Research In State
Immigration & Naturalization Records

Tips for General Immigration Records

Historians have proposed several reasons for [the] new and widespread interest in family history. The most frequently proposed reason is that, following the massive emigration from Europe to new lands, such as the Americas, there has been a breakdown in family bonds and a consequent loss of a sense of belonging among the descendants of the immigrants. Genealogy is the path to discovering our origins and reestablishing those family bonds.
Trafford R.Cole “In Italian Genealogical Records: How to Use Italian Civil, Ecclesiastical, and Other Records in Family History Research”

Since the First Naturalization Act of 26 March 1790 (1 Stat. 103), citizenship records have been kept by the federal government. However, it was not until 1820 that the federal government began to keep track of incoming ship passengers. Their exceptionally high research value make naturalization records and passenger lists among the most frequently used federal records.

We are all descended from immigrants. Whether they came to America in prehistoric times via the Bering Strait or later on ships or airplanes, at some point in history, every person’s ancestors came from somewhere else. And almost everyone has a strong desire to know why, when, and from where their ancestors emigrated. Most of us begin with the simple goal of finding “old country” origins. Yet the quest usually does not end when that discovery is made. Once we begin tracking ancestors back in time and across continents, we are often drawn so deeply into the story that it’s difficult to stop searching. There are always a few more relationships to be proved and details to be learned. And when finally discovered, the ancestor’s homeland takes on a fascination of its own. We find ourselves intrigued with histories and cultures, wanting to know as much as possible about “our people.” Scarcely any phase of family history research is as fascinating as tracking immigrant origins—and scarcely any phase is quite as challenging.

How to Find Immigrant Origins - Knowing the immigrant’s birthplace or last place of residence before emigrating is essential to finding more information in the native land. Yet, unless the ancestors arrived relatively recently in the United States, family origins may have been forgotten. Because most foreign records are kept at the town level, discovering the name of a native town, county, or parish is an important goal. Without that information, it is impossible to know where to conduct research in the country of origin.

Identify the Immigrant - To clearly identify an immigrant in records of the country from which the person came, you must know the person’s full name, an approximate birth date, and the country of origin. Family stories, traditions, and heirlooms are wonderful starting points. Surprising clues may survive in letters, diaries, journals, religious records, postcards, photographs, scrapbooks, and mementos that have been saved over the years.

Family members, friends, and neighbors often traveled to the United States together. If you can’t find your immediate ancestor, it can be worthwhile to look for others whose records may lead you to sources that will include information on your own relative.

Records created by religious organizations comprise a likely source of information in the country of origin. By learning the immigrant’s religion, you can further identify him or her and gain clues to more-specific geographical origins

Ethnicity - The natural security of living among people who speak the same language and have the same cultural or religious background is the binding force that has traditionally kept ethnic communities together. Immigrants, particularly those who did not speak English, tended to settle in enclaves within cities and to cluster in specific regions of the United States. It was common for immigrants arriving in large numbers to settle together on this side of the ocean, and then to migrate en masse within the United States. Immigrant groups frequently founded their own churches, synagogues, schools, banks, boarding houses, and other institutions.

Volumes have been written about virtually every ethnic group. Ethnic presses generated newspapers and histories that focused on specific communities. Many ethnic publications survive that can be invaluable for those who want to learn more about the lives and times of their immigrant ancestors. Public libraries are the perfect starting places for a general search on an ethnic group, and the Internet is home to Web sites for almost every group.

Tips for General Naturalization Records

Many immigrants became American citizens within a few years after their arrival in the United States. Most pre-1906 papers indicate the country (sometimes the province) of immigrant’s origin. The Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, created in 1906, began a system of uniformity, design, and control of forms. Beginning in September 1906, Immigration and Naturalization Service Form 2202 asked aliens for an exact date and place of birth, as well as for that person’s last residence. The port of arrival in the United States and means of arrival (the name of the ship) were also included regularly after 1906. If an individual was married, he or she was required to provide the name and date and place of birth of the spouse. Form 2202 also required a list of children’s names and the dates and places of their births.
Suzanne McVetty “President of the Genealogical Speakers Guild”

Over four hundred years, from the 1500s through the 1900s, they came to America in the millions…our ancestors! From Europe, Africa, and Asia, from Central and South America, they came in ships—steamships and sailing vessels arriving along the shores of the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes. And millions of these immigrant arrivals are recorded in surviving ship passenger lists.
John P. Colletta, Ph.D. " In They Came in Ships: A Guide to Finding Your Immigrant"

Naturalization is the legal procedure by which an alien becomes a citizen of a state or country. While citizenship documents are sought by family historians, both for their sentimental and for their informational value, these records are often hard to find and misunderstood.

