Connecticut, District Court Naturalization Indexes - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
The collection consists of six alphabetical card indexes of naturalization petitions in the United States District Courts in Connecticut. Corresponds to NARA microfilm publication M2081: Indexes to Naturalization Petitions for United States District Courts, Connecticut, 1851-1992 and is part of Record Group 21 Records of the District Courts of the United States. The indexes include the following localities:
 * New Haven,1851-1926, circuit court to 1911,rolls 1-7
 * New Haven,1926-1992, rolls 7-18 NAID 6050435 Petitions and Records of Naturalization for New Haven
 * Hartford,1906-1926, circuit court to 1911, rolls 19-21
 * Hartford,1926-1992, rolls 21-39,includes denied and transferred petitions and repatriations on roll 39
 * Bridgeport,1963-1992, rolls 39-47 NAID 641997 Petitions and Records of Naturalization for Bridgeport
 * Waterbury,1972-1988, roll 47, includes naturalization and denied petitions and declarations on intentions on roll 47

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:
 * Petition number
 * Date of petition
 * Volume and page number of the petition
 * Declaration number
 * Date of declaration
 * Volume and page number of the declaration
 * Certification number
 * Date of issuance
 * Name changes

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know: If you do not know this information, check the 1900 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.
 * The full name of your ancestor
 * The approximate immigration and naturalization dates
 * The ancestor’s residence

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?
You can use naturalization records to:
 * Add any new information to your records
 * Learn an immigrant’s place of origin
 * Confirm their date of arrival
 * 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 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

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

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names
 * 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 localities and courts

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in the state of Connecticut.
 * Connecticut Guided Research
 * Connecticut Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Connecticut Research, 1880-Present

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog

 * edited by Rhonda R. McClure, Genealogist's handbook for New England research 6th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society®, 2022 FS Library 974 D27mr
 * Thomas Jay Kemp, Connecticut researcher's handbook Detroit, Michigan : Gale Research, c1981 FS Library 974.6 D23k
 * John J Newman, American Naturalization Records;1790-1990: what they are and how to use them. Bountiful, Utah: Heritage Quest, 1998. FS Library 973 P47na
 * Loretto Dennis Szucs, They became Americans: finding naturalization records and ethnic origins Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, c1998 FS Library 973 P47t
 * Connecticut, New Haven County, naturalization records
 * Indexes to naturalization petitions for United States district courts, Connecticut, 1963-1992 Bridgeport : NARA RG21 publication M2081
 * Naturalization record books, (Fairfield County,) 1893-1906
 * Naturalization record books, 1842-1903
 * Naturalization records (Fairfield County, Connecticut) : National Archives and Records Administration Record Group (RG) 200, RG 21, 1839-1955]
 * Naturalization records (New Haven County, Connecticut), 1906-1945

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.

Connecticut, índices de naturalización del tribunal de distrito (Registros históricos de FamilySearch)