>> On the 1870 Wausau Census it shows my ancestor >> George Rhodes, born in England, as being eligible to vote. Would this >> mean that a person who is eligible to vote has to be a Naturalized >> Citizen? > >NO! In the mid-1800s, one only had to have signed a "Declaration of Intent >to Become a Citizen" in order to vote. I recently pored over voter rolls >in Dane County and found many who voted before their citizenship was >finalized. This was later changed to require citizenship for voting, but >I'm not sure when. >Hope this helps, >Kathy Lenerz Hi Kathy, You are absolutely right. I just got word from UWSP Archives and they told me the same thing. The good news they found my George Rhodes Declaration of Intent. I'm also curious why folks never bothered to become a citizen? Were there expenses involved? Were there little benefits in becoming a citizen? Was duel citizenship allowed in those days? If these folks travelled abroad was it easy for them to get back into the US? Was there something like the "Green Card" we have today? Could one get a passport with only a Declaration of Intent? And in my case I believe his American born wife would loose her U.S. citizenship if he didn't petition for naturalization. I suppose he could have filed for it in another county away from where he made his Declaration of Intent. Thank you for showing an interest Melville