New Jersey, County Naturalization Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection contains digital images of naturalization records from county courthouses in New Jersey. The record content and year ranges vary by county.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Naturalization petitions
 * Name of applicant/petitioner
 * Country of birth
 * Age and occupation
 * Arrival date and port of entry
 * Current residence
 * Names and residences of two witnesses
 * Date of application/petition
 * Name of judge

Declarations of intent
 * Name of immigrant
 * Country of birth
 * Arrival date and port of entry
 * Date of Declaration of Intent or Naturalization
 * Names of witnesses and their residence
 * Name of judge or court official
 * Birth date and place
 * Age, race and occupation
 * 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 This 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, 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 :
 * 1) Select the County
 * 2) Select the Record Type, Year Range and Volumeto view 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.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, 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?
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
 * 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 immigrant 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 of the names
 * Check for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the state of New Jersey.
 * New Jersey Guided Research
 * Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research

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.