U.S. Passenger Arrival Lists
To search for existing passenger lists, you at least need to know your ancestor’s:

Full name_________________________________________

Approximate date of arrival__________________________

Approximate age___________________________________

Port of arrival______________________________________

*If you do not know the year of arrival, try searching a 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 census first.

It will help if you also know or can find your ancestor’s:

Country of birth______________________________________

Port of departure_____________________________________

Name of ship_________________________________________

Place of settlement in U.S.______________________________

Date and place naturalized_____________________________

U.S. Customs Passenger Lists began in 1820. They usually give the immigrant’s name, age, sex, occupation, country of origin, port of departure, destination, date of arrival, and name of the vessel. Immigration lists or "ship manifests", which first began being used in 1883, give more detailed information. This might include exact birthplace, last residence, physical description, town of last residence, and names and addresses of relatives in the U.S. and in the "old country." Between 1820 and 1920, 35 million immigrants arrived at U.S. ports, and 82% of these came to the port of New York.

(Code for location: RT = Reference "table"/west wall, S = Stacks or the book shelves, REF = Reference Wall)
It will be critical to keep a research log. There are forms in the Copy Room.

First check: http://www.ancestry.com – Immigration Collection - free

General Lists for U.S. Ports
(Microfilm numbers of indexes and lists for various ports, etc. may be found in a binder at the reference desk. Ask for assistance.)

1. Passenger lists on line http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/onlinelists.html
2. Passenger Lists (microfilm numbers of indexes and lists, 1820-1950, for Baltimore,
    Boston, New Orleans, Philadelphia and other misc. ports including Canadian are located in
    Green book at Reference Table.)  Book  # 973 W33z  RT
3. CyndisList – Ships & Passenger Lists http://www.CyndisList.com/ships.htm Go to Ships
    & Passenger lists; General Resource Sites, Passenger lists on the internet – [lots of links!]
4. Mormon Immigration Index CD on most computers (Novel/Vital Records Viewer).
    Includes journal entries, will soon be on-line.
5. Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild http://www.immigrantship.net/ Listed by port of entry
6. Passenger and Immigration Lists: Boston, 1821-1850. Available on 3 CD computers, by
    the "stacks" CD#9000305
7. Slave Manifests – http://www.afrigeneas.com/slavedata/manifests.html Manifest for port
    of New Orleans. NARA record group 36 records the movement of slaves between U.S.
    ports. 1818-1860
8. Index of 1890 & 1891 New York Immigrants http://www.jewishgen.org
9. New York Daily Times – http://www.pt5dome.com/ Passenger lists, published 1851-1865
    and 1865-1873, Passengers bound for California via overland trip through Nicaragua or
    Panama. (Emphasis on California gold rush)
10. Irish Passenger Lists – to U.S. & Canada
    http://vzone.virgin.net/alan.tupman/sites/irish.htm 1677-1921
11. Passenger Lists http://freespace.virgin.net/alan.tupman/sites/ships.htm Mainly from UK
    and Continental Europe to Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand & U. S.
12. InGeneas Canadian Passenger Records – http://www.inGeneas.com/ingeneas/index.html
    From 18th to 20th century

New York Lists

1. Ellis Island arrivals 1892 - 1924 http://www.ellisisland.org/ 22 million passengers
2. Another access to Ellis Island website and other immigration records is
    http://www.stephenmorse.org/
3. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Register of Vessels Arriving at the Port of
    NY from foreign ports, 1789-1919. Listed Chronological and Alphabetical by name of
    vessel. Do a Family History Library Catalog title search. Lists film #s between
    1415143 – 1415169.
4. Index to Passenger Lists Arriving at NY 1820-1943 (List of film numbers)
    Black book at Reference Table/west wall Book # 973 W32

To Find German Immigrants

1. Hamburg: Link To Your Roots http://www.hamburg.de/LinkToYour Roots/english/
    includes 5 million people who emigrated via Hamburg from 1850 to 1934. (May not be
    complete yet.)  See Resource Guide in copy room or FamilySearch.org.
2. Glazier, Ira A., and Filby, P. William, eds. Germans to America…1850-1872. 67 vols.,
    about 1,531,000 names. (This is also available on Genealogy.com with a subscription.)
    S 973 W2ger
3. Also new series 2, Vol 1-7 (1840-1849)
4. Schenk, Trudy, et al. The Wuerttemburg Emigration Index, 1750-1900. 7 Vols., 120,000
    names, mostly 1830s-1870s. S 943.47 W22st?
5. Zimmerman, Gary J., and Wolfert, Marion, comps. German Immigrants:…Bound from
    Bremen to NY, 1863-1867.  4 Vols. 127,500 plus names (1847-1871) S 974.71 W3g

To Find Irish Immigrants

1. Glazier, Ira A., and Tepper, Michael. The Famine Immigrants…1846-1851, 7 vols,
    about 651,000 names. S 974.71 W3f
2. Mitchell, Brian. Irish Passenger Lists, 1847-1871…Has 27,495 names of passengers
    leaving Londonderry and vicinity. S 941.5 W3mi or S 973 W3mi
3. Harris, Ruth Ann M., et all, eds. The Search for Missing Friends: Irish Immigrant
    Advertisements   
    Placed in the Boston Pilot…1831-1853. 2 vols, over 10,000 names. CD# 9000374

1. Filby, P. William, Italians to America 1880-1899 S 973 W2it

Miscellaneous, Ethnic/Multicultural:
1. Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies http://www.hsp.org/ (Historical Society of Pennsylvania)
2. Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center http://www.augustana.edu/swenson/
3. Immigrant Ships – Louis S. Alfano http://www.fortunecity.com/littleitally/amalfi/13/ships.htm
4. TheShipsList Home Page http://www.TheShipsList.com
5. The genealogy page http://www.archives.gov/
6. Morton-Allan Directory – lists arrival date for every steamship entering NY, 1890-1930,
    and Boston, Baltimore, & Philadelphia, 1904-1926, from Europe. Search by date or ship.
    S and RT 973 U3m 1930
7. Steuart, Bradley W., Passenger Ships Arriving in NY Harbor, 1820-1850. Vol. 1 RT 974.71 W3s

(Other internet sites may be found by using a search engine such as Google and entering "immigration" and "genealogy".  Data is added to sites daily.)

(For Additional Sources: listed in www.mesarfhc.org , or in the Family History Library Catalog http://www.familysearch.org/)

Research Outlines available in Copy Room or http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/rg/frameset_rhelps.asp?Page=./research/type/form.asp&ActiveTab=Type
    Tracing Immigration Origins
    United States, p. 24-28
    Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934