Naturalization Records
An immigrant becomes a citizen by successfully completing the process called naturalization. Naturalization records can show not only when an alien person acquired legal citizenship, but sometimes other interesting information as well, such as the birthplace and occupation. The names of the documents and the amount of information vary from time to time and among different counties. During much of American history, naturalization records were filed at many different kinds of courts, including federal, common pleas and probate. A researcher therefore might need to search multiple archives for the records of one person. Final naturalization record of Solomon Tyhurst from England, 1821, in the Common Pleas Journal Typically, the initial step in the naturalization process was when an alien filed a declaration of intention. This legally indicated that he or she intended to go through the process of becoming a citizen. Later, after the alien had successfully completed the additi