United States, Russians to America Index - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection contains data files relating to immigrants who arrived to the United States from 1834 to 1897. These passengers classified themselves as Armenian, Finish, Galician, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Russian Poles, or Ukrainian. Passengers also included U.S. citizens or non-citizens who were returning to the United States. There are records of passengers arriving in Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia ports, but the majority of the records come from the Port of New York.

This collection was created by the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, Center for Immigration Research.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in this collection may include the following:


 * Passenger’s full name
 * Age
 * City and town of last residence
 * Country of origin
 * Occupation
 * Port of arrival

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know one or more of the following:


 * Passenger’s name
 * Age
 * Country of origin
 * Destination city or country

Search the Collection
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible ancestors. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine which individual is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination. Next, click on your ancestor's name. This will take you to a descriptive page with a link to the image.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Use the residence and name of your ancestor to locate church and land records.
 * Their occupation can lead you to other types of records such as employment or military records.
 * The country and town of residence can lead you to census records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * If you cannot find your ancestor, try alternate spellings of the name.

Related Websites

 * NARA File Unit Information

Related Wiki Articles

 * United States
 * US Immigration Passenger Arrival Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.