I have no idea how to find out 1. What happened to Joseph Mueller/Miller? (Did he die at sea, never came to USA?) Anna (Neagle)Mueller/Miller came in 1885 (according to census for child) Anna --died in 1888 no naturalization records. Came with 3 children 2 boys and one girl. apx ages boy 6, girl 8, boy 10?? Or perhaps the boy was 4 and not 10.

I find it difficult to think that the wife would travel by ship with 3 young children alone. I believe the parents of Anna were already in the USA.

No idea where the ship would have arrived at, New York? Any assistance would be appreciated, thank you
-- I'm at a loss of how to proceed.

If Anna resided in the US for only 3 years then of course there would be no Naturalization found as the residency requirement was 4 years.

Where did this family live in the US?

You mentioned one of them Naturalized in one of your other messages. Which one? Whered did he live. The Naturalization record may give the birth location and ship and date of arrival.

Have you even looked for a ship manifest? MUELLER is a common name and between 1883 and 1887 thousands with this name came to the US.

MUELLER is likely an Americanized spelling, the German spelling may have been Müller

It was the norm for the man to come to America first (in fact most immigrants did not intend to stay here, their goal was to earn enough money to go back home and buy land) and then for the wife and children to follow

Robert

1. Yes Anna died in 1888.
2. Children & Anna Lived in Iowa either Jackson, Clinton or maybe even Dubuque County.
3. On the census one of the questions that one of the children of Anna answered (when he was adult - when came to US or something like that. 1885
a. Would the children of Anna have been Naturalized? One of the boys was listed as a hired hand in think in 1890?

4. Went through the National Archives online, but found many Anna's. I was hoping it would show records so if she were traveling with 3 children and the dates, but so far this resource has been difficult to use
a. The American version was Miller - I was told by a family member it was originally Mueller while in Germany so searched in Archive under that.

Thank you

1 OK
2 OK
3 Which child?
a It was not and is not a requirement to become a US Citizen And in most cases males became Naturalized US Citizens, which made the wife and any foreign born children US Citizens

4
a In German ü, with the 2 dots over it sound like English UE, so I would suggest you don't overlook that spelling... after all the family member who told you it was MUELLER in Germany was not living when they came to this country :) In fact if you search for MUELLER in immigration records and then MULLER you will find many more MULLER.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCller_(surname)

I find this WW I Draft Registration for
Name: Theodore Miller
County: Clinton
State: Iowa
Birth Date: 6 Feb 1876
Naturalized US Citizen (no birthplace listed)
Wife Marie he was a Farmer and lived at Elwood IA

Is this your Theodore? Note even if a man was an alien he still needed to register... and even if he registered dose NOT mean he served.

Robert

Wow... Yes that Theodore is mine -- I never thought about Draft registrations. His brother Frank probably also registered. (I am pretty sure that neither serve - as there have been no family stories & my understanding is farmers were needed at home.
). Since it stated Theodore was naturalized citizen -- I might be able to find paperwork that may give more info about his parents. Though, from what you said in (a). if Joseph did come early to the USA his wife & children would be naturalized & Theodore might not have paperwork? Unless Joseph died before he could go through the process?
Anna's parents Louis Nagel, Neagle I believe came with their other children in 1881?

Thank you so much for the leads