Michigan, Eastern District, Naturalization Index - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Michigan

What is in the Collection?
This collection contains images of soundex cards to naturalization petitions. A guide to using a soundex appears at the beginning of most of the image ranges within this collection. Corresponds with NARA publication M1917: Index Cards to Naturalization Petitions for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, Detroit, 1907-1995. Images 5-19 contains instructions for using the soundex. For additional information on soundex indexes see the wiki article Soundex.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The records usually include the following information:


 * Full name of citizen
 * Date naturalized
 * Name of court
 * Certificate number

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate date of immigration.
 * The approximate date of naturalization.
 * The place where the naturalization occurred.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the appropriate "Soundex Range" which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

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

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?
Use naturalization records to:
 * Use the information in this index to locate your ancestor's actual naturalization record.


 * 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
 * Immigrants could naturalize in any court that performed naturalizations. That included city, county, state and federal courts. Begin by looking for naturalization records in the courts of the county or city where the immigrant lived.
 * Look first for the petition (second papers), because they are usually easier to find in courts near where the immigant eventually settled.
 * After 1906, the declaration can be filed with the petition as the immigrant was required to submit a copy when he submitted the petition.
 * Because immigrants were allowed to naturalize in any court, they often selected the most convenient court. If they worked somewhere other than their residence, they may have gone to a court closer to work to naturalize.
 * 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.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Check for variant spellings of the names and for nicknames.
 * 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.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

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