An Index to Naturalization Records in Pre-1907 Order Books of Indiana County Courts; paperback; 172 pp; 8.5X11; Published: 1981; Reprinted: 2001; ISBN 9780871951564; Item # IHS003

There are so many great ways to title a book. Creative editors and authors generate some catchy titles. However, when it comes to reference books and indexes, I like a title to tell me exactly what is in the book. So it is with, An Index to Naturalization Records in Pre-1907 Order Books of Indiana County Courts.

Compiled by the Indiana Historical Society, this book was reprinted in 2001. The original printing was in 1981 under the title, An Index to Indiana Naturalization Records Found in Various Order Books of the Ninety-Two Local Courts Prior to 1907. Rather than index naturalization documents, which are located at the Indiana State Archives, this book contains names referenced during naturalization proceeding notes in court order books. This book indexes these notes which were made by court clerks about court proceedings.

Naturalization is a multi-stepped process. Requests and steps in the process were entered as filings and pleadings. At the end of the naturalization process the official judgement was entered as the “final order” or the note. The order books were kept by clerks of each county court. The books contain all the filings, pleadings, and final orders. Full copies of the notes are available from each county court. This book was compiled to help the researcher find these full references through an alphabetical name index to those referenced in the order books.