Immigration records and how to use them

As your research stretches further back in time there will be a moment when you ask: "Where did great great Grandma Jones immigrant from?" You'll be curious about the ship she sailed on, who she was with, and how long it took to arrive in the New World.

Get your terms straight!

Its easy to interchange the words "emmigrant" and "immigrant". It is a little confusing, but they don't mean the same thing!

Emmigrant A person who is exiting a country to resettle in a new land.

Immigrant A person who is entering a new country with the intent to resettle.

Naturalization

The legal process or act by which a foreign-born person, or alien, is made a citizen.

For more information on this topic click here: Naturalization Records Guide

Your ancestor probably arrived in the United States through one of these key port cities:

Like most genealogists you'd like to know the name of the ship your ancestor sailed on and maybe even find a picture or two.

Passenger Lists - The Catch 22!

Locating your ancestor in a passenger list can be a challenging and time-consuming effort. Why? Because most of these types of records have not been indexed, especially from earlier years.

In order to conduct a successful search you have to know the name of the ship your Great Uncle Bill sailed on and the date of his arrival. Uh? "Isn't that the information I'm looking for?", you ask. Exactly! That's the catch-22!

You should determine early on if its worth your effort to track down this type of information. Scrolling through thousands of hard-to-read documents on microfilm might not be your idea of fun. It wasn't for me when I tried to locate my great great grandfather named David. I gave up after months of squinting at squiggly handwriting and incomplete records.

Getting started with Passenger Lists

A great resource to help you get started

Ancestry.com has over 126 immigration databases you should search if you can afford the subscription fee.

You should also check the Ellis Island database if your ancestor landed in New York. Click here to learn more about this resource. IMMIGRATION AND SHIPS PASSENGER LISTS RESEARCH GUIDE If your ancestor landed in Canada the folks at Ingeneas can help by providing your with a free search of their immigration database. Canadian Ship & Immigration database