This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Immigration Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/UEXBAIB/183.1 Message Board Post: Most people went to the court closest to them, usually a county court. Most researchers will find that their ancestors became naturalized in one of the following kinds of courts: county, supreme, circuit, district, equity, chancery, probate, or common pleas court. The reliability and depth of the information given on the papers depends on the time they were naturalized - Before 1906, the declaration of intent generally contains more genealogically useful information than the petition. The declaration may include the alien's exact date of immigration into the United States. However AFTER 1906, it's the opposite - The declaration contains preliminary information and may have incorrect dates of arrival and anglicized names. Petitions after 1906 have information that has been *verified and matched* to an immigration record. For more information and details on what's what with Naturalization records, and how to find them, see http://naturalizationrecords.com/usa/ Read the intro (it explains what's available and where) then choose your state(s) of interest from the state list at the bottom of the page. Each state has 3 pages - one is an overview of what Naturalization Records survive. Second is a Directory of Links to online records (if any have been transcribed for that state) Third is a Resource Guide, with film numbers, addresses etc for finding offline records. Be sure to let the pages load, then scroll down to read the information on each page. Good luck! Lorine