General
The Winnebago County Naturalization Records consist of Declarations of Intention, Petitions, Orders Granting or Denying Petitions, Certificates of Loyalty, a Certificate of Naturalization Stub Book, Repatriations, Indexes to Declarations, Petitions, and Orders Admitting to Citizenship, and one transfer.
Originally, several volumes were identified by the same volume number. In an attempt to eliminate some of the confusion, all volumes have been renumbered consecutively. However, since the indexes may sometimes refer to the original volume numbers, these original numbers are included on the contents list and are noted in parentheses on the labels. Also, because the original titles on several volumes were either inaccurate or misleading, they have been corrected and standardized on the labels and the contents list.
For preservation purposes some volumes have been dismantled and placed in boxes. For these volumes the contents list gives the volume number in parentheses ( ) for identification purposes, and the box number for location purposes.
Indexes and Records
There are four different Indexes to the various portions of the naturalization records. Indexes are listed chronologically by earliest date. Entries are alphabetical by last name. In general, the key information in the entry is the date of the document.
Declarations of Intention, 1844-1904, are indexed in Volume 1, “Index to Declarations and Orders Admitting to Citizenship” (1844-1882), and Volume 2, “Index to Declarations” (1848-1904). Of these, Volume 2 should be consulted first because it is more accurate and complete. It is arranged in alphabetical segments and roughly chronologically therein. Entries give the name of the applicant, the date of the Declaration, and for the 1855-1904 period, the court number assigned to the Declaration. This number is the key information because it corresponds to the court numbers on the Declarations in Volumes 5-12. The volumes original court numbers are given in parentheses on the labels and are noted in the contents list.
Declarations filed between 1906 and 1962 are indexed in Volume 4, “Index to Declarations, Petitions, and Orders Admitting to Citizenship” (1906-1963). Again, the court number is the key information, although volume and page numbers may be used as a backup should inconsistencies appear. Declarations filed before 1906 are also referenced in this Index, if a Petition was filed after 1906. This index is arranged by alphabetical segments and roughly chronologically by date of court action (Declaration of Petition) therein.
The cumulative indexes to do not refer to Declarations filed in 1905 and most Declarations filed in 1906 (Volume 13). Volume 13, however, does include a name index, arranged in alphabetical segments.
Petitions and Orders Admitting to Citizenship (1851-1963) are indexed in Volumes 3, “Index to Petitions and Orders Admitting to Citizenship” (1851-1906), and Volume 4, “Index to Declarations, Petitions, and Orders Admitting to Citizenship” (1906-1963). Volume 3 provides only the name and the date of filing. Thus, the date is the key information. Because pre-October 1906 Petitions (Volumes 28-32) appear in roughly chronological order, finding a particular Petition can involve a fairly extensive search. Post-September 1906 Petitions are indexed in Volume 4, which gives name, date of filing, volume and page, court number, and date of hearing. The court number (listed in parentheses on the labels and noted in the contents list) is the key information, and the volume and page number provides a backup check. The “Orders Admitting Citizenship” are part of the Petition form.
Ancillary records include Certificates of Loyalty, 1942-1949 (Volume 71 in Box 6). This volume contains an alphabetical name index. It contains certificates of persons who were exempt from classification as “alien enemies” per the conditions of Section 326(d) of the Naturalization Act of 1940. Alien enemies were defined as persons from countries “with which the United States is at war.”
Repatriations are interfiled with Petitions in Volumes 54, 56, 60, and 61 (Boxes 3 and 4).
There is one Transfer, #3798 TR1, in Box 6.
