What You'll Learn from Passenger Lists

Probably more time is spent hunting for our ancestors on ship passenger lists than any other type of research. In our naiveté we assume these records will reveal exactly where in the "old country" our ancestors came from. It is not always that simple. Depending on when your immigrant ancestors arrived, American ship passenger lists may or may not provide this information. In some instances determining the ancestral home can be discovered by tracking down naturalization papers, rather than ship passenger lists.

To be sure there is nothing quite like finding your ancestor on a ship passenger list. But be prepared to do some serious digging. There are three major time frames important to researching American ship passenger lists. They are: 1891-1954, 1820-1890 and pre-1820. The two major repositories for these microfilmed records are the National Archives and the LDS (Mormon) Family History Library (FHL).

If your ancestors arrived between 1891 and 1954, Immigration Passenger Lists are valuable. Immigrants were asked to provide information such as:

• Marital status
• Last residence
• Final destination in the U.S.
• If ever in the U.S. before, when, where and for how long.
• If going to join a relative, the relative's name, address and relationship

• Personal description: height, complexion, color of hair and eyes, identifying marks
• Place of birth — the exact city, town or village.
• Name and address of closest living relative in native country.

• Name of ship
• Name of its master
• Port of embarkation
• Date and port of its arrival
• Each passenger's name, age, sex, occupation and nationality.

Contrary to popular belief, the National Archives does not have copies of all ship passenger lists. It does have a microfilm copy of the passenger lists that were turned over to it by the Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service when this federal repository was established in 1935. Inbound federal ship passenger arrival records at the National Archives date back to 1820 for most East Coast and Gulf Coast ports and a few lists dating back to 1800 for Philadelphia. The archives staff will search available indexed lists for you (first request NATF Form 81 from Reference Services Branch (NNIR), National Archives, 8th and Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20408). You also can search indices and passenger lists yourself through the Family History Library system.

When requesting a search by the National Archives you must supply the following information on NATF Form 81:

• Full name of the passenger
• Port of entry
• Approximate date of arrival

• Baltimore, 1820-1952
• Boston 1848-91, 1902-20
• New Orleans 1853-1952
• New York City, 1820-46, 1897-1943
• Philadelphia 1800-1948
• Minor ports, 1820-74 and 1890-1924