North Carolina, Wilmington and Morehead City Passenger and Crew Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection contains passenger and crew lists for vessels arriving at Wilmington and Moorhead City, North Carolina from 1908-1958. It corresponds with NARA publication A3481: Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Wilmington and Morehead City, North Carolina, 1908-1958.

Record Content
Passenger lists may list any of the following information:


 * Port of embarkation and departure date
 * Name of ship
 * Port of entry and date of arrival
 * Full name of passenger
 * Age, gender, marital status and occupation
 * Whether able to read and write
 * Passport Number
 * Date and place of birth
 * Description of baggage
 * Nationality or race
 * Last permanent address (city and country)
 * Name of relative or friend at last address
 * Final destination in U.S.
 * Name of relative or friend you will visit in U.S.


 * Position in ship's company
 * When and where joined the crew

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know:


 * The full name of your ancestor
 * The approximate date of immigration.

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

Search the Collection
To search the index 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.

If you did not find the person you were looking for, you may need to search the collection image by image. ⇒ Select the “Browse" link on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the “NARA Roll Number-Contents” category 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.

With either search 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.

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

Using the Information
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. For example, you can use passenger lists to:


 * Request federal immigration record
 * 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.

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.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.

Related Websites

 * National Archives Immigration Records
 * The Olive Tree Passenger Lists of Ships to South &amp; North Carolina

Related Wiki Articles
North Carolina Genealogy

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image citation: