Naturalization Papers

Mercedes McIntyre Artiga (1896-1978) although born in San Salvador, was an American citizen due to her father, Bartholomew McIntyre (1854-1924) becoming an American citizen when his father, Patrick (c1831-1901) was naturalized in 1869 in San Francisco, California. Although we have Patrick's naturalization date on several documents, due to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, it is believed the actual naturalization records have been lost.

Despite Mercedes being an American citizen, the rules at the time of her marriage in 1921 to Ricardo Ayala Artiga (1894-1987) stated that if an American marries an alien, they lose their American citizenship.

So, it became necessary for Mercedes to "apply" to be naturalized since she had "lost" her US citizenship at the time of her marriage. To enlarge the images below, click once on it.

From the document above you can see Mercedes took the oath of allegiance and was sworn in as an American citizen on November 10, 1941.

Her husband, Ricardo (Richard) Ayala Artiga, also petitioned for naturalization in or around 1939. He also was granted American citizenship on June 29, 1942.

Thank you Joanie Zandona for providing these documents.