These volumes record declarations of intention, the first step in the process. These volumes record individuals' vows to later become United States citizens and to renounce their current citizenship. The volumes have standardized forms for declarations of intention with blanks for insertions of the individual's name, former sovereign, date, and signatures of the individual and the court clerks witnessing the statement. The volumes were used in Ogden by a court clerk and were passed along as Weber County was assigned to different court districts over the years. Thus the first volume was used by the Third District Court from 1878 through 1879 and then by the First District Court from 1880 to 1892 before being passed to the Fourth District Court.
Entries are chronological.
Copies of these declarations may also be found in the case files of the Fourth District Court. County probate courts held concurrent jurisdiction in citizenship cases during this time and records of these could also be checked. At statehood in 1896, the district courts began keeping separate series of naturalizations and declarations of intention in each county. For other possible sources consult the Research Guide to Naturalization records. Declarations of intention of Weber County residents could have been filed in any district court during the territorial period.