Immigration
Records
What's In the Record
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Some of the information in immigration records depends on the time period:
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1820: Names age, sex, nationality, occupation, a few might include a town of origin
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1882 Asked for native country and intended local destination
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1891 Last residence
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1893 Marital status, if lived in US before, if joining a relative, final destination
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Social detriments: history of prison, poorhouse, insanity, polygamist
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1903 City or town of last permanent residence
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1906 Place of birth, height, name and address of relative in old country
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Other information you can gather:
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Other names listed on the ship's list, especially those in close proximity
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Where to Find The Records
Ancestry Catalog: Search "Immigration"
Ancestry "U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s"
-Especially good for pre-1820 immigration
-Includes Peter Coldham's The Complete Book of Emigrants (4 vols.) Covering 1607–1776, it contains almost every reference found in England to English emigrants
FS Wiki: Online US Immigration records
Steve Morse One-step webpages – searches many immigration sites at once
Ellis Island - 1892 until 1924
NARA: Genealogy/ Personal History: Passenger Lists
BYU’s Immigrant Ancestors Project
Immigrant Servants Database - 1607-1820 Immigration – many of the immigrants during this time period came as "indentured servants, redemptioners, and transported convicts."
Methods
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Learn when your ancestor arrived in America:
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Check 1900-1940 U.S. Census
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1900: year of immigration, number of years in the US, naturalization status (a=alien, pa=1st papers filed, na=naturalized)
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1910: year of immigration, naturalization status (a=alien, pa=1st papers filed, na=naturalized)
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1920: year of immigration, naturalized or alien, year of naturalization
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1930: year of immigration, naturalized or alien
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1940: citizenship of foreign born
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If they were not alive in 1900-1940 censuses, find the immigration year in:
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Family records
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County histories
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Vital records
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On tombstone
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Court records
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Military records
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Passports
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Voting registers
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Ethnic church records
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State census
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Land records – government land entry files
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Thoroughly search U.S. records to establish full identification of the immigrant
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Full name
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Birth date or marriage date
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Ethnicity
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Religion
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RECORDS with possible Immigration Information
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Ethnic newspapers
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Church records
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Germans like Lutheran
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Scots likely Presbyterian
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Anglican is prior Church of England
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cemetery records, sometimes head stones list hometown
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mortuary records – especially if ethnic group
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city directories
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Links to Learn More
REFERENCE MATERIAL
https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Tracing_Immigrants_Arrival_Record_Selection_Table
https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Tracing_Immigrants_Origin_Record_Selection_Table
NARA: records digitized by partners
http://www.pricegen.com/resources/immigration-research-articles/
https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ellis_Island,_Castle_Garden,_etc.
IMMIGRATION TIMELINES
US Immigration Timeline – includes some policies and numbers of immigrants