General
The La Crosse County Naturalization Records consist of Declarations of Intention, Petitions, and indexes to these records, and ancillary records which include Court Orders, Repatriations/Applications to take the oath of allegiance, and Transferred Petitions. This series is incomplete: petitions filed prior to 1877 and certificates were missing before coming into archival custody.
The original system of identifying volumes by number or letter was retained because the indexes are often keyed to this system. To eliminate confusion when requesting a particular volume, the researcher should specify not only the volume number but also the type of volume (e.g. Declarations or Petitions) and dates.
For preservation purposes some volumes have been dismantled and placed in boxes. For these volumes the contents list below gives the volume number in parentheses ( ) for identification purposes, and the box number for circulation purposes. Volume numbers that appear in brackets [ ] are numbers that were assigned by the archivist. All records are available in both original format and on microfilm.
Indexes
The INDEX TO DECLARATIONS, 1840-1981, provides the name of declarant, and the date the declaration was issued. It does not list the volume or page number. Thus the date is key to finding the declarations. The index is arranged alphabetically by first letter of the last name of the person. It is the main index for all the declarations in this series.
The INDEX TO ADMISSIONS (“Citizenship Record-Naturalization Index”), 1854-1939, indexes Petitions through 1939 (vol. 2-5 and 1-[13]. It lists the name of person and date of admission, which is the same as the petition date. The index is arranged alphabetically by first letter of the last name. A volume number appears above some names, which seems to indicate that the names below it are contained in that volume until a new volume is indicated. Because the numbering system of the volumes can be confusing, the researcher should match the date of the petition with the appropriate volume from the container list.
The NATURALIZATION CARD INDEX, 1860-1990, indexes the petitions and certificates. The cards list the name; address; certificate number or date; date of order of admission or date of naturalization (these dates are really the petition dates); petition number; age or date of birth; country of origin; date and port of arrival; name and address of witness; and name and location of the court.
Records
The DECLARATIONS OF INTENTION, 1847-1981, are arranged chronologically by date filed. In addition to being indexed by the Index to Declarations, volumes 1-(8) (1906-1981), each contain an index for entries in that volume at the front. Some declarations may also be found with the petitions dating 1906-1941.
The PETITIONS, 1877-1991, are arranged chronologically by date filed. As well as being indexed by the Index to Admissions, 1854-1939 and Naturalization Card Index, the petition volumes for 1906-1991 contain indexes at the front of the volumes. Volumes 4-5 and 1-(16) (1906-1941) may also contain declarations along with the petitions. Petitions filed prior to 1877 were not transferred to the Archives.
The Historical Society does not hold any CERTIFICATES for this series.
ANCILLARY RECORDS, 1939-1991, consist of Court Orders [Granting Citizenship], 1930-1991, Repatriations/Applications to take the Oath of Allegiance, 1939-1957, and Transferred Petitions, 1954-1986 (TR1-TR7). The Court Orders contain lists of the people who were granted or denied citizenship. The Repatriations/Applications and Transferred Petitions both contain an index at the front of the volume.