About Naturalization Records and How to Find Them

To begin the search for an immigrant’s origins, try to learn as much as you can about that person, including full name, approximate birth date, native country, approximately when he or she came to the United States, and where that person lived after his or her arrival here.
Since 1790, naturalizations in the United States have been performed according to federal law.
Before 1906, any federal, state, or local court of record (a court having a seal or a record) could naturalize aliens.
Generally, the best place to begin a naturalization search is in the county in which the immigrant settled in the U.S.
There are some major indexes of naturalizations that took place in federal and local courts (created by the WPA) that can expedite searches for individuals who lived in the New England States, southern New York, and parts of several midwestern states. The microfilmed indexes are available in some of the regional archives of the National Archives and from the Family History Library, among other places.
Many federal and local court naturalizations and naturalization indexes have been microfilmed and are available from the Family History Library.
Aliens intending to be naturalized citizens first filed a declaration of intention to become a citizen.
Declarations of intention are instruments by which applicants for U.S. citizenship renounced allegiance to foreign sovereignties and declared their intentions to become U.S. citizens.
A declaration of intention usually preceded proof of residence or a petition to become a citizen by two or more years.
In most years, a declaration of intention was not required if the citizen had an honorable discharge from the U.S. military or had entered the country when a minor (under age 21).
After five years in the United States (except for a brief period when the laws changed), an alien could petition a court to be naturalized.
Naturalization petitions are instruments by which those who declared their intention to become a U.S. citizen and who had met the residence requirements made formal application for U.S. citizenship.
Many aliens waited more than the required five years to become naturalized.
Many aliens who filed declarations of intention never completed the process by petitioning for naturalization.
Naturalization depositions are formal statements in support of an applicant’s petition by witnesses designated by the applicant.
Certificates or records of naturalization and oaths of allegiance are documents which granted citizenship to petitioners.
Courts held hearings on the petitions of aliens and took testimony from witnesses to determine whether the alien met residence and character requirements.
When the petition was accepted, the alien took the oath of allegiance and the court recorded the final order or certificate.
Before 1906, the final order was usually recorded in the court’s minute or order book, and the court usually issued the new citizen a certificate of naturalization.
Before 1906, naturalization forms (records) often varied significantly from state to state, county to county, court to court, and from year to year.
Between 1855 and 1922, an alien woman became a citizen automatically if she married an American citizen.
A woman could derive citizenship from her naturalized father or her husband (derivative citizenship).
Relatively few single women became naturalized citizens before 1922, and married women could not be naturalized on their own unless they were widowed or divorced.
Non-native minor children became American citizens when their parents were naturalized.
Former black slaves were made citizens by the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, 1868.
American Indians were made citizens by federal laws passed in 1887 and 1924.
Aliens from China, Japan, and other East and South Asian countries were barred from becoming citizens from 1882 to 1943.
Expedited naturalization proceedings have been available to aliens who were army veterans since 1862; navy veterans since 1894; and wartime enlisted servicemen and women since 1918.
Under the 1906 Basic Naturalization Act, naturalization forms were standardized and the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, later the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), examined petitions for naturalization.
After 1906, there is more biographical information on the standardized naturalization records.
The INS has duplicate naturalization records for individuals who were naturalized after 1906.
Women twenty-one years of age or over were entitled to citizenship in 1922, and derivative citizenship was discontinued.
While this brief description will get you started, there is a more complete study of the records in Loretto Dennis

What fires the imagination more than the image of our own immigrant ancestors first setting foot on American soil? Your family’s arrival in the United States is an important part of your personal history. There may be a passenger arrival list that shows your ancestor’s name—and hopefully a lot more about him or her. For most ships entering U.S. ports between 1565 and 1954, a passenger list was compiled. While not all passenger lists have survived, most extant lists include the name of the ship, the captain’s name, the port and date of the ship’s departure, and the port and date of arrival in the U.S. Additionally, passenger lists include a roster of the passengers with varying amounts of identifying information.

Passenger arrival lists can be among the most valuable sources for documenting our ancestors’ immigration. While the content of passenger lists has changed significantly over the years, these much-sought records are in great demand by demographers, historians, genealogists, and even those with just a casual interest in their heritage.
Official U.S. government passenger arrival lists are available from 1820 (when the government first kept passenger lists) through 1945 for most of the ports in the United States with customs houses. Those available in the National Archives on microfilm are tabulated in Immigration and Passenger Arrivals: A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilms. The lists are divided into customs passenger lists (original lists, copies, or abstracts) and immigration passenger lists (State Department transcripts and lists) with pertinent indexes. Microfilm copies are also available for searching at the Family History Library and its family history centers located throughout the United States. Selected passenger lists are available at some public and genealogical libraries. The Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for example, has a large collection of passenger list microfilms.

For pre-1820 official lists, researchers must rely on surviving ship cargo manifests. Many colonial and U.S. ports kept copies of manifests filed as a requirement for clearance. The existing manifests have been scattered among archives, museums, and other historical agencies, but most have been reproduced in published form and are indexed in P. William Filby’s Passenger and Immigration Lists Index.

While at least some passenger lists have been indexed for virtually every U.S. port, a large number remain unindexed. As with other government documents, passenger lists were not intended to be genealogical documents, but rather were a means of monitoring immigrant arrivals. Historically, up to seven different passenger lists were created and perhaps more for some groups of passengers. These include lists made and filed with:

The port of embarkation
Ports of call along the route
The port of arrival
Newspapers at the port of departure
Newspapers at the cities of arrival
A copy kept with or as part of the ship’s manifest
Notations in the ship’s log

Federal control brought about the creation of several types of passenger arrival records. All of them are available for searching, with some restrictions. A thorough discussion of the nature and history of U.S. passenger lists is in Michael Tepper’s American Passenger Arrival Records. A succinct guide to using those lists and the available indexes is John P. Colletta’s They Came in Ships: A Guide to Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor’s Arrival Record.

One of the most significant developments in genealogy in the past fifteen years has been the publication of indexes to immigration passenger lists. The largest project is Filby’s Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, which contains more than 2 million entries for immigrants from the British Isles and Europe.

Alabama -

Alaska - Alaska had six major ports of immigration: Anchorage, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Nome, and Sitka. No passenger arrival records have currently been located. The 1898 gold rush to the Yukon, along with the impending Yukon-Alaska boundary disputes, prompted the Canadian government to send two divisions of the mounted Police to the Yukon. These divisions, headquartered at Dawson and Whitehorse, maintained registrations of persons and boats entering and leaving the Yukon at various ports. Many of those registered came to Alaska. These records are held at the Public Archives of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, and the Glenbow-Alberta Institute of Archives, Calgary, Alberta.

Many people who came during the Alaska Gold Rush in 1898 were never heard from again. Often families were left behind with no knowledge of a husband's or father's whereabouts. One valuable source for locating missing immigrants to Alaska is the Pioneers' Home. Many of these people lived and died in the various Alaska Pioneers' Homes, the Sitka Home being the oldest institution. Other Homes were located in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, Palmer, and Sitka. The Alaska Pioneers' Homes are state agencies and thus transfer permanent records to the state archives. Many of these records are currently on file at the state archives. A listing of the residents as well as the deaths at the home up to 1 October 1920 has been published in Joe H. Ashby, “Alaska's Greatest Institution, The Pioneers' Home,” Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly 13 (Winter 1981): 221–24.

One historical migration from the lower forty-eight took place in 1935. This migration, known as the Matanuska colony, was a government sponsored relocation of 200 farming families from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to the Matanuska Valley near Anchorage. Orlando W. Miller, The Frontier In Alaska and the Matanuska Colony (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1975), provides an excellent account of this colonization experiment. The National Archives/Alaska Region has many documents relating to the Matanuska colony.

