Historical Court Records

The McHenry County Circuit Clerk holds records dating back to the 1850’s. Some of these records include immigration and naturalization records prior to 1929, when the County Courts stopped granting naturalizations and the task was given entirely to the Federal Courts.  

Declarations of Intention are also known as “First Papers” and were usually the first papers to be filed by those who wished to become U.S. Citizens.  

The McHenry County Circuit Clerk provides the ability to search these documents.  The original documents are now housed at Northern IL University in DeKalb.