Research: Topics: Genealogy: Naturalization Records
V. Naturalization Records in the National Archives Northeast Region
The National Archives Northeast Region, located in New York City, holds the older naturalization records from federal courts in New York, as well as photographic copies of naturalization records from state and federal courts in the counties now comprising New York City and from state courts in two upstate counties. Following is a summary of the National Archives' holdings of naturalization records for New York State, along with microfilm copies of indexes:
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan), 1824-1940; U.S. Circuit Court, Southern District of New York, 1846-76, 1906-11 (alphabetical name index to petitions on 294 microfilm rolls, National Archives Microfilm Publication M1674).
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), 1865-1957 (alphabetical name index to petitions on 142 microfilm rolls, National Archives Microfilm Publication M1164).
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York (Utica), 1821-55, 1906.
- U.S. District Court, Western District of New York (Buffalo), 1907-66 (alphabetical name index to petitions on 20 microfilm rolls, National Archives Microfilm Publication M1677).
- State and federal courts in New York, Kings, Queens, and Richmond Counties, 1792-1906 (photographic copies; Soundex index to petitions on 294 microfilm rolls, National Archives Microfilm Publication M1674).
- State courts in Essex County, NY, 1799-1879, and Clinton County, NY, 1895-1906 (photographic copies; no indexes; chronological order).
NOTE: The earliest records were abstracted in Naturalizations in Federal Courts, New York District, 1790-1828, comp. Mrs. Edward J. Chapin, New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 97 (1966), passim
NOTE: Courts whose naturalization records were copied include U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts, U.S. Circuit Court for the Southern District; the New York City and County court of common pleas; the New York City Superior Court and Marine Court; the New York State Supreme Court sitting in New York County; the Brooklyn City Court; and the Queens and Richmond county courts. For abstracts of the earlier records, see Kenneth Scott, comp., Early New York Naturalizations: Abstracts of Naturalization Records from Federal, State, and Local Courts, 1792-1840 (Baltimore: 1981); "New York City Naturalizations, 1795-1799," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, 71 (1983), 280-83; Naturalizations in the Marine Court, New York City, 1827-1835 (New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Collections, vol. 13) (New York: 1990); and Naturalizations in the Marine Court . . ., 1834- 1840 (same, vol. 15) (New York: 1991).
The National Archives Northeast Region will search for and photocopy naturalization records (or copies thereof) in its custody. For a search request form, contact: National Archives Northeast Region, 201 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014-4811; telephone (212) 337-1300.. Records of naturalizations performed in recent decades by U.S. District Courts located in New York, Brooklyn, Albany, and Buffalo are stored at the New York Federal Records Center in Bayonne, NJ. Contact the U.S. District Court clerk's office for further information.