discovering u.s. passenger lists on ancestry
TRANSCRIPT
Discovering U.S. Passenger Lists on Ancestry
Juliana Szucs, Social Community Manager, Ancestry
Eras of Immigration: Pre-1820 Passenger Lists
• No laws required captains to maintain passenger lists
• No central repository holds manifests created prior to 1820
• Bad news: some have been lost or destroyed
• Good news: some survived
Brig Friendship, of Shields, England, 1814
From Philadelphia Passenger
Lists, 1800-1945 on
Ancestry.com
Washington, May 1800
Eras of Immigration: Pre-1820 Passenger Lists
• No laws required captains to maintain passenger lists
• No central repository holds manifests created prior to 1820
• Bad news: some have been lost or destroyed
• Good news: some survived
• More good news: Some were published
Brig Friendship, of Shields, England, 1814
From Emigrants from England to the
American Colonies, 1773-1776
on Ancestry.com
Eras of Immigration: Pre-1820 Passenger Lists Sometimes immigration information was included in other
biographical publications.
From Directory of Scots in
the Carolinas, 1680-1830
on Ancestry.com
From Great Migration
Begins Index:
Immigrants to New
England, 1620-33 on
Ancestry.com
Finding What’s Available on Ancestry.com
Eras of Immigration: 1820s to 1890s
• Steerage Act of 1819, aimed at regulating overcrowding on
ships, required a list be submitted to the customs collector at
the port of arrival.
• “Customs Manifests” or “Customs Passenger Lists” required:
o Ship and captain’s name
o Ports of departure and arrival
o Date of arrival
o Passenger name
o Age
o Gender
o Occupation
o Nationality
Eras of Immigration: 1820s to 1890s
From the lists of passengers arriving in Charleston, South Carolina, January-March 1825,
Atlantic Ports Passenger Lists, 1820-1873 and 1893-1959
Unlike most passenger arrival records, this list was compiled at the port of arrival. Ships are listed in order of arrival.
Births and Deaths on Board
• You may find births noted on manifests.
• Sometimes with the parents’ listing.
From the Highland Mary, arrived Port of New York, 01 June 1852
• Sometimes at the end of the manifest.
From the Science, arrived Port of New York, 07 November 1831
Deaths on Board
• Deaths were typically noted with a date.
Eras of Immigration: 1890s to 1957 In 1891 responsibility for passenger lists was transferred to the U.S. Office of Immigration. Additional information was
required throughout 1890s-1900s. Forms were standardized in 1893. Changes to the form in 1903, 1906, and 1907.
Marital status
Last residence–town names!
Final destination
If they have been in the U.S. and when, where, and how long
Where they going to join a relative, who and where
Whether they could read and write
If they have a train ticket to their final destination
Who paid for the passage
How much money were they carrying
If they had ever been in prison, an almshouse, institution for the insane
Whether they polygamists
If they had a contract to work in the U.S.
Whether they were healthy
Ethnic background
Name/address of relative in the old country
Immigration Records on Ancestry
• Ancestry immigrant arrival records include more than 132 collections with 140 million+ records.
• Collections span every state along every coast, plus border states.
• Because the records are in so many collections, it’s best to search on the category (Immigration & Travel) or sub-category (Passenger Lists or Border Crossings & Passports) levels.
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Searching Immigration Collections
Searching Immigration Collections
Search the entire category or narrow to just Passenger Lists or Border Crossings & Passports
What Do You Need to Know to Search?
• Age of the immigrant (You can estimate from
census, vital records, etc.)
• Family structure, including extended family who
may be traveling with your ancestor
• Nationality
• Estimated date of arrival
Narrowing the Arrival Date
Narrowing the Arrival Date
Narrowing the Arrival Date
• Check censuses for 1900-1930; they list arrival dates
Narrowing the Arrival Date
• State censuses
1925 Iowa State Census from the Iowa State
Census Collection, 1836-1925 on Ancestry.com
Davenport, Scott County, Image 4
Narrowing the Arrival Date
• Vital records may
include number of
years in this
country
Other Considerations
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• Ethnic given names
• Jan=John, etc.
• BehindtheName.com is a good starting point.
• Learn about ethnic pronunciation of surnames
• Mekalski, Mekala, Menkalski, Menkala, Menkalska
• ę = “en” sound
• Place names may be spelled phonetically
• Wyszków, Wiszkow, Vyszkov, Wischkow
• An ancestor may have given a county or province.
• Look for evidence of aliases and name changes in
passports, naturalization records and other documents.
Wishing you the best of luck with your search!