Residents of Alaska became U.S. citizens when the area was purchased from Russia in 1867. Naturalization and citizenship records for those arriving after that time were filed in the judicial districts. These are also on file at the Alaska State Archives and the FHL, and they include old territorial records of Fairbanks, Juneau, and Nome that have been transferred to the superior court. The National Archives-Alaska Region has many citizenship records for Alaska. These include declaration of intention (1900–29) and special court orders (1914–32) for Juneau; declaration of intention (1901–17) for Skagway; petition case files (1910–14) for Fairbanks; and petition case files (1910–20) for Iditarod.

Arizona -

Arkansas - Naturalization records for Arkansas are maintained by the federal district courts in Little Rock, Helena, Batesville, Fort Smith, and Texarkana. Naturalization records for 1809 to 1906 were indexed in 1942 by the WPA. Some World War I soldiers from throughout the midwest who were stationed at Camp Pike during the war were naturalized in Pulaski County Circuit Court. See Desmond Walls Allen, 1918 Camp Pike, Arkansas, Index to Soldiers' Naturalizations (Conway, Ark.: Arkansas Research, 1988).

California - Immigration Records - Although numerous people came to the western shores as immigrants, no federal records were required for entry from Canada or Mexico.

The California State Library has microfilms of San Francisco ships' passenger lists for 1893–1953, plus additional immigrants and crew lists covering 1954–57. The twenty-eight-roll index to these records for 1893–1934 and thirty-two rolls listing Chinese passengers arriving at San Francisco 1882–1914 are also at the state library in Sacramento. Many immigrants in this period were from China and Japan, but a good number were from Europe, Australia, and elsewhere. Louis J. Rasmussen's San Francisco Ship Passenger Lists (1850–1984), 4 vols. (Colma, Calif.: San Francisco Historic Records, 1965–70; Vol. 1. 1965; reprint, Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1978), covers a time period by sea, while his Railway Passenger Lists of Overland Trains to San Francisco and the West, 2 vols. (Colma, Calif.: San Francisco Historic Records, 1966) starts with 1870.

Naturalization Records - As with other states, prior to 1906 a person might have filed for naturalization in any court in the state; for this time period, there are no guides for locating a naturalization in the state other than those which were entered at federal district court. Many of those have been gathered and are located at either of the National Archives regional branches: Pacific Sierra at San Bruno or Pacific Southwest at Laguna Niguel.

Colorado -

Connecticut
Immigration Records - Connecticut's immigration lists are included in the National Archives microfilm, M575, Passengers Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts 1820–1873 .

Naturalization Records - Naturalizations, as with other states, might have been granted in any Connecticut court up to the twentieth century. Some are still in the county courthouses, but all which were held at the Connecticut State Library were transferred to the National Archives/New England Region in 1984 and are being microfilmed with a copy of the film to be returned for research at the state library. Those filed and granted after 1906 are in the federal district court in Bridgeport, Hartford, or New Haven.

Delaware
Immigration Records - Ship passenger arrival lists for Wilmington, 1820–49, are on microfilm at the National Archives-Mid Atlantic Region. See also Carl Boyer, ed., Ship Passenger Lists: Pennsylvania and Delaware, 1641–1825 (Newhall, Calif.: the author, 1980). Priscilla Thompson's Arriving in Delaware: The Italian-American Experience (Wilmington, Del.: History Store, 1989) provides a study of one immigrant group, from about 1870.

Naturalization Records - Ship passenger arrival lists for Wilmington, 1820-49, are on microfilm at the National Archives-Mid Atlantic Region (see page 9). See also Carl Boyer, ed., Ship Passenger Lists: Pennsylvania and Delaware, 1641-1825 (Newhall, Calif.: the author, 1980). Priscilla Thompson's Arriving in Delaware: The Italian-American Experience (Wilmington, Del.: History Store, 1989) provides a study of one immigrant group, from about 1870.

A card index at the Delaware State Archives to a few naturalizations for 1788–1905 actually gives brief abstracts of the records. Federal court naturalizations for 1845–1910 are at the National Archives-Mid Atlantic Region, and county records originally with the prothonotary are now at the state archives. Naturalizations for New Castle County, 1826–58, were published in The Maryland and Delaware Genealogist 18 (1977): 2–4 and 19 (1978)

District of Columbia - Most immigrants to the District of Columbia arrived at ports in Maryland and Pennsylvania See Maryland—Immigration and Pennsylvania—Immigration.

Florida
Naturalization Records - Florida immigration records, as such, are rare. Most of the early settlers came overland from the neighboring states to the north but below the Mason-Dixon Line, and the majority of them were from Georgia; however. There were some seaports through which immigrants came into the territory and state, but most of the recorded activity was as late as the turn of this century. There are copies and transcripts of customs passenger lists for Key West (1837-52, 1857-68), for St. Augustine (1821-22, 1822-24, 1827, 1875), and St. Johns (1865) on National Archives microfilm M575, for which the 188 rolls of M334 are an alphabetical index (Key West, reel 4; St. Augustine and St. Johns, reel 16).

National Archives microfilm publication T940 is forty-one rolls of Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Key West, 1898-1945, and T517 comprises a twenty-six-roll Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, 1890-1924. Fortunately, the latter is arranged alphabetically by name of the passenger rather than by the port. A number of post-1899.

The National Archives-Southeast Region has naturalization petitions and records from the U.S. district court at Key West (1867-1948) and Miami (1913-48). Naturalizations prior to 1907 can be found in the files of some circuit courts, such as in Escambia (1821-1903), Hillsborough (1899-present), and Putnam (1853-1906) counties. They often are not indexed separately.

Georgia - Savannah, Georgia, served as one of the nation's southern immigration ports. Passenger lists of immigrants arriving at Savannah are available (however, they are sketchy during early years) on federal microfilm M575, Passengers Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, at the National Archives and the FHL.

Georgia governors issued passports of good character for families passing through the Indian lands for the West prior to 1820. These passports are abstracted in Dorothy Williams Potter, Passports of Southeastern Pioneers, 1770–1823 (Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, 1982). See also Marion R. Hemperley “Savannah Federal Naturalization Oaths, 1790–1860.” Georgia Historical Quarterly 51 (1967), 454–87.

The Federal Writers' Project produced in 1940 Drums and Shadows: Surviving Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1973), which covers the social history of a specific group of blacks in Georgia's history.

Hawaii - The population of Hawaii is a blend of many ethnic groups. Immigrants came to Hawaii to work. The Chinese arrived in 1852, the Portuguese in 1878, the Japanese in 1884, Koreans in 1903, and Filipinos in 1906. The Japanese currently make up about 30 percent of the population and represent Hawaii's largest ethnic group.

