Massachusetts, New Bedford Passenger Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Massachusetts Bristol County



What is in the Collection?
This collection contains passenger lists of vessels arriving at New Bedford, Massachusetts from 1902-1942. These records correspond with NARA publication T944 and were filmed at the NARA facility in College Park, Maryland.

Collection Contents
These records may contain the following information:


 * Full name
 * Age
 * Gender
 * Marital status
 * Occupation
 * Citizenship
 * Race
 * Last permanent residence
 * Birthplace
 * Final destination

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


 * The full name of your ancestor
 * Identifying information such as the approximate date of immigration

If you do not know this information, check the census records after 1900.

To browse by image: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the appropriate "NARA Roll Number" which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

What Do I Do Next?

 * 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.
 * Use the age to calculate a birth date.
 * Use the name, date, group, and list number to obtain additional immigration information from the National Archives.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * If your ancestor had a common name, be sure to look at all the entries for a name before you decide which is correct.
 * Continue to 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.
 * If your ancestor has an uncommon surname, you may want to obtain the passenger list of every person who shares your ancestor’s surname if they lived in the same county or nearby. You may not know how or if they are related, but the information could lead you to more information about your own ancestors.
 * When you select an image to view, sometimes the manifest includes more than one page, and when you use the "click to enlarge manifest" link, the image that appears is not always the first page of the record. You may need to click on the "previous" or "next" links to view the remaining pages of the full manifest.
 * 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
 * The passenger arrival list was used by legal inspectors to cross-examine each immigrant during a legal inspection prior to the person being allowed to live in America. Only two percent of the prospective immigrants were denied entry.

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

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Search the indexes and records of other port cities.
 * Look for an index. You may also need to search the passenger lists year by year.

Related Websites
National Archives

Related Wiki Articles

 * Massachusetts
 * Bristol County, Massachusetts Genealogy
 * Massachusetts Emigration and Immigration

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

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