United States, Index to Passenger Arrivals, Atlantic and Gulf Ports - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States

What is in the Collection?
This is a card index to passengers arriving at 70 ports along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts for the years 1820 to 1874. New York City is excluded from this index.

States covered by this collection include:


 * Alabama
 * Connecticut
 * Delaware
 * District of Columbia
 * Florida
 * Georgia
 * Louisiana
 * Maine
 * Massachusetts
 * Maryland
 * North Carolina
 * New Hampshire
 * New Jersey
 * New York
 * Ohio
 * Pennsylvania
 * Rhode Island
 * South Carolina
 * Texas
 * Virginia

Ship captains kept lists of passengers to manage their finances and prevent stowaways. Later, immigration laws increased the need for passenger lists, which grew in detail. Eventually the Federal Government began to store immigrant documentation. These lists were first created to keep track of a captain's shipment and paying passengers. Later, they became a means to document immigration to the United States. Although generally reliable, passenger lists were handwritten, causing possible spelling errors.

Collection Content
Information found in most immigration passenger lists include:


 * Passenger's name
 * Accompanied by
 * Names of children, if any
 * Age in years and months
 * Marital status
 * Occupation
 * Country of origin
 * Name of ship
 * Port of embarkation
 * Port of destination
 * Date of departure
 * Date of arrival

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


 * The immigrant's name
 * Identifying information such as arrival date or age

Search the Collection
To search the collection by name: Fill in your ancestor’s name in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about those in the list to what you already know about your own ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person.

To browse by image: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒Select the "Surname Range" which takes you to the images

Be aware that with either search you may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

Keep in mind:
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections, see the wiki article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Download a copy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Continue to search the index and records to identify other relatives.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * You may need to compare the information of more than one family or person to make this determination.
 * Be aware that, as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

What if I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of other ports such as New York or Boston.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals with the same family number.

Known Issues
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

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:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: