General
The Marquette County Naturalization Records consist of Declarations of Intention (1856-1945), Petitions (1909-1949), indexes and lists to these records (1848-1945), and Orders Granting Citizenship (1931-1949).
For preservation purposes some volumes have been dismantled and placed in boxes. These volume numbers are designated by parentheses in the contents list below for identification purposes; the box number is listed for circulation purposes.
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.
All records are available in both original format and on microfilm.
Records
The Marquette County Naturalization Records are incomplete; early Declarations of Intention and Petitions are missing. At one time a volume containing Declarations of Intention, 1849-1855, existed; however, this volume has not yet been located in the courthouse and is not contained in this series. Petitions prior to 1908 were sent to Washington, D.C. for permanent filing according to a records inventory of the courthouse conducted in 1938 by the Wisconsin Historical Records Survey (a project of the Works Progress Administration).
Researchers should begin by using the NATURALIZATION RECORD INDEX, 1849-1945. Entries are arranged in alphabetical segments by the first letter of the surname and more or less chronologically thereafter. In addition to the name, information can include place and date of birth; country of allegiance; date and port of arrival in the United States; dates of declaration, petition, and naturalization, with references to the volumes in which these documents can be found; and names of witnesses, spouse, and minor children.
For naturalizations before 1906, the index entry sometimes refers to a certificate number “CCJ.” This may be the Clerk of Courts Journal which is not in archival custody at this time. Some pre-1906 entries refer to “NR” under declarations. This reference is to the volumes in the DECLARATIONS OF INTENTION (Volumes 1-3).
The RECORD INDEX FOR DECLARATIONS, 1856-1885, may contain entries for individuals not found in the Naturalization Record Index. However, the Record Index for Declarations indexes only Volumes 1 and 2 of the Declarations with some references to a few admissions to citizenship prior to 1856. This index volume is arranged in alphabetical segments by first letter of surname and lists name, volume and page of the declaration, and the term of court under which citizenship was granted.
For declarations after 1885 and petitions after 1909, the researcher must use the index within each volume.
According to the Clerk of Court, the LIST OF PERSONS FILING A DECLARATION, 1848-1858, was
probably created to ease the work of the Clerk of Court in Green Lake County. Green Lake County was created out of Marquette County in 1858 and this list was probably used by Green Lake County to avoid having to check the Marquette County records each time a resident who had filed a Declaration prior to 1858 came to the court to file a petition.
The original index can be found in Green Lake Series 32, Box 11.
The DECLARATIONS OF INTENTION date 1856-1945, and are arranged chronologically by date filed. The index for Volumes 1 and 2 is the Record Index for Declarations. Volumes 3-6 each contain an index to that particular volume.
NATURALIZATION PETITIONS, 1909-1949, are arranged chronologically by date filed. Declarations are usually attached as are related documents such as Certificate of Arrival, Affidavit of Witnesses and correspondence. Each volume contains a name index.
ORDERS GRANTING CITIZENSHIP, 1931-1949, are arranged chronologically roughly by petition number. The Orders list petition number granted, name, and name change if applicable. There is no name index to these documents.
