Series 85174

DISTRICT COURT (SECOND DISTRICT) [274]

DECLARATIONS OF INTENTION RECORD BOOKS, 1874-1895.
1 microfilm reel

DESCRIPTION: To become a citizen of the United States, an individual normally filed a "declaration of intention to become a citizen" at least two years prior to applying for citizenship. The next step was the naturalization hearing at which the candidate and witnesses either made oral statements or filed written petitions and affidavits attesting to the applicant's character, worthiness to become a citizen, and the validity of statements made to the court. If the judge found the applicant eligible to become a citizen, an oath was administered and the individual renounced his former citizenship. At this point a certificate of citizenship was issued documenting the fact. These two volumes record the declarations of individuals' intentions to later become United States citizens and renounce current citizenship.

Although the first volume is handwritten and the second pre-printed, both volumes have standardized forms for declarations of intention with insertions of the individual's name, former sovereign, date, and signatures of the individual and the court clerks witnessing the statement.

At statehood in 1896, Beaver County, which was the seat of the Second District Court, became part of the Fifth District Court. One entry for 1896 from the Fifth District was mistakenly entered at the end of the second volume in this series, with the words "territory" and "second" crossed out and replaced with "state" and "fifth" respectively; the same entry appears as the first entry in DECLARATIONS OF INTENTION, series 85176.

RELATED RECORDS: The final process of becoming a citizen is recorded in CERTIFICATES OF CITIZENSHIP for the Second District Court in series 85175. Copies of these declarations may also be found in the case files of the Second District Court. County probate courts held concurrent jurisdiction in citizenship cases during this time and records of these could also be checked. At statehood in 1896, the district courts began keeping separate series of naturalization and declarations of intention in each county. For other possible sources consult the Research Guide to Naturalization records.

The CERTIFICATES OF CITIZENSHIP from the other district courts might also contain records of individuals whose declarations are in this series: the 1st District, series 83895, the 3rd District, series 85110, and the 4th District (from 1894-1895), series 85170 should be consulted. In addition, the Supreme Court kept DECLARATIONS OF INTENTION AND CERTIFICATES OF CITIZENSHIP RECORD BOOKS, series 3942, which might contain records of these same individuals as well. Records from the 2nd district court prior to 1874 have not been located.

FINDING AIDS: An electronic index was created and posted in 2003. The second volume (labeled volume 1) also contains a name index, alphabetized by the first letter of the individual's surname.

PROCESSING NOTE: The series was transferred to the Archives in 1989 and scheduled by Pat Scott. Archival processing by A.C. Cone was finished the same year. The electronic index was added in 2003.

PREFERRED CITATION: Cite the Utah State Archives and Records Service, the creating agency name, the series title, and the series number.

CONTAINER LIST

Reel	Description
1	Oct. 22, 1874-May 18, 1878 [Volume 1]
1	June 19, 1878-Dec. 22, 1895 [Volume 2, labeled 1]