Records concerning arrival prior to 1860 have been compiled in the valuable volume entitled Voyages to Hawaii before 1860 by Bernice Judd (Honolulu: The University of Hawaii, ca. 1974). This book is a compilation of narratives in the libraries of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society and the Hawaii Historical Society.

Passenger lists for persons arriving in Hawaii have been microfilmed from 1843 to 1900. These include a separate index for: Chinese arrivals (1854-1900); Japanese arrivals (1888-1900); Portuguese arrivals (1878-1900); and a general index for all others (early to 1900). These ship manifests and the index are on microfilm at the Hawaii State Archives and the FHL in Salt Lake City.

Although the Chinese arrivals in Hawaii are listed in the passenger lists (1854-1900), many arrivals were not recorded. The Board of Immigration in Hawaii recorded additional Chinese arrivals. This collection of records spans 1847 to 1880 and is on file at the Hawaii State Archives with microfilm copies at the FHL.

The Chinese Bureau of Hawaii has records of Chinese entry permits (1888-98); card index to Chinese Passports (1884-1898); Chinese work permits (1895-97); departures of Chinese from Hawaii (1852-1900); index to entry permits of Chinese minors (1891-98); labor permits of persons who died in Hawaii (1895-97); and special resident permits (1891). Many of these records provide the entry date of the immigrant as well as the vessel. The originals are at the Hawaii State Archives. They have been microfilmed and are also on file at the FHL

Many passport registrations for Portuguese citizens have been published in the volume entitled Passport Registrations Portuguese Immigrants From Azores to Sandwich Isles, 1879-1883 (Honolulu: De Mello Publishing Company, n.d.).

The Japanese Consulate General, 1742 Nuuanu Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96817, has records of Japanese nationals who came to Hawaii between 1885 and 1910.

The Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association has passenger manifests of Filipino contract laborers from 1906 to the present. Some early Korean immigrations can be found with the Chinese arrivals from 1 January 1900 to 28 December 1903.

Idaho - There is no port of entry common to overseas immigrants who settled in Idaho. Prior to the migration of persons who stayed in Idaho, there were no railroads or emigration trails. It could be said that they crossed Idaho to the west coast. Those who remained in Idaho developed their society in relative isolation. Idaho had a port of entry at the Canadian border through which immigrants could migrate. By 1924 Idaho was under the jurisdiction of the Spokane, Washington, Office of the Bureau of Immigration. Port of entry was at Eastport, Idaho. Eastport records are filed with the Seattle passenger lists (1890-1957) at the National Archives. These have been microfilmed but are not indexed. Additional information on people entering through Eastport, Idaho may be obtained from a search of the St. Albans, Vermont District records (so-called, see Vermont - Immigration), which are indexed.

Illinois - Although Illinois was not a direct “port of entry” for American immigrants, many individuals regarded it as their destination. Therefore, the number of applications for citizenship in Illinois are enormous. County circuit courts hold naturalization records prior to 1906. The Genealogical Society of Utah has microfilmed some Illinois naturalization records. Early Cook County naturalization files were destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871. Numerous Illinois naturalization records are located at the National Archives/Great Lakes Region, 7358 South Pulaski Road, Chicago Illinois 60629, (312) 581-7816; contact the Great Lakes Region for full particulars. Held by this repository is a Soundex Index (Records of Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group 85) for naturalizations for 1871–1950. The Index includes several northern Illinois counties (Cook County for 1871–1906) and has been microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. For any naturalizations that took place in this District Court after 1959, the United States District Court—Chicago, Naturalization, Room 2062, 219 South Dearborn, Chicago, IL 60604. This court also maintains an index of all naturalization in the court from 1871 to the present. Szucs' work, listed in Background Sources above, contains information on specific naturalization records from Calumet City and Chicago Heights.

Indiana - Records, except bankruptcy cases, of the federal district courts of the United States for the state of Indiana have been transfered to the National Archives-Great Lakes Region. These include the Northern District (1879-1959), incompassing the divisisons of Hammond, Ft. Wayne, South Bend, and the Southern District (1819-1959), with the divisions of Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Evansville, and New Albany.

Iowa -

Kansas -

Kentucky -

Louisiana - The New Orleans Public Library has microfilm of nineteenth-century ship passenger lists. Glen Conrad published most of those for the French period as First Families of Louisiana, 2 vols. (Louisiana: Claitor Publishing Co., 1970). The WPA published six volumes as Ship Registers and Enrollments of New Orleans: 1804-1870 (New Orleans, 1931-42). A publication covering some of the lists from the middle period of the colonial era was done by Winston DeVille, Louisiana Recruits: 1752-1758 (New Orleans: Polyanthos, 1973).

Maine - Although Portland was a port of entry itself, with indexes to passengers arriving 1893–1954 in the National Archives collection with copies at National Archives/New England Region, many Maine residents are descendants of the Irish and other nationalities who passed through immigration in Boston and New Brunswick (see Massachusetts—Immigration).

Maryland
Immigration Records - Ships' passenger arrival lists for the Port of Baltimore, 1891-1948 (earlier lists are in Washington, D.C.) and indexes to such lists for 1820-1952 are at the National Archives Mid-Atlantic Region and the Maryland Historical Society. The index, 1820-1909, is also available at the Baltimore City Archives.

Naturalization Records - Naturalizations granted in U.S. district and circuit courts in Maryland (Baltimore) are available on microfilm at the National Archives-Mid-Atlantic Region in Philadelphia, with an index for the years 1797-1951. Some early naturalization petitions were destroyed by fire. The index is also available at the Baltimore City Archives and Maryland Historical Society. The Maryland State Archives has index/abstract cards for these courts for the period 1797-1906, as well as indexes for 1925-51 and for the naturalization of soldiers, 1918-23. Other naturalization records are available at the Maryland State Archives and in the county courthouses. Citizenship was granted in the provincial period, 1634-1776, by the court, legislature, or the governor and council, and these records are indexed at the Maryland State Archives. The Maryland State Archives also has an index to naturalizations, 1781-1906, granted by the General Courts of the Eastern and Western Shores and in certain county courts. There are separate indexes for naturalizations in Baltimore City (1793-1933) and Baltimore County (1872-1902). Records for some counties have been published, such as those for Frederick County, 1785-1850.

