How do you find US immigration records?

Answer 1

Immigration records for major U.S. ports have been kept on a regular basis since 1820. These include: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans. Others, such as Mobile and Galveston began keeping records later in the nineteenth century, while western ports (San Francisco and Seattle) began in the last years of the 19th century.

These passenger arrival records include the name of every passenger on the ship, including those who were born or who died during the voyage. Generally, the lists include the full name, age, sex, place of origin, and destination, so they are great genealogical resources.

These records can be found on microfilm at the National Archives in Washington, DC, and the Mormon Church in Utah.

Most of these records are available online through Genealogy.com, but they charge for access. (Under $20 for a month.) Genealogy.com also has emigration records from many European ports.

You can also try www.ellisisland.org and search their database. Sometimes you can view the signed manifest and even see a picture of the ship they came over on.

Many towns also have a historical society that keeps such information too for families that orginated out of that area. They also may have more data on who accompanied them on the ship as well that you may not know of currently.