California County Naturalizations - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States California 

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of naturalization records for the years 1849 to 1949 from the following counties (coverage dates will vary by county):


 * Nevada
 * Orange
 * Placer
 * Sacramento
 * San Francisco
 * Sonoma
 * Santa Clara
 * Stanislaus
 * Santa Barbara
 * San Benito
 * San Diego
 * Solano
 * Sutter
 * Yolo
 * Yuba

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The petition includes the following:


 * Name of the petitioner
 * Residence
 * Country of birth
 * Place and date of arrival
 * Names of two witnesses
 * Petition number
 * Date of petition
 * Volume and page number of the petition

The Declaration of Intent usually includes the following:


 * Name of the immigrant
 * Country of birth
 * Arrival date
 * Date of Declaration of Intent or Naturalization
 * Names of witnesses
 * Signature of judge or court official
 * Birth date
 * Birthplace
 * Age
 * Race
 * Last foreign residence
 * Current residence
 * Arrival place
 * Marital status
 * Name of spouse
 * Maiden name of wife
 * Birth date of spouse
 * Residence of spouse

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least one of the following:


 * The full name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate immigration and naturalization dates.
 * The ancestor’s residence or birth date.

If you do not know this information, check the 1900 or 1910 census and then calculate the possible year of naturalization based on the date of immigration. The 1920 census may tell you the exact year of immigration or naturalization. Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the appropriate "County" ⇒ Select the appropriate "Record Type, Year Range, and Volume number or letter" which takes you to the images.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?
You can use naturalization records to:
 * Learn an immigrant’s place of origin then search for records in his or her country of origin such as emigrations, port records, or ship’s manifests.
 * Learn foreign and “Americanized” names by which to search for other records with.
 * Find the Declaration of Intent soon after the immigrant arrived, find the Naturalization Petition five years later, which lists their place of residence, find more naturalization records in federal, state, county, or city courts.
 * If your ancestor had a common name, be sure to look at all the entries for a name before you decide which is correct.
 * Use the information in each record to find additional records and family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family member’s records to find more generations of the family.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name. *Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

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Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation:

Image Citation