The Dodge County Naturalization Records consist of Declarations of Intention, Petitions, Orders granting or denying Petitions, Repatriations, and indexes to the Declarations and Petitions. The records in this series exist in several formats--bound volumes, boxes, and microfilm. Further, many records are duplicated partially or completely in two or three different forms.
Originally the records contained several volumes identified by the same volume number. For instance, there were four different volumes identified as “volume one” and four different volumes identified as “volume two.” In an attempt to eliminate some of the confusion, all volumes and boxes have been renumbered consecutively. Where an index references one of the original volume numbers, that number is also indicated on the labels and the contents list.
Further, the original titles on several volumes were either inaccurate or misleading. These have been corrected and standardized on the labels and the contents list.
Declarations of Intention
Declarations of Intention are indexed in Volumes 1-3. Of these, Volumes 2 (1844-1906) and 3 (1907-1944) should be consulted first. Volume 1 (1844-1893) is a partial duplication of Volume 2 and should be consulted only if the name sought cannot be found in either Volume 2 or Volume 3. All three volumes are arranged by alphabetical segments (by first letter of last name) and chronologically (by date of Declaration) therein.
Volume 2 is an index to Boxes 1-8 (1844-1905) and to Volume 6 (1876-1906). The Declarations in Boxes 1-8 are filed more or less alphabetically by year; thus the date found in the index directs the researcher to the proper box. For those Declarations found in Volume 6, the index references “Volume 1” and the page number.
Volume 3 is an index to Volumes 7-13. It gives name, date of filing of the Declaration, and the Declaration number. The key item in this index is the Declaration number. These numbers are shown in parentheses on the Container List and the labels. Volumes 7-13 also have, at the beginning of each volume, an index by alphabetical segments. Thus, since Volume 3 only indexes through 1944, the index at the beginning of Volume 13 (1929-1947) should be consulted for Declarations filed between 1945 and 1947.
Petitions
The Petitions are contained in Boxes 9-12 (1844-1876) and Volumes 14-36 (1876-1954). As with the Declarations, the Petitions in boxes are filed by year and more or less alphabetically therein; and the Petitions in volumes are filed chronologically.
Petitions are indexed in Volumes 4 (1844-1899) and 5 (1907-1946) and on Reel 2 (1844-1911). As with the Declarations, these indexes overlap and one is much less useful than the others. In this case, the place to start is with Reel 2 and Volume 5. Volume 4 should be consulted only if the surname in question cannot be found in the two other indexes.
Reel 2 is an alphabetical card index; the original cards are held by the Dodge County Clerk of Circuit Court. It indexes Boxes 9-12 by date and Volumes 14-19 by volume and page number. Volume 5 indexes Volumes 19-34 (1907-1944) and part of Volume 35 (the 1944-1945 portion). This index lists the name by alphabetical segments, the Petition number, the volume and page numbers, and the date of Admission to Citizenship. The key item is the Petition number. These numbers are listed in parentheses on the container list and on the volume labels.
For part of Volume 35 and all of Volume 36--that is, for Petitions filed between 1947 and 1954, for which there is no cummulative index--the index at the beginning of these volumes should be consulted. Volume 4 indexes Boxes 9-12 by date and Volumes 14 and 15 by volume and page number. Not only does it cover a briefer period than the card index, but it is less reliable in general and should be used only as a last resort.
