United States, Virgin Islands Index to Passenger Arrivals - FamilySearch Historical Records

What Is in the Collection?
This collection corresponds with NARA publications A3404 and A3407, both of which are passenger index lists. Publication roll A3404 serves as an index to the series “Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, July 16, 1907- May 12, 1923” NAID 2953525 and “Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, June 5, 1925 to-June 30, 1948” NAID 2953511.

Publication roll A3407 consists of microfilmed index cards, which contain passenger list information for ships arriving at Honolulu 1900-1952 (ARC identifier 4493348).

What Can This Collection Tell Me?
The card index to passenger lists may include some or all of the the following information:
 * Full Name(s) of immigrants
 * Immigrants' age, gender, marital status and occupation
 * Physical description
 * Birthplace or Nationality of immigrant
 * Country where immigrant holds citizenship
 * Last place of residence in that country
 * Name(s) of person(s) accompanying immigrant
 * Name of relative or friend living at last residence
 * Name of relative or friend to be visited in this country
 * Final destination of immigrant
 * Name of ship and port of departure
 * Ship's arrival date and port of entry

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search, it is helpful to know:


 * All or part of the name of the person you are looking for
 * The approximate date of immigration

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information could lead you to additional records and family members. Be sure to look at all the entries for a name before you decide which is correct. If the person you are looking for has an uncommon last name, you may want to collect the information of other passengers who share the same last name who also share the same country of origin. You may not know how or if they are related, but the information could lead you to more information about the person you are interested in finding. Use passenger lists to:
 * Access the original passenger or manifest list
 * Learn an immigrant’s place of origin
 * Confirm their date of arrival
 * Learn foreign and “Americanized” names
 * Find records in his or her country of origin such as emigrations, port records, or ship’s manifests

I Found Who I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Search the passenger lists to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who may have immigrated at the same time
 * Use the information to find your ancestors in censuses. These can help you find additional family members
 * Use the age in the record to find an approximate birth year, which will help you find a birth or death record. Sometimes a person is buried in a city or town in which they did not die, so it is not always accurate to assume that a burial place is the same as a death place
 * The name of the undertaker or mortuary could lead you to funeral and cemetery records, which often include the names and residences of other family members. If a family member was buried in a church cemetery, it may mean they were members of that congregation, and their existing church records should be examined
 * Use the preferred religion, to find local church records. For example, if your ancestor was Catholic, you can try to find a christening, marriage or burial of your ancestor or their children. Church records were usually kept before government records, making them a necessary resource in pedigree extension
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found to find more generations of the family

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc
 * Standard spelling typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well
 * Search the indexes of other port cities
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the Collection page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the United States.
 * United States Guided Research
 * United States Record Finder
 * Research Tips and Strategies

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.
 * Collection Citation:"United States, Virgin Islands Index to Passenger Arrivals, 1906-1947." Database. FamilySearch. https://FamilySearch.org : 18 January 2018. Citing NARA microfilm publication A3404. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

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