Massachusetts
Immigration Records - Both immigration and naturalization records abound for Massachusetts since Boston was a major port of entry for hundreds of millions of people seeking refuge, food, land, and religious and political freedom from points across the Atlantic. Smaller ports existed in other towns both north and south of Boston's wharfs. The seventeenth and nineteenth century records are well-organized, but few of the eighteenth century records are as easily accessed.

1800-Present. The nineteenth century brought massive numbers of immigrants to Massachusetts, creating a much more heterogeneous population than a century earlier. Fortunately, many passenger lists have been indexed for the period.

Massachusetts State Archives has an alphabetical name index to the Port of Boston passenger lists from 1848-91, called the state list. The National Archives/New England Region has passenger lists from 1820-1925 and continues to receive later ones. The National Archives in Washington, D.C., has copies of the Boston lists for 1820-91 (Record Group 36, M277), though some gaps in coverage appear in the microfilm copy of the lists. The microfilm index to passenger lists made by the National Archives in Washington, D.C., for 1848-91 (Record Group 36, M265) used the state lists to create their index for arrivals at the port of Boston. Consequently, people might appear on the microfilmed federal index, but not on the federal lists while they do appear on the state list at the Massachusetts State Archives.

The National Archives in Washington, D.C., additionally has an index to passenger lists for arrivals at Boston from 1902-20 (Record Group 85, T521; T617), book indexes to the Boston passenger lists by date of arrival from 1899-1940 (Record Group 85, T790), and passenger lists themselves 1891-1943 (Record Group 85, T843).

Boston was only one port of entry open for immigrants to Massachusetts. There are lists for other ports in the state as well, generally covered by the National Archives index in Record Group 36 (M334) Atlantic, Gulf, and Great Lakes ports, 1820-91.

In the Boston area, the Boston Public Library has microfilm copies of all the federal passenger lists beginning in 1820, as well as other immigration material.

Naturalization Records - The WPA developed an index of naturalizations found in numerous city, county, state, and federal courts in New England for the period 1786-1906, which are soundexed, microfilmed and available through National Archives.

Massachusetts State Archives holds abstracts for state and local courts (1885-1931 with separate annual indexes), and also Essex County naturalization records (1901-1982). Current petitions and index cards for the federal courts are at Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Department of Justice, JFK Federal Building, Government Center, Boston, MA 02203.

Michigan - Immigration Records - The French were the first Europeans to inhabit present-day Michigan. The Burton Historical Collection holds typed transcriptions of twenty-two volumes of French Notarial Records for Montreal (1682-1822) and four volumes of the Detroit Notarial Records (1737-95). Included are business contracts, indentures, apprentice and servant contracts, and fur trade transactions. Michigan French-Canadian descendants definitely should attempt to utilize the extensive available Canadian provincial and religious records in all repositories.
Membership in the French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan (Library of Michigan, 735 East Michigan Avenue, Lansing, Michigan 48913) includes five newsletters per year and the quarterly journal, Michigan's Habitant Heritage.

Michigan attracted a large number of immigrants. Entries for collections on various groups can be found in all of the repositories' holdings. One example is in Michigan Historical Collections in Ann Arbor, which holds letters sent by Swedish immigrants to entice others to come, as well as Swedish-language newspapers published in Michigan. Ethnic Groups in Detroit (Wayne State University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, 1951) was published as part of the city's 250th anniversary. Included is a discussion of forty-three ethnic groups.

Naturalization Records - Beginning in the 1840s and burgeoning near the end of the century, immigrants from northern and eastern Europe journeyed to Michigan for employment opportunities and religious freedom. Naturalization records for Michigan are organized by county, some with indexes. Declarations of intentions are usually arranged by surname while other documents for the citizenship process are chronological. Records for sixteen of Michigan's counties are cataloged by the State Archives of Michigan: Cass, Genesee, Gladwin, Hillsdale, Ingham, Ionia, Kalamazoo, Kent, Keweenaw, Luce, Marquette, Monroe, Montcalm, Muskegon, Saginaw, and Wayne.

Minnesota - Immigration Records - The only direct immigration to Minnesota would have been across the United States-Canadian border by land, railroad or waterways. According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, St. Paul, it was not until 1890 that port of entry records were kept for people entering from Canada. Passenger lists were not required on the lakes and rivers of Minnesota although some lists do exist. They may be found in diaries, letters, records of ship personnel, newspapers, or shipping company business papers. Their rarity makes them an uncommon source for genealogical research. For extensive information on the availability of river vessel records, see Ann H. Peterson's comprehensive, “Finding River People on Western Waters,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly 78 (Dec. 1990): 245–61. Although focused on crews of steamboats, her listed sources could be helpful for research involving Midwest river travel.

Naturalization Records - Naturalization records are located at the District Court office of the county or at the Minnesota Historical Society Research Center. Availability varies by county and will continue to shift as more counties transfer their files to the center. Supreme Court Naturalization Records, 1858–1906 are found at the center. After 1906, naturalization was granted by the U.S. Federal District Court.

Mississippi - Immigration Records - The ports of New Orleans and then Mobile were main ports of entry for those nineteenth century immigrants who later came to settle in Mississippi. Gulfport, Harrison County, has served as port of entry in the twentieth century.

National land passports were issued to those passing through Native American lands or foreign-held land. Occasionally they give a description of the person and an explanation as to their reason of passage. For publication of these types of passports pertaining to Mississippi, see Dorothy Williams Potter, Passports of Southeastern Pioneers, 1770–1823: Indian, Spanish and Other Land Passports for Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi, Virginia, North and South Carolina (Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, 1982).

Naturalization Records - Before 28 September 1906, all naturalization proceedings took place in any state court. Access to these earlier records may be obtained through the typescript index created by the WPA in 1942, "Index to Naturalization Records in Mississippi Courts, 1798-1906." Preparation of this index involved a massive combing of courthouse records in both chancery and circuit courts that located some material that had previously been considered lost. This index gives information leading to the location of declarations of intention, petitions, and minutes, noting the administration of oaths of allegiance.

Following 1906, all naturalization matters were conducted by the federal district courts. These records are housed at the National Archives-Southeast Region (see Introduction).

