How do you find out when your ancestors came to America and how do you find the passenger list they were on? These were questions that were posed to me the other day. The easiest answer would be to search the Passenger Lists database on Ancestry to see if anything comes up. But more than likely there will be multiple entries for the name you are searching for. So how do you determine which one is the correct entry? There are a couple of places to look for clues that will help you narrow down that information and find the correct passenger list.
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| EMS Ship 1887 Ancestry.com 2nd Great-Grandma Pauline Kimmerle emigrated from Germany on this ship |
Census Records
The first place to check is the census records. Some censuses have more information than others, but you can always glean something from them. Here is what you can find in each census.
1880 - Place of birth for parents
If they are born from another country, that will tell you where your ancestors would have come from.
1900 - Place of birth for parents, Year of immigration to US, No. of years in US, and Naturalization
There is an actual Citizenship section on this census. The year of immigration helps narrow down the time period to look for passenger lists. Just keep in mind that this could be wrong depending on who gave the information. Check other census records to compare the dates. The Naturalization column will tell you if they are Naturalized. If they are, you can check for that paperwork.
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| 1900 US Federal Census Ancestry.com |
1910, 1920, 1930 - Same as 1900
1940 - Place of birth and whether the Ancestor was a citizen or not. They are from a foreign country, column 16 will have one of the following: Na, Pa, Al, Na Cit, or 4. (See my blog post about Citizenship of Foreign Born - 1940 Census)
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| 1940 US Federal Census Ancestry.com |
1950 (Released April 2022) - Same as 1940; Be sure to check the Supplemental Questions for more information.
This is just a start. The census records will give you clues on where to look next to find immigration information and records.
Naturalization Records
When someone wants to become a Naturalized Citizen of the United States, there are a few different stages they have to go through. Through these stages, applications are filled out and certain information is given. This information will help you find when they came to the United States, what ship they traveled on, and sometimes the name of the village they came from. To learn more about Naturalization and Immigration records, visit the National Archives Website.
Case Study: Declaration of Intention Record - Martin Hribar
When a person wants to become a Naturalized Citizen, the first application they have to fill out is called a Declaration of Intention Record, also known as First Papers. Martin Hribar is the immigrant ancestor for my friend and her family. On the 1920 Census, in Columns 13, 14, and 15, it states that Martin Hribar was Naturalized, the year he was Naturalized, and when he Immigrated.
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| 1920 US Federal Census Ancestry.com Martin Hribar - Beaver Dam, Butler, Missouri |
This would mean he would have filled out a Declaration of Intention Record. On this record, it lists where Martin came from when he arrived in the United States. This will lead to the ship manifest.
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| Declaration of Intention Record 26 April 1906 FamilySearch.org Martin Hribar |
Passport Applications
Passports were issued for foreign travel for a few different reasons and the applications that were filled out contained a plethora of information regarding the immigration of the applicant. Information such as Birthdate, the village of birth, the date of immigration, the ship name, and when they were naturalized.
Case Study: Passport Application - George Hilke
George Hilke is my husband's 2nd Great Grand Uncle; he is the brother of my husband's 2nd Great Grandfather. In order to learn more about the family, sometimes it's necessary to research the siblings of your direct ancestors. The passport application of George Hilke provided the village the family came from along with the immigration information. The biggest piece of information on this application is the name of the ship and the date they traveled. That will lead you directly to a ship manifest.
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| Passport Application 6 April 1896 Ancestry.com George Hilke |
Passenger Lists
Once you have some basic information, you can search on Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org for ship manifests and passenger lists. Most people think that their ancestors came through Ellis Island, and while that may be true, that's not the first port that immigrants came through. Ellis Island was in operation from 1892-1950 so if your ancestor immigrated before 1892, they would have come through Castle Garden, like my 2nd Great-Grandma Pauline Kimmerle. Castle Garden was in operation from 1855 to 1890 and was the first official Emigration Depot. This is why it's important to have narrow down the details of an ancestor's immigration, otherwise, you may be searching in a database that they will not be in. Read about where you ancestor could have possibly come through and where you would find those records here: Castle Garden or Ellis Island?
Search online databases:
Ellis Island New York Passenger Lists - Family Search.org
Family History Center Ellis Island - StatueOfLiberty.org
Castle Garden Database - CastleGarden.org
Immigration & Travel - Ancestry.com
As you can see, there are multiple options, databases, and helpful links that will lead you to possible manifests your ancestor may be listed on. The more information you can gather on an ancestor from multiple sources, the easier time you will have narrowing down the records you will need to look through. While this is not an extensive list of helpful tips, there are multiple sources online to help you. Check out some of the links below:
https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/overview
https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/US_Immigration_Passenger_Arrival_Records
https://youtu.be/Wqk08S7SajU
Video by Connie Knox – Genealogy TV
https://youtu.be/taDG7nTqzl0
Video by Lisa Louise Cook
https://youtu.be/mhGvWwGOh1s
Video by Connie Knox – Genealogy TV
https://youtu.be/kXNFjJ3XlKA
Passport Applications - US National Archives
I hope this information has been helpful for you. If you have any suggestions or if you have any questions, leave them in the comments below.
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