Rensselaer County
Naturalization Records
Naturalization is the legal procedure by which an alien becomes a citizen of another country, in this case the United States. Naturalization records may provide a vital link for tracing an ancestor to his or her country of origin and can be a rich source of information about the immigrant and his or her family. An alien must declare his or her intention to become a citizen, must serve a required residency period, and then must petition an authorized court for admission to citizenship. The process begins when the alien files a Declaration of Intention with an authorized court, indicating his or her intention to become a citizen; renouncing all allegiance to any foreign state; and renouncing any foreign title or order of nobility. At least two years after making the declaration (after 1906, not more than seven years later), an alien who had been a resident of the United States for at least five years could petition the court for admission to citizenship. (Since 1941, the requirement to file a Declaration of Intention has been abolished, and the residency period for the spouses of citizens has been shortened.) The Petition includes both the applicant's oath and the affidavits of two witnesses who attest to the residency and good character of the petitioner. Finally, if the petition is accepted, the court issues an order admitting the individual to citizenship.

Index to Some Rensselaer County Alien Declarations of Intention
Index to Some Rensselaer County Petitions for Citizenship
Irish Naturalization Database, an excellent and detailed database at Pat Connors's own website
Ellis Island ships, another excellent online resource at Stephen P. Morse's website
Still not found? See below for further research

Further Research

The listings above are only partial. If you have searched them and have not found the names you are looking for, then your next step would be to continue your research offline. You could travel to Troy to search the original naturalization records held at the Rensselaer County Courthouse in that city, or you could access these records nearer to your home, through your local Family History Center (FHC), part of the network of FHCs run by the LDS Church. Here are the relevant microfilm numbers for Rensselaer County, NY naturalization resources. Most of these records are indexed, and the originals of most of these records are at the Rensselaer County Courthouse in Troy. Most of the microfilming took place in 1981.

Primary sources
TitleDescriptionMicrofilm number
Declarations
of intention,
1844-1872 		Vols 1 to 3, 1844-1853
Vols 4 to 7 (pp1-221), 1853-1859
Vols 7 (pp220-end) to 10 (p1-191), 1859-1868
Vols 10 (pp190-end) to 12, 1868-1872 		1304659, items 3-5
1304660
1304661
1304662, items 1-3
Declarations,
1854-1906
 Vols 1 to 6 (pp1-80), 1854-1884
Vols 6 (pp80-end) to 10, 1884-1906 		1304663 items 2-7
1304664
Court minutes,
1843-1857;
Court of Common Pleas,
1843 to Sept. 1847;
records of County Court,
Sept. 1847-1857 		Court minutes (pp1-401), 1843-1855
Court minutes (pp400-end), 1855-1857 		1304662, item 5
1304663, item 1
Declarations
of intention,
1906-1931 		Vols 1 to 5 (pp1-425), 1906-1916
Vols 5 (pp425-end) to 9 (pp1-209), 1913-1916
Vols 9 (pp1-209) to 14, 1929-1931 		1516633
1516634
1516635
Declarations
of intention,
petitions for
naturalization,
and oaths of
allegiance 		Index, A-Z (begins with Vol 17)
Vol 1, 1903-1908
Vols 2 to 3, 1908-1912
Vols 4 to 5 (pp1-50), 1912-1914
Vol 5 (pp50-end), 1914-1917, & Vol 6 (pp1-151), 1917-1919
Vol 6 (pp150-end), 1917-1919, & Vol 7, 1919-1920
Vol 8, 1920-1922, & Vol 9 (pp1-95), 1922-1924
Vol 9 (pp1-95), 1922-1924, & Vol 10 (pp1-200), 1924-1925
Vol 10 (pp200-end), 1924-1925; Vol 11, 1925-1926;
& Vol 12 (pp1-50), 1926-1927
Vol 12 (pp50-end), 1927-1928; Vols 13 to 14, 1927-1928;
& Vol 15 (pp1-90), 1928
Vol 15 (pp90-end), 1928, & Vols 16 to 19, 1928-1931 		1513921
1516355, item 1
1513796
1514207
1514208
1514209
1514210
1514199
.
1516352
.
1516353
1516354
Index to
naturalizations,
1843-1857 		Index 1304662, item 4
Naturalization
certificates,
1844-1869;
index to persons
naturalized in
justices' courts,
city of Troy, 1844-1872 		Index 1844-1872
Vols 1 to 4 (pp1-415), 1944-1952
Vols 4 (pp414-end) to 7, 1852-1856
Vols 9 to 11 (pp1-735), 1856-1859
Vols 11 (pp734-end) to 12, 1859-1869 		1304655, item 2
1304656
1304657
1304658
1304659, items 1-2
Naturalization
certificates, 1844-1872 		Index, 1844-1872
Vol 13, 1869-1872 		1434130, item 1
1434130, item 2
Naturalization
records, Vol 9, 1900-1906;
Index to naturalized persons,
Rensselaer County, NY,
(contains many unindexed
miscellaneous naturalization
papers, 1828-1876);
Vols 1 to 10, 1824-1908 		Index to naturalized persons, Vols 1 to 10, 1824-1908
Naturalization records, Vol 9, 1900-1906 		1304655, item 1
1304667, item 2
Petitions for naturalization, 1903-1906 Vols 1 to 2 (pp1-601), 1903-1905
Vols 2 (pp600-end) to 3, 1905-1906 		1304665
1304666 items 1-2
Petitions for naturalization,
oaths of allegiance and
affidavits, 1827-1929
(includes a few certificates of
intention dated in the 1800s which
are glued to the pages) 		Index, 1827-1929
Petitions, Vol 1, 1903-1904
Petitions, Vol 2 (pp1-179), 1904
Petitions, Vol 2 (pp179-end), 1904-1905
Petitions, Vol 3 (pp1-319), 1905-1906
Petitions, Vol 3 (pp320-end), 1906; &
Oaths of allegiance, Vol 6 (pp1-219), 1881-1888
Oaths of allegiance, Vol 6 (pp218-end), 1881-1888, &
Vols 7 to 8, 1888-1900
Oaths of allegiance, Vol 9, 1900-1906
(also contains certificates of intentions, 1800s) 		1434126, item 1
1434127, item 2
1434126, item 2
1434127, item 1
1434127, item 3
.
1434128
.
1434129
.
1516355, item 2
Record of final applications
to be admitted to become citizens,
Rensselaer County, NY, 1896-1906
(alphabetical) 		1896-1906 1304666, item 3

Secondary sources
TitleAuthorDescriptionMicrofilm number
Rensselaer County Court
naturalizations, Vols 1-2 only 		Nial, Loretta M. (1975) Sections 1-3
Sections 4-5
(Section 6 of typescript missing) 		1304666, item 5
1304667, item 1
.
City of Troy and
Rensselaer County Court 		Nial, Loretta M. 1816-1844 1304666, item 4
Rensselaer County Court
naturalizations, Vol 3;
book of oaths, 1814-1843 		Nial, Loretta M. 1814-1843 1437398, item 20


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