From the Archives of the Medina County Clerk of Courts

Medina County Clerk of Courts Kathy Fortney was kind enough to share with me some of the files she has in her archives. One thing that I didn't know was that the Clerk's office used to file documents relating to the naturalization of immigrants. A person living in Medina County wishing to become an American citizen would file a Declaration of Intent in the Clerk's office.

An image of one such Declaration of Intent appears below. It involves a Mr. Walter Vellenoweth who, in 1930, lived on Gordon Avenue in Wadsworth, Ohio. He was married and had come to the United States from England. At the time he immigrated to America, he was 24 years old, if I have done correctly done the math. His wife was named Ruth and, at the time of his Declaration, they did not have any children. The application appears below: