New York, New York, Index to Passenger Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
The collection consists of Card file Index to early New York passenger lists. Corresponds to NARA publication M261: Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York for the years 1820 to 1846 part of Record Group 36 Records of the U.S. Customs Service.

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

Passenger lists
 * Full Name(s) of immigrants
 * Immigrants' age, gender, marital status and occupation
 * Physical description
 * Birthplace or Nationality of immigrant
 * Country where immigrant holds citizenship
 * Last place of residence in that country
 * Name(s) of person(s) accompanying immigrant
 * Name of relative or friend living at last residence
 * Name of relative or friend to be visited in this country
 * Final destination of immigrant
 * Name of ship and port of departure
 * Ship's arrival date and port of entry

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

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.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family.

I Found the Person I was Looking For, What Now?
Use the information to:
 * 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
 * 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
 * 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
 * Please note that 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

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

 * Check for variant spellings of the name
 * Look for other indexes. Records are often indexed by local historical and genealogical societies
 * Search the passenger lists year by year
 * Search the indexes of other port cities
 * Consult the New York Record Finder to find other records

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, c1999 FS Library 973 W27am
 * Elizabeth P. Bentley, transcribed, Passenger arrivals at the port of New York, 1820-1829 : from customs passenger lists Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, c1999 FS Library 974.71 W38b

FamilySearch Digital Library

 * Harold Lancour, comp. ; 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 Washington, D.C. : 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.