Thor becomes a Naturalized Citizen
Thor filed for citizenship while he was working for family members and living in the Northwood area of Grand Forks County, North Dakota. In order to file a land patent and claim homestead rights, individuals were required to be American citizens. It seems likely that Thor filed his affidavit shortly before striking out on his own in Rolette County.
On June 13th, 1882, Thor declared that he was born in Norway in 1858, arrived in the US via the port of New York in May of 1861, and was willingly renouncing any allegiance to the King of Norway and Sweden and the country of his birth. Because he arrived in the US as a child, this was all that was required for him to become a citizen (those who immigrated as adults faced a two step process).
