United States, New England, Petitions for Naturalization - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What Is in the Collection?
This collection consists of naturalization records from Federal, state and local courts filed in the National Archives Northeast Region which includes: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, NARA NAID Identifier 4752894 and is part of Record Group 85 Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The collection covers the years 1787 to 1906. The collection is indexed in NAID 4752892 Index to Naturalizations in New England Courts, 1939-1942.

What Can This Collection Tell Me?
The information given for each petition includes the following:


 * Name of the petitioner
 * Residence
 * Country of birth
 * Place and date of arrival
 * Names of two witnesses
 * Petition number
 * Date of petition
 * Volume and page number of the petition

Declaration of Intent and Naturalization Petitions usually included the following:


 * Name of court and date of hearing
 * Name of immigrant
 * Date and place of birth
 * Date of arrival and port of entry
 * Date of Declaration of Intent or Naturalization
 * Names of witnesses
 * Signature of judge or court official
 * Age
 * Race
 * Last foreign residence
 * Current residence
 * Marital status
 * Name of spouse
 * Maiden name of wife
 * Birth date of spouse
 * Residence of spouse

How Do I Search the Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The full name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate immigration and naturalization dates.
 * The ancestor’s residence.

If you do not know this information, check the 1900 or 1910 census and then calculate the possible year of naturalization based on the date of immigration. The 1920 census may tell you the exact year of immigration or naturalization.

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page:
 * 1) Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page
 * 2) Select the appropriate "State"
 * 3) Select the appropriate "County or Federal Court"
 * 4) Select the appropriate "Court"
 * 5) Select the appropriate "Record Type, Date, Volume/Page" which takes you to the images.

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log. For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s petition for naturalization, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?
You can use naturalization records to:


 * Learn an immigrant’s place of origin
 * Confirm their date of arrival
 * Learn foreign and “Americanized” names
 * Find records in his or her country of origin such as emigrations, port records, or ship’s manifests.

Keep in Mind:


 * Look for the Declaration of Intent soon after the immigrant arrived, and then look for the Naturalization Petition five years later, when the residency requirement would have been met. Look for naturalization records in federal courts and then in state, county, or city courts.
 * An individual may have filed the first and final papers in different courts and sometimes in a different state if the person moved. Immigrants who were younger than 18 when they arrived did not need to file a Declaration of Intent as part of the process.
 * If your ancestor had a common name, be sure to look at all the entries for a name before you decide which is correct.
 * Continue to search the naturalization records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who may have naturalized in the same area or nearby.
 * The witnesses named on naturalization records may have been older relatives of the person in the naturalization process. Search for their naturalizations.
 * You may want to obtain the naturalization records of every person who shares your ancestor’s surname if they lived in the same county or nearby. You may not know how or if they are related, but the information could lead you to more information about your own ancestors.

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Check for variant spellings. Realize that the indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings and misinterpretations.
 * Try a different index if there is one for the years needed. You may also need to search the naturalization records year by year.
 * Search the indexes of nearby counties.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

Collection Citation:

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