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Archiver > PAALLEGH > 1999-01 > 0915896231


From: "suzanne m. johnston" <>
Subject: [PAALLEGH-L] Naturalizations at the Prothonotary
Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1999 07:37:11 PST


You are correct in that the original documents are stored on the North
Side. However, the last time I was at the prothonotary's office they had
all of the remaining documents (post-fire) on microfilm and let me look
at them once I had found the name in the WPGS book and determined the
correct date of naturalization. They would make copies from these
microfilms. They may have changed this policy; the government works in
mysterious ways. You also will get different stories depending on who is
working in the office on a specific day.

As you are aware, before 1906, individuals could be naturalized in any
court of record. Hence there are many other naturalization records in
Allegheny County than the ones abstracted in the 7 volume set done by
WPGS.

There is at Carnegie Library a set of at least 17 microfilms, possibly
more, that were taken from additional records stored on the North Side.
These naturalizations are in roughly chronological order, but are
totally unindexed. These are the records that WPGS is attempted to index
at this time. The person who did the microfilming did an absolutely
horrific job and the films are extremely difficult to read. The indexing
will be cross-checked with the originals at the North Side archives
before publishing.

In addition to the two sources listed above, there is also a set of
three microfilms, also available at Carnegie, that is a combination of
indexes and actual naturalization records for the District and Circuit
Courts of western Pennsylvania. These are federal records, I believe
they are stored at the Regional Archives in Philadelphia, but the
microfilm is available at Carnegie.

Even with the above three sources of naturalizations for this area,
there are probably naturalizations that are still missing. Who knows,
some day we may find more. Here's hoping.

Suzie

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