General
The Price County Naturalization Records (1870-1954) consist of the Card Indexes to Declarations of Intention and to Certificates of Naturalization, and additional volume indexes to Declarations and to Certificates; Declarations of Intention; Petitions; Certificates of Naturalization; lists of citizenship petitions granted and denied; Depositions; Repatriations; one Certificate Stub Book; and miscellaneous records. Almost all of this series is also available on microfilm.
The original system of numbering volumes was retained because the indexes are often keyed to this system. When requesting a particular volume, the researcher should specify not only the volume number, but also the type of record and dates requested. For preservation purposes some volumes have been dismantled and placed in boxes. For these volumes, the list below gives the volume number in parentheses ( ) for identification purposes, and the box and folder number for location purposes.
Indexes
Researchers should begin by using the CARD INDEX TO DECLARATIONS contained in Boxes 1 and 2. This alphabetical index includes declarant cards providing only brief information as the declarant's first and last names, Declaration volume number and Declaration number. Only those Declarations found in Declaration Volumes 1 through 5 (ca. 1882-1906) are indexed in this card file.
Boxes 8 and 9 contain the CARD INDEX TO PETITIONS AND CERTIFICATES. This alphabetical card file contains two different types of cards containing basically the same kind of information. One set of cards includes the naturalized individual's name; address; Certificate number (or volume and page); title and location of court; country of birth or allegiance; date born; date and port of arrival in the United States; date of naturalization; and names of witnesses. The other type of card includes name and address; Certificate number; age; date of admission order; date Certificate issued and by what court; and the Petition number. This card file indexes Petitions dated approximately 1926-1946 and Certificate Volumes 1 through 6 (1888-1916).
Records
DECLARATIONS OF INTENTION can also be located using the Index to Declarations of Intention. This index, arranged in alphabetical segments and thereunder roughly chronological, provides broader date coverage than the Card Index to Declarations of Intention. The volume indexes Declaration Volumes 1 through part of 11 (1882-1943). Information contained includes the Declaration volume number and Declaration number; day, month, and year; individual's name; and the name of the country of birth or allegiance. Additionally, Declaration Volumes 6 through 11 contain alphabetical indexes at the front of each volume. The Index to Declarations of Intention also provides an index to the Declarations filed with Petitions in Petition Volumes 5 and 6. There is no index to the loose Declarations dated 1870-1882 (Box 7, Folder 18).
PETITIONS dating 1926-1946 can be located using the Card Index to Petitions and Certificates. Unlike the Declarations, the Petitions have no separate index which indexes just the individual Petitions. However, most of the Petition volumes do have alphabetical indexes at the front of each volume. Additionally, the Petitions dating 1893-1906 are filed alphabetically by the individual's surname which should aid the researcher in locating a particular person.
CERTIFICATES OF NATURALIZATION can not only be located through the Card Index to Petitions and Certificates, but also through the Index to Certificates of Naturalization. This index is arranged in alphabetical segments and thereunder by date of Certificate. This volume provides the Certificate Volume number; Certificate number; day, month, and year; name; and place individual was from or born. It indexes Certificate Volumes 1 through 5 (1882-1911). Note: Certificate Volume 5 has not yet been received by the State Historical Society. Volumes 3 and 4 of the Certificates of Naturalization also contain alphabetical indexes at the front of each volume for reference.
Ancillary records included in this series are LISTS OF CITIZENSHIP PETITIONS GRANTED AND DENIED (1929-1954); DEPOSITIONS (1910-1947); REPATRIATIONS (1941-1942); one CERTIFICATE STUB BOOK (1914-1915); and MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS (1892-1945). There is no index to the Depositions nor to the Repatriations. However, the Depositions are filed alphabetically by individual's last name to make them easier to locate. Miscellaneous records (Box 7, Folder 17) consist of scattered Depositions, Certificates of Naturalizations, and affidavits of naturalized citizen Lauchlin John Bryson.