Missouri -

Montana - Most of the foreign immigrants who settled in Montana arrived through the port of New York, although immigrants also came from Canada. The ports of entry from Canada were Sweetgrass, Gateway, and Roosville. Sweetgrass was established as a port of entry in 1903, Gateway in 1908, and Roosville in 1930. The WPA conducted an inventory of the Immigration and Naturalization Service records, including these ports of entry, in the volume Inventory of Federal Archives in the States—Series XI, Department of Labor, No. 25: Montana (Bozeman, Mont.: Historical Records Survey Project, 1942). Other records inventoried in this booklet were Canadian steamship arrivals, Chinese arrests, Chinese laborers, Chinese natives, Japanese and Korean aliens and deportations, passports, smuggling of aliens, and warrants for alien arrests.

The Montana ports of entry are filed with the Seattle passenger lists, which have been microfilmed and are at the National Archives and the FHL. Additional information on persons entering through Montana ports-of-entry may be found in the St. Albans, Vermont District records (so-called, see Vermont—Immigration), which are indexed.

Nebraska - A card index to pre-1906 naturalizations for all the counties in Nebraska, western Iowa, and some counties in eastern Iowa in the 1930s and 1940s was compiled as a WPA project. This index has been microfilmed and can be searched at the Nebraska State Historical Society. Each card contains the name, country of origin, date of naturalization, and the court, county, and state of naturalization. The researcher should be aware that the name of the state does not appear on cards for many Nebraska counties. The reverse side contains the type of naturalization and the volume and page number where the record is located. This index includes only those who received their final papers in Nebraska. It does not report those who only declared their intention in Nebraska.

Nevada -

New Hampshire - New Hampshire was not a significant port of immigration, even though thirty-two of its miles are on the Atlantic coast. In addition to a sizeable French-Canadian and Atlantic-Canadian migration, however, many of Boston's immigrants found their way to New Hampshire for work in manufacturing in the late nineteenth century. The collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society and New Hampshire State Library are excellent sources for research.

New Jersey - Immigration: Most nineteenth- and twentieth-century immigration by ship was through the ports of New York and Philadelphia. There were some ship arrivals, however, directly in New Jersey, and federal passenger lists of these are available at the National Archives for Perth Amboy, 1801-37 (with gaps); Bridgetown and Cape May, 1828; Little Egg Harbor, 1831; and Newark, 1836. These are indexed in "A Supplemental Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Atlantic and Gulf Coast Ports," copies of which are at the National Archives/Mid-Atlantic Region and elsewhere.

Naturalization: A search for nineteenth- and twentieth-century naturalization records should usually begin with the county clerk. A guide to these records for 1702-1886 was prepared by the WPA (Newark: New Jersey Historical Records Program, 1941). U.S. district court naturalization records for Camden, Camp Fort Dix, Newark, and Trenton, for various periods 1838 to 1981, arranged alphabetically or indexed are at the National Archives/Northeast Region.
For the 1700s and 1800s, naturalization records are at the New Jersey State Archives, where there are also microfilms of many of the county records covering to 1906. It is important to keep in mind that many New Jersey residents may have become naturalized or at least filed a declaration of intention in New York City or Philadelphia if they stayed long enough in those port cities before settling in the Garden State.

New Mexico -

New York - Immigration: Microfilm lists of ships' passenger arrivals at the port of New York are at the National Archives-Northeast Region for 1820-1909 and 1943-52, and at the New York Public Library for 1820-1910. The archives has name indexes for 1820-46 and 1897-1948, and the public library has them for 1820-46 and 1897-1943.

Naturalization: County naturalization records are kept by the county clerk. U.S. court records are in federal buildings in Buffalo and Albany, with most downstate records to the 1940s or 1950s at the National Archives-Northeast Region. At the latter is a microfilm of a WPA-created card index, arranged by Soundex, for all naturalizations (but not declarations of intention) performed in all courts in all five New York City boroughs, 1792-1906, together with dexigraphs (photostats) of the original records. Until the late 1800s and early 1900s, these records provide little information; upstate records up to the mid-1800s are generally more informative.

Soundex Index to Petitions for Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906: NARA M1674. The Soundex index to naturalization petitions filed in federal, state, and local courts in New York City, including New York, Kings, Queens and Richmond counties, 1792-1906.
Index to the Naturalization Petitions of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Jul 1865-Sep 1906: NARA M1164. A card index to naturalization petitions filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York from July 1865 through September 1906
Index to the Naturalization Petitions of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 1906-Nov 1925: NARA M1164. A card index to naturalization petitions filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York from October 1907 through November 1925.
Index to the Naturalization Petitions of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 1865-1957: NARA M1164. A card index to naturalization petitions filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York from November 1925 through December 1957.
Alphabetical Index to Declarations of Intention of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1917-1950: NARA M1675. Alphabetical Index to Declarations of Intention of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1917-1950
Alphabetical Index to Petitions for Naturalization of the US District Court [and Circuit Court] for the Southern District of New York, 1824-1941: NARA M1676. Alphabetical Index to Petitions for Naturalization of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1824-1941.
Alphabetical Index to Petitions for Naturalizations of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, 1907-1966: NARA M1677. Alphabetical Index to Petitions for Naturalizations of the US District Court for the Western District of New York, 1907-1966

North Carolina -

North Dakota - Most of North Dakota's naturalization records have been transferred from the clerk of the district court offices in each county to the State Archives and Historical Research Library. These records represent the bulk of documentation pertaining to immigration and naturalization proceedings in the state. The records document individuals who became, or applied to become, citizens between 1873 and 1952. Indexes for forty counties are presently available and others are in process.

Ohio -

Oklahoma -

Oregon - Immigrants arrived in Oregon from six ports: Astoria, Newport, North Bend, Portland, Reedsport, and Tillamook. Records concerning the port of Portland are on file at the National Archives/Pacific Northwest Region in Seattle and include records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Portland Office, and the Portland Collector of Customs. No passenger lists for the port of Portland or the smaller ports have been found at this time.

Naturalization - Foreign-born residents could become naturalized in any court of record. Records created prior to 1906 may still be in the county. Some records were not kept in separate naturalization books, but in court journals or court minutes, making them difficult to locate. The Oregon State Archives has some naturalization records, and publishes a Naturalization Records leaflet.

Pennsylvania
Immigration & Naturalization Records - Passenger lists for the port of Philadelphia, 1800-1945, and indexes, 1800-1948, are available at the National Archives-Mid Atlantic Region. The pre-1820 records are actually “baggage lists”. While not classified as immigration records, crew and vessel lists for the port of Philadelphia, 1789-1880, are available in indexed typescript volumes at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Free Library of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.

