How could you let those criminals into our country? It is terrible when aliens from other countries sneak into the United States and lie about their immigration status. We must keep illegals out of our country.
Have you heard these statements? Donald Trump demonized immigration from the moment he descended his escalator and announced his candidacy for president. Throughout his tenure in office, he called immigrants illegals, decried the caravans he claimed were moving to the border, tried to construct a wall on the country’s southern border, separated families and put children in cages. I could go on and on. But if you lived through the Trump years, you are fully aware of his efforts to garner support by making immigrants the enemy.
I know of one immigrant to the United States who was a criminal. He came to the country without documentation and then lied on his naturalization papers. No one detected his perjury and he became a citizen. And like so many others, he took a job doing what many Americans did not want to do. His family came to the new country, too, and they also became productive citizens. Fortunately, those were the days before family separation.
Who was this man?
He was my third great grandfather.
In those early days Thomas and other family members worked as miners in the Ely Copper Mine that is now a U.S. EPA Superfund site due to the hazardous mining practices which took place when my 3x great grandfather worked in this area.
First, let’s go back to his “criminal” record. In 1848, Thomas Symons (spelling at the time) was arrested as a 9 year-old boy who was working at that tender age as a miner. He was thrown into Bodmin Gaol as he and his brothers, Charles and Stephen, stole “bread, cake, beef, etc.” Records show the boys’ father had recently died and we can surmise they were struggling to survive. Because of their larceny, the trio were whipped and released. But the criminal records of these youngsters remains as can be seen by the photos below.
After marrying a widow, Mary Ann Hill Davey (my third great grandmother) in November 1858, and becoming a step-father to her daughter, Mary Jane, Thomas and family took up residence in the St. Ive area of Cornwall. Almost a year after the wedding, my second great grandmother, Harriet Simons, was born to 20 year-old Thomas. Her birth was followed by Mary Ann in 1861, Thomas in 1863, and Charles in 1868. All records show Cornwall as the place of birth. Between the years, 1863 and 1868, disease swept through the area. Daughters Mary Jane and Mary Ann died. Their death certificates indicate they died on Higher Luxe Street in Liskeard. These stories are detailed elsewhere in this blog. But the dates are provided here for context. Thomas Symons lived in Cornwall in the 1860s, with the family’s residence listed as St. Ive in the 1861 census.
And herein is the big lie. In his naturalization application of 1879, completed in what we know was the family’s home in Vershire (Ely) Vermont, Thomas attests he came to the United States as a minor under the age of 21. He swears that he arrived when he was 17 and had resided in the United States since that time (1856/57). Clearly, dates and documents show this was not true. My third great grandfather lied on his citizenship application. Added to that, he was a convicted criminal.
In Trump’s America, Thomas Simons (later spelling) would not have been welcomed.
What families with great potential did we turn away? One hundred and fifty years from now, what stories will not be told?
Our point of view often shifts when we have a personal connection. #Perspective
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