Give Me Your Tired
While "give me your tired" would definitely apply to a
genealogist after a long day of research, it is actually a
famous passage from the 1883 poem "The New Colossus," by Emma
Lazarus. The poem was written as part of a project to raise
funds for a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty, a gift to the
United States from the people of France. The funds were raised,
the base built, and the statue erected. Since then, the statue
has become a symbol of the United States as well as a tribute to
the millions of immigrants who have entered the country. It is
to these immigrants, and the paper trail they left behind, that
we turn in this article.
Genealogists are
very fortunate that the people of the past left a paper trail.
Unfortunately, this trail may be somewhat erratic, difficult to
locate, and even incomplete, especially when compared to the
trail we are leaving for our descendants to follow. However, a
trail does exist.
Virtually every
American can trace his or her family history back to an ancestor
(or a group of ancestors) who entered this country as an
immigrant. Estimates place the total number of immigrants to
this country (1607 to the present) between 35 and 50 million.
These immigrants generally entered through one of the port
cities of the United States. If they entered legally and under
normal circumstances, some type of paperwork was completed to
document their entry.
Federal and State Records
The records are divided into two time periods that are
identified by the level of government that kept the records.
From the earliest Colonial period until approximately 1820,
immigration records were kept by the colony or state where the
port was located. The federal government did not require ship
captains to present a list to port authorities. The colonies
(and later, states) had requirements for the captains, and it is
these records that exist for the time period. Approximately 1
million people entered the United States during this period, and
the immigration records that exist can be found in either the
port city or in the archives for that state, usually located in
the state’s capital.
An excellent
general reference that details these records is A
Bibliography of Ship Passenger Lists, 1583-1825 (New York:
New York Public Library), third edition, 1978, by Harold Lancour.
You may find this book at your local library or any major
research library.
Since 1820, the
federal government has kept immigration records in the National
Archives in Washington, D.C. Copies of some of these records are
also located in the regional branches of the National Archives.
It is always a good idea to call any branch of the archives to
learn exactly which records can be found at that location. To
find the regional archive nearest you, consult your local
library.
Two types of
federal immigration records have been kept since 1820:
•Customs
passenger lists—These lists were kept by the U.S. Customs
Service and cover the years from 1820 until approximately
1891.
•Immigration
passenger lists—These lists were kept by the U.S. Immigration
and Naturalization Service (INS). They begin in 1906 and
continue until 1957.
Each of these
lists provides valuable information about our immigrant
ancestors. From the customs passenger lists we can learn:
In addition to
these categories, the immigration passenger lists may offer
place of birth, last place of residence, and name and address of
a relative in the immigrant’s native country, depending on the
year.
Since the vast
majority of our ancestors entered this country after 1820, the
obvious problem is locating information on the one person being
traced. Fortunately, many of the passenger lists have been
indexed and are available on microfilm through the National
Archives and in major research libraries. Designated copies can
be ordered from the Family History Library for use in one of the
hundreds of family history centers located throughout the United
States. These indexes offer the best starting point for
researching existing ships’ passenger lists.
There are several
ways new genealogists can begin their immigrant ancestor
research. First, gather as much information as possible on the
immigrant ancestor. The absolute minimum information needed to
use immigration records is:
• The
individual’s complete name. This should include first, middle,
last, and any variations that might exist for each part. Try
to experiment with spelling variations as well.
• The
approximate year the individual entered the United States.
• The port city
where the immigrant entered.
Any other
relevant information you have been able to gather, such as the
ship’s name, a port of embarkation, or a hometown in Europe,
will prove invaluable. Hopefully you have been able to learn
some of these facts from other sources, such as documents in
your family’s possession or from family stories.
In order to get
the most from passenger lists, it is important to know the year
your ancestor entered the country and, if possible, the name of
the ship that person entered on. The best approach is to start
with a good general reference book, which can be found at any
major genealogical research library. Perhaps the best of these
sources is Passenger and Immigration Lists Index: A Guide to
Published Arrival Records of Passengers Who Came to the United
States and Canada in the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth
Centuries, edited by William P. Filby (Detroit: Gale
Research Co., 1981-). This three-volume series is updated
annually.
Another potential
source is the Internet. Every day additional lists are finding
their way onto various Web sites, and it is a source that cannot
be overlooked. However, remember there is no substitute for
old-fashioned legwork, and locating immigration information
requires a great deal of this.
Also, don’t
forget to check publications that focus on specific ethnic
groups that entered the country. Several books presented as
alphabetical lists have been published dealing with ethnic
groups such as German, Polish, Italian, and Russian.
We are often
asked how to learn something—such as the date an immigrant
entered the country—if that information is not a part of family
lore. Simply start with the 1920 Census. Column 13 of the 1920
Census asks for the year of immigration to the United States.
This information, while not always accurate, yields one of those
key pieces of data to pursue ships’ passenger lists. Then,
coupled with an educated guess as to the port of entry, you are
ready to consult the various indexes available from NARA. If you
do not live near a major research library or an archive where
these indexes are available, you may write to the National
Archives. The following contact information is taken from the
NARA Web site:
Paper copies of
immigration records can be ordered by mail using one NATF Form
81 for each person or family group traveling together.
You can
obtain the NATF Form 81 by providing your name and mailing
address to
inquire@nara.gov.
Be sure to specify Form 81 and the number of forms you need.
You can also
obtain the NATF Form 81 by writing to: National Archives and
Records Administration, Attn: NWCTB, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue,
NW, Washington, D.C. 20408-0001.
Ellis Island
Any discussion of immigrant records would not be complete
without reference to Ellis Island, one of America’s most revered
historical sites. Between 1892 and 1954 approximately 12 million
people were processed in the facilities. It is estimated that
today forty percent of all Americans can trace their roots to at
least one person who passed through the center.
Due to the
constant interest people exhibit toward their immigrant
ancestor(s), the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation has
begun computerizing the immigration records of the people who
passed through the center between 1892 and 1924. Thus, Ellis
Island will become the starting point for someone whose
ancestors entered the United States at this port.
The first phase
of the database project will be available in late 2000, and
Internet access to the information will be available shortly
thereafter. The data will cover eleven fields, including the
person’s given name, surname, sex, age, marital status, ship
they arrived on, port of origin, departure date from that port,
nationality, and last residence. If a researcher discovers
information on his or her family, a printout of the information
will be available for a small fee, as will a scanned image of
the original ship’s manifest and a picture of the ship. The
project at Ellis Island represents some of the best technology
for genealogists and will serve as a model for other similar
projects.
One of the most
rewarding aspects of genealogical research is the contact we
have with the lives of our ancestors through the records they
left behind. Did they ever question the paper trail they left
behind?
What was the
experience like for the steerage passengers who arrived at Ellis
Island? Were they inspired by the beautiful statue that stood
before them? Regardless of our ancestors’ thoughts during the
stressful days of immigration, genealogists today benefit from
the documents they routinely filled out. It is through these
records that we learn to understand a bit more their courage and
hope in the unforeseen future.
