General
The Forest County Naturalization Records, 1885-1955, consist of Indexes to Citizenship, Declarations of Intention, Petitions, Certificates of Naturalization, and ancillary records. The records are comprehensive and cover the time period from the creation of Forest County in 1885 until 1955 when, according to Federal regulations, the Forest County Circuit Court was discontinued as a venue for naturalization proceedings.
For preservation purposes, some volumes were dismantled and placed in boxes, however the original system of numbering volumes was retained since the indexes are often keyed to this system. For these volumes, the container list gives the volume number in parentheses ( ) for identification purposes, and the box and reel number for location purposes. Volume numbers in brackets [ ] were assigned in the Archives.
All records are available both in the original paper form and on microfilm.
Indexes
Researchers should begin by consulting the INDEXES. For naturalization records created in 1903 or before, there is an index to Certificates and an index to Declarations. Entries are alphabetical by the initial letter of the last name, and thereunder chronological by the date the Certificate or Declaration was filed.
Beginning in 1909 the three types of naturalization documents (Declarations, Petitions, and Certificates) are indexed together in the Index to Citizenship. Entries are alphabetical by the initial letter of the last name, and thereunder chronological by the date the Certificate was filed. For each person listed, the entry gives the volume, page number, date and document number for Declarations, Petitions, and Certificates.
Records
The DECLARATIONS OF INTENTION date 1886-1954 and are arranged chronologically. All volumes except 1[A] (1886-1906) contain an index. The volume titled Declarations of Intention of Indians contains twelve declarations by Native Americans from 1898-1903. The content is similar to those for non-Native Americans except that instead of renouncing allegiance to a foreign ruler, the applicant renounces allegiance to the listed tribe (for the records in this series, the Chippewa tribe).
The PETITIONS for Citizenship date 1885-1955 and are arranged by filing date. Each volume contains an index.
CERTIFICATES of Naturalization date 1889-1906. Volume 1 (1889-1903) contains an index; Volume [2] (1903-1906) does not.
Note that Declarations, Petitions, and Certificates are each numbered consecutively until approximately 1906. In that year, as part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service's standardization of the process, the numbering was begun again with number 1 for each type of document.
ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS consist of one folder of Orders Granting and Denying Petitions, 1930-1955, and one folder of Circuit Court correspondence and miscellaneous papers related to the naturalization process, 1933-1954. The correspondence and miscellaneous papers is arranged in rough chronological order and, in general, can provide details about a person's naturalization not found in the usual forms. It can contain information about INS investigations, conducted to ensure that applicants have met all naturalization requirements; hearing schedules listing petitioners and their witnesses; denials of petitions, giving the grounds; and preliminary work forms for declarations and petitions.
