General
The Manitowoc County Naturalization Records consist of Declarations of Intention, Petitions, Certificates of Naturalization, indexes to these records, and Ancillary Records including Orders Granting and Denying Petitions, and Repatriations. It also includes Facts for Declaration of Intention, 1907-1921, and Facts for Petition, 1909-1921.
For preservation purposes some volumes have been dismantled and placed in boxes. These volume numbers are designated by parentheses in the contents list for identification purposes; the box number is listed for circulation purposes.
Records
Declarations of Intention
The DECLARATIONS OF INTENTION, 1848-1906 (Box 7-16), are arranged by year and by alphabetical segments therein. They are indexed in the INDEX TO DECLARATIONS OF INTENTION, 1848-1906 (Box 1 of the indexes). The index is arranged in alphabetical segments by first letter of surname and therein chronologically by date filed. Although the Index provides other information as well (date and place of birth, port and month of entry to the United States), it is the date that directs the researcher to the proper box (see the Contents List).
There is no master index for the DECLARATIONS OF INTENTION, 1906-1954 (Box 17-20 and Volume 2-5); however, each of these volumes is indexed individually. Indexes are at the beginning of each volume and typewritten versions of the indexes for Volumes 6-8 are also contained in Box 17. They are arranged in alphabetical segments by first letter of surname and give both the page number and the Declaration number. The Declaration numbers also provide access to the Facts for Declaration of Intention, 1907-1921.
Petitions
The main means of access to all PETITIONS is the CARD INDEX TO CITIZENSHIP, 1849-1954. It gives the date the Petition was filed and also, where applicable, the Certificate number. For Petitions, 1849-1906 (Box 21-28), the date is the key to locating the record, as it is with the Declarations. THE INDEX TO CITIZENSHIP, 1849-1906 (Box 1), indexes the same individuals as in the Card Index, but can be checked in the case of any discrepancies. It is arranged in alphabetical segments and gives the nativity and the date of admittance to citizenship. The date leads the researcher to the needed box.
For PETITIONS, 1906-1954 (Volume 1-7 and Box 20-32), the Card Index may list the petition number, thus providing direct access. If not, the date should be used to request the appropriate volume. Also, each volume contains a name index. Once a Petition is found, the Petition number will lead the researcher to the corresponding Facts for Petition, 1909-1921, if such a document exists. Petitions for this time period typically have declarations attached as well as related documents such as Certificates of Arrival and Affidavits of Witnesses.
Facts for Declaration of Intention and Facts for Petition
FACTS FOR DECLARATION OF INTENTION, are present only for 1907-1921, and FACTS FOR PETITION, are present only for 1909-1921. These documents are the worksheets applicants filled out before filing their Declarations and Petitions. They contain the same information as the Declarations and Petitions and have the same identifying document numbers. To that extent, they duplicate the actual documents but they have been retained in this collection because their size is more conducive to photocopying and because occasionally a discrepancy will occur between the “Facts for” and the actual document.
Ancillary Records
CERTIFICATES OF NATURALIZATION cover only three years: 1903-1906. The volume has an alphabetical (by surname) index in the front. Certificates summarize (and therefore contain less information than their corresponding Petitions) the petitioner's initial request to become a citizen and contain the court's order conferring citizenship.
ORDERS GRANTING AND DENYING PETITIONS, 1930-1955, are arranged chronologically which is roughly by petition number. Each entry lists the petition number, name, and name change if applicable. There is no name index to these documents.
REPATRIATIONS, 1940-1953, are arranged chronologically by date filed and include a name index. These are applications from women seeking citizenship who believed they had lost or never gained citizenship as a result of the Married Woman's Act. These forms include information concerning how the applicant lost her citizenship, a court order repatriating her, and an oath of allegiance.
