I have the original Certificate of Naturalization for my grandfather Henry Graham which was issued October 7, 1905, by the 18th Judicial District of Iowa at a term of the District Court in Marion, Iowa, for Linn County. It bears the DISTRICT COURT SEAL OF LINN CO. IOWA. I believe that the 18th district has over time been folded into the 6th district. My problem is that the certificate contains little information about him other then his name, the naturalization date, and that he was from Ireland (known to be County Tyrone). I am attempting to find his declaration of intent/application and any other documentation that would have been required at that time. I have contacted the 6th district court in Linn County to no avail and NARA has no records prior to 1906. I would be indebted if anyone has any suggestions as to other approaches that I might try, ideally if anyone has had the same issue for Iowa research.

Stephen, This is really a question better aimed at a US list, or specifically an Iowa list. The CTI list is full of people (in US, Ireland, Australia, Canada, and lots of other countries) who are all doing research in Ireland; we can usually help with Irish questions, but US naturalizations are a little beyond the scope of this list! Having said which, I can tell you that the actual naturalization documents (until the 1920s or so) don't have much useful info, it's the DoI that usually is more helpful. (Though paying attention to the witnesses to both can help your research, as the witnesses may be family members). The DoI is usually filed with the Nat Cert., but if it's not, you should see what other courts were conducting naturalizations at this time and place. If he moved during the likely times that he'd have filed his DoI, try courts in those other areas, too. NARA wouldn't have records before 1906, as that's when the feds took over the bulk of the naturalizations. Before that, it was any state, county, or local court of record. Hope that helps. You really should ask an Iowa list... Claire K. CTI List Admin On Apr 7, 2009, at 6:24 PM, stephen.graham@comcast.net wrote: > ...Certificate of Naturalization ...Henry Graham ... issued October > 7, 1905, by the ...District Court in Marion, Iowa, for Linn > County. ...I am attempting to find his declaration of intent/ > application and any other documentation that would have been > required at that time....I have contacted the ...district court in > Linn County to no avail and NARA has no records prior to 1906.