Your Guide to Finding and Using
Passenger Records & Ship Information

Dates * Ports * Information Found in the lists * Locating lists * The Ships*
* Further Links * Books *

 

Dates of importance:
pre 1820 (pre-federal)lists : No federal oversight (2 exceptions, 1798 & 1800); some local legislation, but compliance not complete and many lists no longer extant. These lists are not in the National Archives, but must be located in scattered repositories. The good news: most extant lists have been published and indexed.

1820-1891 customs lists: Starting 1-1-1820 all Captains of vessels required to submit a listing of passengers to the Collector of Customs. This did not cover all ports until 1905 and there was not universal compliance for the covered ports.

1891-1954 immigration passenger lists: Resposibility shifted from Customs to the other Departments, finally in 1906 to the INS

Information Found on the Lists
captains lists (pre-1820) name of ship, date and port of arrival, name, age, country of origin

Customs passenger lists (1820-1893) name of ship, name of master, port of embarkation, age, sex, occupation and nationality.

1893-1902 above + marital status, last residence, final destination in U.S., prior visits to U.S., if going to join a relative, name and addrss of that relative, literacy, if has train ticke to final destination, who paid passage, if ever institutionalized or a polygamist, and state of health.

1903-1905 above + race or people

1906 above + personal description and place of birth

1907 above + name and address of closest living relative in native country

Problems in researching are nothing new, but perhaps highlighted by two languages. They include poor handwriting, indexing errors, inaccurate information, deliberate avoidance or mis-informatio, lack of uniformity in collection of data

How to locate the list that contains your ancestor:

Before you begin your research, you should know at least the approximate : 1) name 2) age 3) date and port of arrival.

For almost all pre 1820 and many post 1820 lists, you can consult Filby and Meyers. Index to passenger lists... This is a multivolume set that indexes passengers and cites to the source of the information. You will use it as an index to locate information from another source. (find in a library -- but note this doesn't list the University of Michigan Library copy , which is housed in the Reference Room. Note there are several supplements to this 3 volume set and all must be checked separately. The set is too expensive for an individual to buy, but there is an affordable CD-ROM. -- but you can also search this index through Ancestry.com. If you don't have a subscription, check at your local library to see if you can access it there.

Immigration and Ships Passenger List Resarch Guide Section 3: Research in the years before 1820
Immigration and Ships Passenger List Research Guide Section 4: Research in the Years 1820-1892
Immigration and Ships Passenger List Research Guide Section 5: Research in the Years after ca. 1891

National Archives. Immigration Records (Ship Passenger Arrival Lists)

Ports:
The five major ports of entry include Boston, New York (Castle Island, Ellis Island), , Philadelphia, Baltimore and New Orleans. There are several minor ports, such as Mobile, Al., Bath, Me., Galvaston, Tx. For a list of ports by state, see the USCIS page Ports of Entry and Their Records (scroll down for links to the states). Notice the link to U.S. Ports of Entry in Canada, sometimes known as the St. Albans lists.

But don't forget that the ports of emigration might also create lists. The Hamburg Passenger Lists is an example of that. The Family History Library has a research outline that explains the Hamburg Passenger Lists. And you can search the Hamburg Passenger Lists online, but there is a fee for complete information. For more information, see Using Hamburg Passenger Lists.

Immigrarion Passenger Lists are indexed from 1883 forware.... but only Philadelphia in 1883; the rest 1891-

* many indexed, esp. the 5 major ports

* the indexes themselves can be hard to use; the more closely you can pinpoint the date of arrival, the easier the search will be.

* some are alphabetical, some are soundexed.

* Once you find your ancestor, card will give name of immigrant --name of ship -- list number. Up to June 1910 will give date; after that vol. no. which you must convert to date. (use " NARA guide Immigrant and passenger arrivals" )

* 1903+ after locating ancestor on list, check the section at end of list that names detained aliens. More information might be there.

* If you know the name of the ship, at least for Port of NY, you can consult the book lists filmed by the NARA, available from LDS. They are arranged by shipping line; use Morton-Allan to find the name of the shipping line.

* for some groups (esp. French & Italians) the wife/mother may be listed under her maiden name, the husband and children under his name.

The New York ports are indexed online. Castle Island served as the port for New York City 1830-1892 and Ellis Island records begin in 1892.

Many lists are being transcribed and made available online at the Immigrant Ships Transcriber's Guild. In addition to a searchable database at this site, they have a section called "The Compass" which points you to transcriptions elsewhere on the internet. This site's search page allows you to search the ISTG site, Ellis Island or the Ancestry.com library.

AncestorSearch allows offers several Free U.S. Passenger List Records Searches on one page

What Passenger Lists are Online

Beine. U.S. Ports of Arrival and Their Available Passenger Lists 1820-1957
Beine. Finding Passenger Lists Before 1820
Beine. Finding Passenger List & Immigration Records 1820-1940's
Beine. Baltimore Passenger Lists Quick Guide 1820-1952
Beine. Finding Passenger Arrival Records at the Port of Boston, Mass. 1820-1943
Beine. Resources for Finding Passenger Arrival Records at the Port of New Orleans, Louisiana
Beine. Tips for Determining Your Ancestor's Probable Port of Arrival
Finding New York Passenger Arrival Records 1820-1957
Philadelphia Passenger Lists Quick Guide 1800-1948
St. Albans Lists FAQ
Olive Tree: Canadian Boarder Entries (St. Albans lists)

Remember: Passenger lists are lists of passengers on the ships... not necessarily immigrants.

The Ships

Registers of Lists:  Here, you will find the registration details of a vessel such as the rigging, the tonnage, dimensions etc. from 1764 forward. You will need to know the name of the ship.

Books (on Ships, not passenger lists)

Ships of Our Ancestors. You can see part (not all) of an older edition of this at the Google Books project.

Further Information and More Links

Immigration, Naturalization, Passenger Lists & Ships
Meyerink. Rediscovering Passenger Lists
Morgan. Taking the plunge on Ship's Passenger List
Passenger Lists on the Internet
Szucs. Passenger Arrival Lists

Library of Congress. Immigrant Arrivals: A Guide to Sources (a bibliography)

GSWC. Online Resources for Passenger List Research -- an excellent compilation of links.
Cyndi's List: Ships and Passenger Lists
Cyndi's List: Ports of Entry
Cyndi's List: Ellis Island

BOOKS (& C.D.) THAT COVER THIS TOPIC:

Colletta. They Came in Ships: A Guide to Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor's Arrival Record. (find in a library)

Stolarik. Forgotten Doors: The Other Ports of Entry to the United States. (table of contents and index available online.) (find in a library)

Tepper. American Passenger Arrival Records (find in a library)

Ellis Island: Tracing Your Family History Through America's Gateway. (find in a library)

Family Tree Guide to Finding Your Ellis Island Ancestors. ( find in a library)

U.S. Passenger Lists (a CD Tutorial) vol. 1 and vol. 2 ( review)

This page last updated March 28, 2008
Return to Bobbie's Genealogy Classroom