Colonial Naturalizations
The Archives maintains naturalization lists of the Supreme Court and Courts of Nisi Prius (Record Group-21) for the years 1740-1773. These lists consist of names of those people who swore an oath of allegiance to the British Sovereign. Arranged chronologically, these lists were published in Pennsylvania Archives , Second Series, Volume 2 and have been reprinted as Persons Naturalized in the Province of Pennsylvania, 1740-1773 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967), with an index.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Naturalizations
In addition, naturalization records of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1794-1868 (Record Group-33) are available for the Eastern District (Philadelphia), Southern District (Chambersburg), and Western District (Pittsburgh). An index of the records of the Eastern District in Philadelphia covering the years 1794-1868 has been published in Philadelphia Naturalization Records: An Index to Records of Alliens' Declarations of Intention and/or Oaths of Allegiance, 1789-1880, in the United States Circuit Court, United States District Court, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Quarter Sessions Court, Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Company, 1982)

Naturalization Petitions for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1795-1930(The National Archives): These are Naturalization Records of the US Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. They include petitions for naturalization, 1795-1930; and declarations of intent, 1793-1818, and 1825-1836. There are some years missing from this publication within those time periods.
Naturalization Petitions of the U.S. Circuit and District Courts for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 1906-1930 (The National Archives): These petitions are arranged by court then by year. Within each year, they are listed by the date of the record and then by petitioner's name. Typing a name in the search box directly below this title may bring the best results. Additional years prior to 1906 are also included in these naturalization records for Pennsylvania's middle district.
Naturalization Petitions of the U.S. District Court, 1820-1930, and Circuit Court, 1820-1911, for the Western District of Pennsylvania (The National Archives): These files contain declarations of intent and petitions for naturalization for the Western District of Pennsylvania, arranged by date, October 1820 through September 26, 1906. They also include records of the US Circuit Court, July 1910-1911, listed by petition number, from 1 to 1,616; and records of the US District Court, October 1, 1906 through January 27, 1931, listed by petition number, from 1 to 91,300.

To conduct a naturalization search:

Determine where the individual was naturalized. If the immigrant was naturalized in Philadelphia, consult Philadelphia Naturalization Records . This index covers records from five courts: the Court of Common Pleas (CP), Court of Quarter Sessions (QS), United States Circuit Court (CC), United States District Court (DC), and the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court (SC). If the final date of naturalization includes a notation of SC, these records will be held by the State Archives.
If your ancestor was naturalized in a court other than the Supreme Court, such as the Court of Common Pleas (CP), Court of Quarter Sessions (QS), United States Circuit Court (CC), or United States District Court (DC), contact the following:

* For City/County Court records (CP, QS) write: Philadelphia City Archives , 3101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 The City Archives has naturalization records for the City and County of Philadelphia for 1794-1903 and 1914-1930. There are no records of the 1904-1913 period available from the City.
* For Federal Court records (CC, DC) write: National Archives Mid-Atlantic Region, 9th & Market Streets, Room 1350, Philadelphia, PA 19107. The researcher is required to provide the following information: person's full name, date of declaration, court in which declaration was made, and the petition number.

Persons who wish information about citizenship granted elsewhere before 1906 should send their inquiries to the clerk of the federal, state, county or municipal court that issued the naturalization certificate. The Immigration and Naturalization service, Washington, D.C. 20536, has duplicate records of all naturalizations that occurred after September 26, 1906.

Rhode Island
Immigration & Naturalization Records - Newport, Bristol and, to a lesser extent, Providence, were ports of entry for the slave trade (see Black American, below) in the colony's early history and the choice for later immigrants. Immigration records are held by the National Archives and available regionally at the National Archives-New England Region (see page 8).

U.S. Customs Service passenger records for the ports of Providence (1820–67), Newport (1820–57), and Bristol and Warren (1820–71) are included in NARA microfilm publication M575 and are held regionally at the National Archives-New England Region (see page 8). Index to Passengers Arriving at Providence, R.I., June 18, 1911–October 5, 1954 (NARA microfilm publication T518) as well as the passenger lists to 1943 are available on microfilm at the National Archives.
Naturalization

Naturalizations granted (1842–1904) by the Federal District Court at Providence are included in the soundex cards for all of New England (1790–1906) held at the National Archives-New England Region (see Massachusetts - Naturalization).

Since naturalizations were also granted by other courts, both at the county and state level, they can be hard to find. Court records previously at the Providence College Library have been moved to the superior court at the Rhode Island Superior Court Judicial Records Center, 1 Hill Street, Pawtucket, Rhode Island 02860. Both the Records Center and the State Archives have a personal name index to these records from 1793–1900 on microfilm.

South Carolina - Passenger lists for the Port of Charleston are at the National Archives : series M575 includes arrivals, 1820–28; series M334 is an index.

South Dakota - Naturalization records, including declarations of intent, petitions, and final papers have been deposited in the South Dakota State Historical Society for the following counties: Beadle (unprocessed), Bon Homme (1871-1942), Brookings (1873-1955), Clark (1881-1945), Codington (1880-1930), Davison (1878-1954), Douglas (1882-1943), Edmunds (1884-1952), Faulk (1884-1945), Hand (1882-1940), Harding (1909-44), Hughes (1881-1956), Hutchinson (1876-1944), Jones (1903-59), Kingsbury (1883-1945), Lawrence (1879-1954), Mellette (1912-46), Minnehaha (1868-1954), Stanley (1892-1927), Union (1872-1946), Walworth (1883-1954), and Yankton (1874-1955).

Tennessee - ?

