NorCal Genealogy |

Naturalization Records

Table of Contents

Introduction
Federal Courts
San Francisco Restoration of Record of Naturalization

INTRODUCTION

Which Court?

According to the U.S. National Archives (NARA):

On March 26, 1790, Congress passed an act (1 Stat. 103) that allowed any individual seeking citizenship to apply to any court of record in a state where he or she lived for one year. Before September 27, 1906, an alien could seek citizenship through any Federal, state, or local court. As a result, you need to know to which court your ancestor submitted the application for naturalization. Congress passed an act on June 29, 1906, which established a Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (32 Stat. 596). The bureau was to "provide for a uniform rule for the naturalization of aliens throughout the United States."

Various local and federal courts processed naturalization requests in California from 1850 to the present. These included County Superior Courts, State Circuit and District Courts, Supreme Courts, and U.S. Circuit and District Courts. For a good introduction to which federal courts processed naturalization records in California, take a look at the National Archives M1744 Pamphlet.

Note: there is a companion National Archives microfilm index to the M1744 microfilm:

T1220, Selected Indexes to Naturalization Records of the U.S. Circuit and District Courts, Northern District of California, 1852-1928.

According to NARA:

Records of naturalization proceedings in Federal courts are usually among the records of the U.S. District Court in which the proceedings took place. These records may still be in the custody of the court, or they may have been transferred to one of NARA's regional archives as a part of the Records of the District Courts of the United States.
These California naturalization records are available at the NARA Pacific Region facility:

U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco), 1851-1971

U.S. Circuit Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco), 1855-1911

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California (Sacramento), 1917-1958

County Superior Court, Marin County, California, 1871-1957

A list of which naturalization records are available from local California counties in the California State Archives can be viewed here.

FamilySearch has the following available online:

Northern U.S. District Court Naturalization Index, 1852-1989:

Index card images include name, age or date-of-birth, address, naturalization date, and sometimes change of name.

Petitions, 1903-1991 (images only)

Great Registers

A great resource for locating which court an ancestor was naturalized are the Great Registers. These were the voting registers for California, and will often tell you the exact name and location of the court that did the naturalization as well as the naturalization date.

Miscellaneous

The NARA also has an interesting article about Women and Naturalization, ca. 1802-1940.

FEDERAL COURTS

For those individuals processed in the federal courts, the records may be available at the National Archives (NARA) center in San Bruno, California. The records cover from 1852 to 1989.

More information about what is available at the San Bruno NARA, look at Records of the District Courts of the United States (RG 21).
For a good, though slightly out-of-date, article about federal records, please refer to: Naturalization Documents at the National Archives-Pacific Region (San Bruno) by KenTessendorff and Dan Nealand
If you believe your ancestor was naturalized in a federal court in California, you may wish to request a copy of the documents from the archives by mail. Write to the following address:

Attention: Historical Naturalizations

National Archives and Records Administration

Pacific Region-San Francisco

1000 Commodore Drive

San Bruno CA 94066

According to the National Archives, as of September 2005:

"You may send your written request in three different ways, by mail, fax or email. When you send your request, please be sure to write down the complete name of the person you are requesting, the approximate date of the naturalization if you don't have the exact date, the place and name of the court where the person's naturalization took place.
"If the requested record was found, a minimum fee for mail reproduction applies. Copies of the records if no more than 20 pages is $10.00 made by check or money order payable to the 'National Archives Trust Fund'. You may also use an American Express, Discover, Master Card, or Visa credit card by providing the type of the credit card, account number and the expiration date and card holder signature."

The U.S. District Court (USDC), San Francisco, also has a copy of the M1744 microfilm collection. See contact info below.

If you are looking for naturalization records after 1989, contact the U.S. District Court:

Attention: Naturalizations

Office of the Clerk

U.S. District Court

Northern District of California

P.O. Box 36060

San Francisco, CA 94102

San Francisco Restoration of Record of Naturalization

Records for those processed in the San Francisco Superior court before 1906 were lost in the 1906 disaster. After the disaster, the Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the City and County of San Francisco began to "restore" records. Approximately 10,752 records were gathered from 25 May 1906 through 23 September 1964. The records (declaration of intent, petition, certificate and supporting documentation) have not been microfilmed yet and are available through the Superior Court.

An index and copies of the Judgement Books are available on microfilm at the San Francisco Public Library, History Room.
The Superior Court research contact may be able to look up your name.
Index of Q section is online.

The Record of Naturalization only includes this information: Name, initial date of naturalization, date of restoration, country of nativity, and two witness names.