Prior to the formalization of the process in 1905 naturalization "proceedings" appear to have been haphazard. Note that my interest is in possible naturalization proceedings for my grandparents and their families in about 1870-80 in Cook County (Chicago) Illinois. From what I have seen at NARA, the most I might find is an index card of the proceeding in court that day, perhaps the person's name and the name of the witnesses, a country, but not a village. *IF* there is a Declaration of Intent found there may be more information and some have lucked out finding such a document but they appear to be few and far between prior to 1905. Elaine "Dates: 1871-1929 Courts: Superior, Circuit, County and Criminal Courts of Cook County (Naturalization records produced by other Cook County towns, such as Blue Island and Calumet City, are not included) Includes: May include declaration of intent, petition, and/or court order. Declarations of intent filed elsewhere may contain more information. 1904-1906 Name, date of naturalization; possibly address & witness 1904-1906 Above, plus generally include town of birth, port of departure, date and port of arrival, occupation, witnesses 1906-1929 Above, plus wife's name and date of birth; children's names and dates of birth; physical description of petitioner Indexes: National Archives Soundex Naturalization Index (Microfilm), 1840-1950 (for Northern Illinois and parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana) " http://www.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org/Archives_/Archive_Holdings/archive_holdings.htm Hello Ron On Sunday, May 9, 2004, you wrote > The question of what naturalization laws applied at various times has been > brought up before, but never satisfactorily answered. I suspect that the > regulations were very loosely interpreted and applied in different ways in > different locations at different times. > It is my impression that an alien had to go to the county court house in > their particular jurisdiction and fill out the necessary forms. Perhaps > this was done where there was no convenient Federal Court House. However, > no one has ever affirmed that going to a court house is correct so if > anyone has any specific knowledge or web sites that explain alien > registration requirements, please post it so others (and myself) can benefit. > The following is the official historical guidelines based on the Department > of Immigration and Naturalization: > http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/aboutus/statistics/legishist/index.htm > See: > <http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/aboutus/statistics/legishist/463.htm>28. > Immigration Act of February 20, 1907 (34 Statutes-at-Large 898) > Ron Mlejnek

Elaine, I too had searched for naturalization records for my great-grandfather in Cook County (Chicago) Illinois. I knew from the 1892 Voter Registration List I viewed on Ancestry.com that he had been naturalized in the Superior Court of Cook County. I wrote to Northeast Illinois University in Chicago who holds many of the vital records and indexes for the city of Chicago. They sent me a copy of an index card which only gave the date of naturalization which I already knew from the Voter Registration List. They told me that was the only remaining record in existence. Not being satisfied and being stubborn, I decided to attack the problem another way. At familysearch.org I found that the Family History Library in Salt Lake City had 7 microfilms of Declarations of Intention 1871-1906 for the Superior Court of Cook County. I ordered the one covering 1876 thru 1886. It was rather tedious, but I searched the records on the microfilm one by one and I was rather lucky to find a copy of the acutual Declaration of Intention for citizenship for my great-grandfather dated Oct. 29, 1880 (signed with an X as his mark!) It still didn't give me the immigration information I had hoped for, but it does show that he is renouncing allegiance to the Emperor of Austria--and it's a lot better than just having a copy of an index card. If you're looking for naturalization records for Chicago, I would suggest searching the holdings of the Family History Library at familysearch.org to see what might be available for you. Joanne ETM wrote: > Prior to the formalization of the process in 1905 > naturalization "proceedings" appear to have been haphazard. > Note that my interest is in possible naturalization > proceedings for my grandparents and their families in about > 1870-80 in Cook County (Chicago) Illinois. From what I have > seen at NARA, the most I might find is an index card of the > proceeding in court that day, perhaps the person's name and > the name of the witnesses, a country, but not a village. > > *IF* there is a Declaration of Intent found there may be > more information and some have lucked out finding such a > document but they appear to be few and far between prior to > 1905. > > Elaine > > "Dates: 1871-1929 > Courts: Superior, Circuit, County and Criminal Courts of Cook County > (Naturalization records produced by other Cook County towns, such as Blue Island and Calumet City, are not included) > Includes: May include declaration of intent, petition, and/or court order. Declarations of intent filed elsewhere may contain more information. > > 1904-1906 Name, date of naturalization; possibly address & witness > 1904-1906 Above, plus generally include town of birth, port of departure, date and port of arrival, occupation, witnesses > 1906-1929 Above, plus wife's name and date of birth; children's names and dates of birth; physical description of petitioner > > Indexes: National Archives Soundex Naturalization Index > (Microfilm), 1840-1950 (for Northern Illinois and parts of > Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana) " > > http://www.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org/Archives_/Archive_Holdings/archive_holdings.htm > > Hello Ron > > On Sunday, May 9, 2004, you wrote > > > The question of what naturalization laws applied at various times has been > > brought up before, but never satisfactorily answered. I suspect that the > > regulations were very loosely interpreted and applied in different ways in > > different locations at different times. > > > It is my impression that an alien had to go to the county court house in > > their particular jurisdiction and fill out the necessary forms. Perhaps > > this was done where there was no convenient Federal Court House. However, > > no one has ever affirmed that going to a court house is correct so if > > anyone has any specific knowledge or web sites that explain alien > > registration requirements, please post it so others (and myself) can benefit. > > > The following is the official historical guidelines based on the Department > > of Immigration and Naturalization: > > > http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/aboutus/statistics/legishist/index.htm > > > See: > > > <http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/aboutus/statistics/legishist/463.htm>28. > > Immigration Act of February 20, 1907 (34 Statutes-at-Large 898) > > > Ron Mlejnek > > ==== CZECH Mailing List ==== > No off topic posts, flames, virus warnings, prayers, jokes, > chain letters, etc. Violators will be placed on message monitoring > and/or lose subscription privileges.