| | Naturalization requirements changed significantly in the year 1906. Prior to 1906, naturalization petitions required a limited amount of information, often only collecting the name of the petitioner,the name of the court, record number, the petitioner’s country of origin, and the date of naturalization. After 1906 naturalization documents collected additional information such as the petitioner���s address, names and addresses of any witnesses, birth date, as well as date and place of arrival in the United States. While the scope of the documents expanded, not all documents include the additional information.Petitions for naturalization were one of the final steps towards United States citizenship. Of particular interest to genealogists, these petitions sometimes include multiple surnames, often the alternate spellings or their “old country” name as well as their “Americanized” name. Each record within this index contains a Soundex Code that can be used to find the original naturalization records within NARA’s collections.Naturalization petitions filed within the following counties between the years of 1840 and 1950 can be found in this collection. However, dates vary by county. For example, there are no naturalization petitions prior to 1871 for the largest county by population: Cook County, Illinois. Counties in Illinois: Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Champaign, Cook, De Kalb, Du Page, Ford, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, Lake, La Salle, Lee, Livingston, Marshall, McHenry, McLean, Mercer, Ogle, Peoria, Putnam,Rock Island, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Vermilion, Warren, Whiteside, Will, Winnebago and Woodford. Counties in Indiana: Benton, Fulton, Jasper, Lake, La Porte, Marshall, Newton, Porter, Pulaski, St. Joseph, and Starke. Counties in Iowa: Allamakee, Appanoose, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Cedar, Chickasaw, Clayton, Clinton, Davis, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fayette, Floyd, Grundy, Hardin, Henry, Howard, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Mahaska, Mitchell, Monroe, Muscatine, Scott, Tama, Van Buren, Wapello, Washington, and Winneshiek. Counties in Wisconsin: Adams, Brown, Calumet, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Dodge, Door, Florence, Fond du Lac, Forest, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, Kenosha, Kewaunee, Lafayette, Langlade, Manitowoc, Marinette, Marquette, Menominee, Milwaukee, Oconto, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Portage, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Shawano, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington, Waukesha, Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago,and Wood. |
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