Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Eastern District, Declaration of Intention Docket: Volume 9A, April 1854-October 1855 and Volume 9B, October 1855-September 1863, This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER LIBRARY: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education., Arranged chronologically by date declaration was sworn. Volumes 1, 2 and part of volume 11/12 are indexed internally, alphabetically by surname of the alien, and thereunder chronologically by date of entry. All eleven volumes are also indexed externally by the Index to Declaration of Intention Docket, 1832-1901, RG 033-A-53, which appears to index entries through December 2, 1901. The declarations docketed thereafter are not indexed. Dockets containing oaths, sworn before the Prothonotary of the Supreme Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, affirming an alien's intention to become a naturalized citizen, and renouncing all allegiance to any foreign government. Data provided by the Declarations of Intention in the bulk of the series, September 24, 1832-September 24, 1906, includes name, native country, age, former monarch and signature of the alien; date of appearance; whether the alien resided in the county or city of Philadelphia; and the signature of the Prothonotary of the Supreme Court. The entries appear as standardized printed forms, with blanks into which the information was handwritten. The first volume, July 18, 1819-August 11, 1832, differs from the others, both in types of entries as well as types of information presented. It is only here that separate oaths of Allegiance appear, mixed in amongst the Declarations. In this volume, a Declaration of Intention consisted of swearing one's intent to merely settle and reside in Pennsylvania while still owing allegiance to one's former monarch. It was the separate Oath of Allegiance that renounced all foreign allegiances and conveyed the intent to seek United States citizenship. Sometimes both a Declaration and an Oath appear, one after the other, for the same person. In other instances, only one or the other appears. In these latter cases, it would seem the aliens either filed the missing statement with a different court, or perhaps never followed through with the whole procedure. Data provided by the Declarations of Intention in volume 1 includes name of alien, country of birth, age, monarch to which his allegiance was owed, date of immigration, at which port arrived, city or county of residence, intended place of settlement, and signature of the Prothonotary. Names and birthplaces of immigrating family members may also be shown. Data provided by the Oaths of Allegiance about persons declaring their intention to seek citizenship includes only name, native county and signature of alien; name and country of former monarch now being renounced; and names of the Superior Court or Nisi Prius Justice and Prothonotary before whom the person appeared. Please note at the time these documents were created the term alien was used instead of immigrant.
