With the blossoming of indexes and other finding aids on the internet, many genealogists forget to consider just what they may not include and think they have reached a brick wall. For example, the Minnesota birth records index on Ancestry.com begins where the Minnesota birth records index on the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) site begins, in the mid-1930s. While many researchers will applaud the seemingly seamless connection between the two, illegitimate births are not included on the Ancestry index but are on the MHS index, due to Minnesota's privacy laws. The on-line index for naturalizations is another case in point.

The on-line index to naturalizations developed at the Iron Range Research Center (and also available at Ancestry.com) includes only those naturalizations granted at the county district courts after statehood in 1858, when the various clerks of court established a new set of record books for the county. There are other sources which include naturalizations.

For immigrants who arrived in Minnesota before statehood, the Declaration of Intent (sometimes called 'first papers') usually includes the date of arrival and the title of the sovereign they are now intending to renounce. Both these pieces of information can be helpful in finding the ancestral home of the family. The second filing or 'final papers' provides evidence that the citizenship took place.

Prior to statehood in 1858, the courts often did not have a separate volume for naturalizations, and kept track of these papers in their "Miscellaneous Records" volume, along side other records of the court: ministerial credentials, marriage records, etc. These volumes are not included in the on-line indexes. If your ancestor was an early arrival to Minnesota and you've been unable to find records of naturalization, you will want to check this volume for your county of interest.

Though not indexed on-line, naturalization records from the Benton County volume were published in the Minnesota Genealogical Journal. The current series of naturalizations in the Journal features Fillmore County. Those that took place in the Minnesota Supreme Court are not included in the on-line indexes, but have been published in the Minnesota Genealogical Index by Wiley Pope. This book is also available from Park Genealogical Books.

If your immigrant ancestor appears on the 1857 census (that census was required to become a state), finding where he lived before that can open the door to naturalization records. Remember that these early records are typically for men. Women became citizens when their spouses did, as did the children. If an immigrant male married a woman born in the U.S., she lost her citizen status, but could regain it when he became naturalized. You may find my research note on naturalizations covering federal court records helpful, too.

Don't give up. For citizenship, there is a record ... somewhere!

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