New York, Book Indexes to Passenger Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
The collection consists of images of books of indexes to passenger manifests for the port of New York. The indexes are grouped by shipping line and arranged chronologically by date of arrival. This collection corresponds to NARA Publications T612: Book Indexes to New York Passenger Lists, 1906-1942. and is part of Record Group 85 Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The collection partly indexes NARA Publication T715 Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957."Additional images will be added as they become available.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records: • 2

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the individual
 * The date of immigration or destination

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?

 * Use the information to find other records such as emigrations, port records, and ship’s manifests
 * Look for the Declaration of Intent soon after the immigrant arrived, and then look for the Naturalization Petition five years later, when the residency requirement would have been met. Look for naturalization records in federal courts and then in state, county, or city courts. An individual may have filed the first and final papers in different courts and sometimes in a different state if the person moved. Immigrants who were younger than 18 when they arrived did not need to file a Declaration of Intent as part of the process
 * Learn foreign and “Americanized” names
 * Learn the place of origin and find church and vital records such as birth, baptism, marriage, and death records. Also search for land and probate records
 * Use the race information to find records related to that ethnicity such as records of the Freedman’s Bureau or Indian censuses
 * Search for military files in the State or National Archives
 * Use the occupation to find employment or school records
 * Use the information to find additional family members in censuses
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family

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

 * Try viewing the original record. Indexes and transcriptions may not include all the data found in the original records. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name
 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relatives that can be verified by records
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality
 * Try variant spellings of your ancestor’s name
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names

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

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

FamilySearch Catalog

 * Michael Tepper, American passenger arrival records : a guide to the records of immigrants arriving at American ports by sail and steam Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1988 FS Library 973 W27am
 * Book indexes to New York passenger lists, 1906-1921 : NARA RG85 publication T612
 * New York, indexes and lists of passengers, crew and vessels, 1906-1942

FamilySearch Digital Library

 * Morton Allan directory of European passenger steamship arrivals : for the years 1890 to 1930 at the port of New York and for the years 1904 to 1926 at the ports of New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore New York, New York: Immigration Information Bureau, c1931

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.