In February 1917 the Pantagraph was still printing the names of new citizens. Several men and one woman were candidates for citizenship at that time and three more Germans were registered to be naturalized in the September term.
Emil Neuhauser was one of the naturalization applicants in February, 1917. The U.S. had not yet declared that German citizens could not take citizenship. In his application, Emil indicated that he was from Germany, but three years later, when the census was taken, he stated that he was from Alsace-Lorraine, part of the territory that had been in dispute during that and other European wars. Emil further stated that his language was French, not German. His wife Pearl was designated as German, and German speaking. Emil was a carpenter in Gridley, Illinois with his own shop, who had immigrated in 1912.
Rudolph and Anna Witzig came from Switzerland and Germany in 1883 with their seven children, Rudolph, Anna, Elizabeth, Sophia, Emile, Gottfried, and Johannes. Rudolph quickly settled in Gridley and became a farmer there. In 1917 Their daughter Elizabeth took citizenship and her brother Rudolph had taken citizenship the previous year. In 1900 their father, who had been living in the U.S. for 17 years, could not speak English, so would have been unqualified for citizenship. The daughters of the family were working as servants outside the home and the sons were all farm laborers. While Elizabeth and Rudolph never married, their brothers, Emile, Gottfried and John all married and had families in McLean County. Sister Anna died in 1888 at the age of 21. Rudolph farmed until a few years before his death in 1924, at the age of 57 after being ill with pneumonia. Elizabeth died in 1947 at the age of 78.
Antonio Speciale came to Illinois from Palermo, Italy and worked as a railroad section boss for 47 years. He served during the Great War after arriving here in 1910 with his brother Joseph. He married Elizabeth Miller in 1920 and had seven children with her.
George Irving Coupe came to Bloomington from England in 1911 and worked in the railroad shops as a cabinet maker. He and his wife Nellie had three daughters. George died in 1970.
Stephen Bettisch came from Hungary in 1907 to work with the railroads in McLean County. He and his wife had two daughters and five sons. One of his sons, Andrew, suffered from epilepsy. In March of 1927 Andrew went to Normal for work one day and did not return home. His parents were very worried for his safety and asked the police to look for him. He was finally found by a search party of Boy Scouts in Sugar Creek.
Later in 1917 naturalization for German citizens was suspended for the duration of the war, and the three men or women who were waiting to become citizens later in the year were unable to do so during the Great War.