Use ship passenger lists in ancestry and genealogy immigration research.
It is most likely the individual you are searching for came to America on a ship. Every ship had a record of its passengers—a passenger list or manifest. There are good chances that you will be able to find these records. The information found on these records varies over time. Below is an outline of the information you can find in the ship’s passenger lists from different periods.
Using Ship Passenger Lists to Trace Immigrant Ancestors
Table of Contents
- Ship Passenger Lists Before 1820
- Ship Passenger Lists Between 1820 and about 1891
- Ship Passenger Lists From 1891 to 1957
- Look Closely for Notes Marked on the Passenger Lists
- Available Immigration Passenger Lists
- How to Use Passenger Lists
- Other Resources to Help Trace Immigrant Ancestors
Ship Passenger Lists Before 1820
Before 1820, most sailing ships were cargo ships, and the passenger list may be found among the ship’s cargo manifest. Ships sailed only when the cargo hold was full. There is no consistency in the type and amount of information that exists. The manifests were usually deposited at the port of arrival and were initially kept at these colonial ports. Sadly, many of these early records have been lost or destroyed. If they exist, you will find them distributed among libraries, historical societies, museums, and private holders. If you do find these records, the type of information you may find includes the following:
• Country of origin (possibly province or exact town)
• Date of arrival in the United States
• Family members or others who immigrated on the same ship
• Destination in the United States
• Occupation, age, and sex
• Information about the ship—its name, master, port of embarkation, and port of arrival
Ship Passenger Lists Between 1820 and about 1891
After immigration to America increased, ships were being built especially for passenger traffic; companies had regularly scheduled sailing dates. After the 1840s, trans-oceanic, steam-powered ships replaced the sailing vessels, reducing travel time from one or two months (or longer) to about two weeks.
The ship’s captain would prepare the customs passenger lists and file them with the customs collector at the port of arrival. These lists were initially meant to serve statistical purposes. Most of these passenger lists have survived. Information that may be found includes the following:
- Country, province, or exact town of origin (About 10% of the lists may have an exact town listed)
- Date of arrival in the United States
- Family members or others who immigrated on the same ship
- Destination in the United States
- Occupation, age, and sex of immigrant
Ship Passenger Lists From 1891 to 1957
In 1892, Congress passed the first federal law regulating immigration. This was followed in 1891 with the Superintendent of Immigration being established, which became the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization in 1906. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) records are called Immigration Passenger Lists. The 1891 list consisted of one page of information, and further information was added in the following years. In 1906 the list became two pages. Information found on these lists includes the following:
- Ship’s name and date of arrival in America.
- Family members or others who immigrated on the same ship
- If going to join a relative, the relative’s name, address, and relationship
- Birthplace, including country and city (added in 1906)
- Name and address of the immigrant’s nearest relative in the country from which they came (added in 1907)
Look Closely for Notes Marked on the Passenger Lists
For example, some annotations indicate the passenger was naturalized (possibly leading you to find the naturalization record), other notes indicate they were detained. (Note: The detained passengers—with the reason for the detention and other information—are generally listed on the last sheet of the ship’s manifest.)
Available Immigration Passenger Lists
When new forms were implemented, it depended on many factors, including who was in charge of the port. Some ports were regulated by federal immigration officials while, for other ports, federal officials contracted the administration to local officers. Usually, any lists created under the authority of the Immigration Bureau are considered Immigration Passenger Lists. The following table identifies these important ports. Other ports with significant Immigration Passenger Lists on microfilm include Key West, FL, and Providence, RI.
How to Use Passenger Lists
You can use ships passenger lists to
- Discover when an individual arrived in the United States
- Find out which country the individual was from
- Learn roughly when they were born
- Find the occupation of the person
- Uncover family relationships
- Find evidence of chain migration
- Perhaps find the name of a county, town, or another place more specific than a country
- Learn the dividing period of when to focus your research in the United States and when to focus on the country of origin
- Learn marital status
- Learn the place of origin in the “old country.”
- Find names and addresses of other family members
- Find clues to initial (perhaps temporary) settling places in the United States
- Learn of previous stays in the United States (leading to other arrival records)
- Determine literacy
- Get a feel for economic status
- Help reconstruct the immigrant journey and experience
- Seek clues for motivation of emigration (poverty, possibly avoiding draft in home country)
- Learn of health problems
- Learn of family members who may have been turned back or who died before formally entering the United States (at sea or in a hospital)
- Learn of individuals born at sea
- Discover a person’s physical appearance
- Learn the birthplace
- Learn of other places the individual may have lived before emigrating
- Obtain information to lead to emigration records
Other Resources to Help Trace Immigrant Ancestors
Are you developing a family history for an individual or family? Are you trying to find their immigrant origins? Start by seeing the articles
- 5 Steps to Finding Immigrant Ancestor Country of Origin
- Overcome Research Brick Walls to Find Ancestor’s Country of Origin
The following videos can help you get a head start in understanding immigration and country of origin ancestor research.
How to Find the Origin of Immigrants Coming to America
An introduction to immigration and migration historical research. You will be introduced to a five-step methodology to find the immigrant origins when conducting individual and family history research.
Addition videos include:
- What Records to Search to Discover Immigrant Origins-Part 1
- What Records to Search to Discover Immigrant Origins-Part 2
- How to Find Immigrants Real Surname and Life Event Dates
The following are records I have found extremely helpful and full of clues to finding an individual’s birthplace and immigrant origins. It is designed to provide a quick reference and direction for finding and searching for records as probable places to find information. You can use these records to develop an immigrant paper trail to assist you in finding and tracing an individual immigrant’s origins. Check out these articles:
Check out the following country profiles to learn more about their immigration and migration in America.
| Immigration and Migration in America | ||
| Czechs and Slovaks | Danish | Dutch |
| English | Finnish | French |
| German | Greek | Hungarian |
| Icelandic | Irish | Italian |
| Norwegian | Polish | Russian |
| Scandinavian | Scottish | Swedish |
| Welch | United States Western Migration | |
Articles include:
- British Immigration to America for Ancestry Research
- Scandinavian Immigration to America for Ancestry Research
- Western European Immigration to America for Ancestry Research
- Eastern European Immigration to America for Ancestry Research
- Western Migration in America for Ancestry Research
Learn more about immigrant records at “Immigrant Records at the National Archives.”
