Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
These collections include the following:


 * Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1882 (NARA M425)
 * Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1883-1945 (NARA T840)

The passenger lists are digital copies of the original records. The earliest records are handwritten pages. Later records are usually handwritten on pre-printed pages. The records are arranged by the date of entry into port. Passenger arrivals records do not exist from July 1, 1948 to November 30, 1954. Passenger arrival lists known as customs manifests date back to 1820. Congressional action in 1891 resulted in federal immigration officials recording the immigrants’ arrival. Arrival lists was used by legal authorities to gather personal information about immigrants prior to the person being allowed to live in the United States. The information was supplied by the immigrant or a traveling companion (usually a family member). Incorrect information was occasionally given, or mistakes may have been made when the clerk guessed at the spelling of foreign names.


 * Related Collections
 * Manifests of Outward Bound Alien Passengers, 1907–1948
 * Baggage Entries, December 1799–December 1856

To Browse This Collection
OR

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Lists for the years 1798 to 1882
 * Name of immigrant/passenger
 * Place of birth
 * Age and gender
 * Occupation
 * Name of country to which passenger belongs
 * Port of departure
 * Date of arrival
 * Name of ship

Lists and soundex index cards for the years 1882 to 1948
 * Name
 * Birthplace
 * Age
 * Gender
 * Occupation
 * Nationality
 * Last permanent residence
 * Destination
 * Name and address of relative or friend
 * Port and date of entry
 * Name of ship

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The approximate year of arrival to Philadelphia

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.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * Use the information to find other records such as emigrations, port records, ship’s manifests, birth, christening, census, and land records
 * Learn foreign and “Americanized” names
 * Use the information to find additional family members in census records
 * Search for vital records, such as birth, marriage, and death
 * Search for naturalization records

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relatives
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist. 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, or even initials

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in the state of Pennsylvania.
 * Beginning Research in United States Immigration and Emigration Records
 * Pennsylvania Guided Research
 * Pennsylvania Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Pennsylvania Research, 1880-Present

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog

 * Passenger lists of vessels arriving at Philadelphia, 1800-1882 with index 1800-1906 : U. S. National Archives Microfilm Publications M360, M425.
 * Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Philadelphia,1883-1945; index (soundex) to passenger lists arriving at Philadelphia, 1883-1948; book indexes, 1906-1926 : NARA publications T840, M526, and T791
 * Impost books of the Collector of Customs at Philadelphia, NARA T0255
 * Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Philadelphia. Immigrant records, 1884-1952
 * Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Philadelphia. Card file of detainee immigrants, 1914-1921
 * Jewish immigrant aid societies' records of Jewish arrivals, 1913-1947
 * Jewish petition cards to bring relatives to the United States, 1923-1935
 * Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Philadelphia. Landing verification cards, 1907-1914
 * Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Philadelphia. Records, 1884-1934
 * People's Bank. Lipschutz Steamship Company. Prepaid steamship ticket record, (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 1906-1948
 * Philadelphia. Board of Health. Register of coasting vessels paying fees, 1809-1824
 * Philadelphia. Board of Health. Register of vessels from foreign ports, 1825-1892, reported to the health officer

 Publications
 * Michael Tepper, ed. Emigrants to Pennsylvania, 1641-1819 : a consolidation of ship passenger lists from the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company 1978 FS Library 974.8 W3t
 * general editor, Michael H. Tepper ; transcribed by Elizabeth P. Bentley, Passenger arrivals at the port of Philadelphia, 1800-1819 : the Philadelphia "baggage lists" Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, 1986 FS Library 974.811 W3p
 * Michael Tepper, ed.  Immigrants to the middle colonies : a consolidation of ship passenger lists and associated data from the New York genealogical and biographical record Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1978 FS Library 973 W3te

FamilySearch Historical Records

 * Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger List Index Cards, 1883-1948
 * Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists Index, 1800-1906
 * Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1882

FamilySearch Digital Library

 * compiled by Harold Lancour ; with a list of passenger arrival records in the National Archives by Frank E. Bridgers. A bibliography of ship passenger lists, 1538-1825 : being a guide to published lists of early immigrants to North America. New York, New York : New York Public Library distributed by Readex Books, 1975
 * Forrest R. Holdcamper, comp. Preliminary inventory of the records of the Bureau of Customs, record group 36 National Archives & Records Administration, Central Plains Region, 1968

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.