General
The Kenosha County Naturalization records are divided into three categories: Declarations, Petitions, and Miscellaneous. There is an alphabetical Card Index which provides access to the Declarations and the Petitions.
Index
The alphabetical Card Index to Naturalizations is contained in eighteen catalog card drawers, plus three additional drawers identified as “Addendum.” The eighteen drawers cover the 1850-1977 period. The addendum covers circa 1920s-circa 1983. The addendum cards for circa 1920s to 1977 merely duplicate those names found in the first eighteen drawers (although many contain more information), but after 1977 all naturalizations were indexed only in the addendum.
Declarations of Intention
While many Declarations were no doubt filed in Kenosha County prior to September 1884, these are not included in these records and cannot be located by the Clerk of Courts. They are, however, included in the Card Index where they are identified as “loose.” Furthermore, the index cards usually record all the information which was found on actual Declarations in that period.
The Declarations here are contained in two sets. Those filed between September 1884 and September 27, 1906 are in Volumes 1-4. These Declarations are printed two to a page and assigned numbers 1-5863, which are indicated in the Contents List below. After that, the sequential numbering of volumes and also of Declarations was started over. Thus, the September 27, 1906 to February 1975 Declarations are contained in Volumes 1-27 and numbered 1-11,253.
Declarations appear in the Card Index in two different ways. First, especially for the early years when immigrants to Wisconsin commonly did not carry the naturalization process beyond this first step, the Declarations are indexed on yellow cards. Second, for those who did carry the naturalization process to its conclusion, information about the Declaration is contained on the index card for the Petition. While various kinds of information may be recorded on these cards, the key index elements include the volume number, the page number, the declaration number, and the date of filing. The date of filing is important for Declarations filed prior to April 1912 because it is the only indication whether the Declaration is in the first set of volumes 1-4 or the second set. Once that is determined, the volume number and either the page number or the declaration number will lead the researcher to the desired document.
Petitions
Like the Declarations, the Petitions filed prior to November 1884 are not included in this collection, but they are indexed in the Card Index. Petitions filed between November 1884 and September 27, 1906 are contained in Volumes A and B. (The identification printed on the spines of these volumes says “Certificates of Naturalization,” but the documents inside are actually Petitions, which at that time contained the same information as Certificates.) Petitions in these volumes are not assigned numbers, although each page is assigned a number. Petitions filed between September 27, 1906 and 1982 are contained in Volumes 1-72 and are assigned petition numbers 1-10064. The volume number and page or petition number are the key pieces of information one needs from the index card, although usually more information than that is provided by the card.
Miscellaneous
The miscellaneous materials--Orders Granting or Denying Petitions (1926-1982), Repatriations (1940-1954), Transferred Petitions (1955-1971), and Depositions of petitioners' witnesses (1926-1957)--are not indexed, although the Depositions can be accessed by getting the petition number from the Card Index, since this number is recorded on each Deposition. These are the usual kinds of ancillary documents found with naturalization records.
