Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Madison County's loose naturalization records, 1870, are digitized and available through the Naturalization Records Digital Collection on the Library of Virginia website. Please use digital images.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Madison County (Va.) Naturalization Records, 1870. Local government records collection, Madison County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Madison County.

Processing Information

Loose naturalization records, 1870, were processed and indexed for the purpose of inclusion in the Library of Virginia's Naturalization Records digital collection by Library of Virginia staff.

Encoded by S. Walters: November 2012; updated by M. Long: October 2024.

Historical Information

Context for Record Type: Beginning in 1795, a person could declare their intent to become a citizen at any time and in any place after they arrived in the United States. Prior to the Naturalization Act of 1906, the naturalization process primarily occurred in local and state courts. Declarations of intent were the record by which an applicant for U.S. citizenship declared their intent to become a citizen and renounced their allegiance to a foreign government. This document typically preceded proof of residence or a petition to become a citizen by two or more years.

Locality History: Madison County was named for James Madison, a Virginian statesman, author of the United States Constitution, and member of Congress when the county was formed from Culpeper County by a statute adopted on 4 December 1792. This was the second Virginia county to be named for future president Madison. The county court first met on 23 May 1793. The county seat is Madison.

Scope and Content

Madison County (Va.) Naturalization Records, 1870, consists of loose naturalization records filed in the local court. Loose naturalization records may include affidavits, reports for naturalization, declarations of intent to become United States citizens, and notices of application for admission of citizenship. The reports are narrative accounts made by applicants summarizing their journey to the United States. The declarations of intent record the person's name, place of birth, age, country of previous citizenship, renunciation of allegiance and fidelity to the nation of which the person is currently a citizen, and the date the intention was sworn. Affidavits, signed by those who knew the applicant and could vouch for their loyalty to the United States, may also be filed with the reports and declarations.

Includes an affidavit, a report for naturalization, and a declaration of intent to become a United States citizen made by Gottlieb Mayer, who immigrated in 1868 from Zurich, Switzerland.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

Related Material

Additional Madison County Court Records can be found on microfilm at The Library of Virginia. Consult "A Guide to Virginia County and City Records on Microfilm."

Adjunct Descriptive Data