Texas - Both New Orleans and Galveston served as ports of entry for those who immigrated and settled in Texas. Some early immigrants entered at New Orleans. The National Archives-Southwest Region in Fort Worth is the regional location for the archives' extensive microfilm collection of immigration lists. The FHL has microfilm copies of passenger lists for New Orleans from 1820-1921 and indexes to 1952; also, the FHL has copies for Galveston, 1846-71, 1893, and 1896-1921, with indexes grouped from 1896-1906 and 1906-51. Prior to 1852 there is no separate index to passengers. Printed sources include the following:

Baca, Leo. Czech Immigration Passenger Lists. 3 vols. Hallestville, Tex.: Old Homestead Publishing Co., 1980-83. While not limited to Texas, a great many of the lists do pertain to Texas and are based on records no longer extant in Texas port of arrival records.
Biesele, Rudolph L. The History of the German Settlements in Texas, 1831-1931. Austin, Tex.: Von Boeckman-Jones Co., 1931.
Blaha, Albert J. Passenger Lists for Galveston, 1850-1855. Houston, Tex.: the author, 1985. Based on European sources. Galveston and Indianola passenger arrivals are included.
Brown, John Henry. Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas. St. Louis, Mo.: L. E. Daniels Publishers, 1890.
Brozek, Andrzej and Henryk Borek, Pierwsi Slazncy w Ameryce (First Silesians in America). Opole, Poland, 1967.
Chabot, Fred Charles. With the Makers of San Antonio. San Antonio, Tex.: Ars Graphica, 1937.
Dworaczyk, Rev. Edward J. The First Polish Colonies in America in Texas. San Antonio, Tex.: Naylor Co., 1936.
Galveston County Genealogical Society. Ships Passenger Lists, Port of Galveston, Texas, 1846-1871. Easley, S.C.: Southern Historical Press, 1984. Lists surviving fragments of records.
Geue, Chester, and Ethel H. Geue. A New Land Beckoned, German Immigration to Texas, 1844-1847. Waco, Tex.: Texian Press, 1972. These records provide coverage for the period when the Republic of Texas kept no records of immigrants arriving at its ports and complements the fragmentary records for the port of Galveston maintained by the United States.
Geue, Ethel H. New Homes in a New Land, German Immigration to Texas, 1847-1861. Waco, Tex.: Texian Press, 1972. These lists are based on records in the Archives of the General Land Office. While there may be some duplication with records maintained by the federal authorities at New Orleans and Galveston, these lists are generally unique.
Haiman, Miecislaus. The Poles in the Early History of Texas. Chicago, Ill.: P.R.C.U. of A. Archives, 1936.
———. Polish Past in America. Chicago, Ill.: P.R.C.U. of A. Archives, 1939.
Hudson, Estelle, and Henry Maresh. Czech Pioneers of the Southwest. Dallas, Tex.: Southwest Press, 1934.
Przygoda, Jacek. Texas Pioneers from Poland: A Study in the Ethnic History. Waco, Tex.: Texian Press, ca. 1971.

Naturalization - The Republic of Texas had no naturalization requirement. Consequently no such records exist before 1846. After statehood and prior to 1906, naturalization records in Texas are found in both the county and district courts in the respective county. The records may be found in county court minutes, county court civil minutes, probate minutes, commissioners court minutes, or in separately maintained volumes. The Act of Congress of 1906 limited naturalization to state courts without original jurisdiction, and Texas county district courts met that requirement. Declarations, affidavits, orders of admission, and other documents are maintained by those courts and the U.S. Federal District Courts.

Utah - Naturalization records begin, in general, with the date the county was organized and may have been kept in one of several courts holding concurrent jurisdiction. Naturalizations which commenced between statehood (1896) and the federal changes in naturalization process (1906) are easier to locate since the district court was the only court in the state where naturalization could be initiated and each one kept records individually by county in the district court office. Many of these may be found at the Utah State Archives and some are on microfilm at the FHL listed under Utah/[County]/Emigration and Immigration. The Utah State Archives has an excellent descriptive flyer for use at their facility in locating holdings of naturalizations. After 1906, in addition to federal courts, an applicant could apply at the state district court for the county or the state Supreme Court.

Since a large number of Mormons were brought to Utah from foreign missions, the number of naturalizations is rather large for a land-locked state. Passenger lists from those Mormon missions in Scandinavia (1872-94) and Europe (1840-1925) are on microfilm through the FHL. Jaussi and Chaston (1974) describe a full collection of emigration records in their work (see Vital Records).

Vermont
Immigaration & Naturalization Records - The "Saint Albans Passenger Arrival Records," so called, were maintained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service at St. Albans, Vermont, and span the years 1895-1954. This immigration district technically covered the entire U.S. Canadian border and documented people traveling by boat or train to the United States, entering through Canada. The original records, soundexed with three supplements, are at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C. A complete set of microfilms are at the National Archives-New England Region.

Naturalizations might have been applied for or obtained through either the county court or U.S. District Courts. The Public Records Division (See Land Records) holds microfilm copies of some naturalizations from 1836 to 1972. A complete WPA index, which includes Vermont, along with the rest of New England for 1790-1906, is held at the National Archives-New England Region

Virginia - The best compilations of early Virginia settlers are found in Peter Wilson Coldham, The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607–1660, The Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage, 1614–1775, and The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1661–1699 (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987, 1988, and 1990). Meyer and Dorman, Adventurers of Purse and Person (cited under Census Records) includes detailed studies of the families of Ancient Planters.

NARA microfilm publication M575, “Copies of Lists of Passengers Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and at Ports on the Great Lakes, 1820–1875,” includes arrivals at Alexandria, East River, Hampton, Norfolk, Petersburg, Portsmouth, and Richmond.

Washington - Immigrants to the state of Washington came through the following ports: Aberdeen, Anacortes, Bellingham, Everett, Friday Harbor, Grey's Harbor, Olympia, Port Angeles, Port Bernard, Port Wells, Princeton, Raymond, Seattle, South Bend, and Tacoma. Points of entry from Canada to Washington were Blaine, Curlew, Marcus, Oroville, and Sumas. These records are filed with the Seattle passenger and ship arrival lists and cover the period from 1890 to 1957. Customs passenger lists of vessels arriving at Port Townsend and Tacoma from 1894 to 1909 and passenger lists of vessels arriving at Seattle from Insular Possessions (1908–1917), along with the Seattle passengers lists (1890–1957), are at the National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, as well as the FHL. These records provide a wealth of genealogical information and should not be overlooked when searching for an immigrant ancestor between 1890 and 1957.

West Virginia -

Wisconsin - Naturalization records for Wisconsin have historically been kept in the county courthouses. However, they are now generally being transferred to the respective Area Research Center. As of 1989, it is estimated that three-fourths of counties have transferred these records. Two significant exceptions to this policy are Milwaukee and Waukesha counties, where the papers are deposited with the respective county historical society. Some naturalizations for La Crosse and all those applied for in federal courts are at the National Archives-Great Lakes Region (see Introduction).

Wyoming -

Research In State Immigration & Naturalization Records

Research In State
Immigration & Naturalization Records