New York, Northern Arrival Manifests - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
This collection has records for the years 1902 to 1956.

Record Description
This collection is comprised of two record sets from the National Archives:


 * Manifests of alien arrivals at Buffalo, Lewiston, Niagra Falls, and Rochester, New York, 1902-1954 (NARA M1480)
 * Soundex card manifests of alien and citizen arrivals at Hogansburg, Malone, Morristown, Nyando, Ogdensburg, Rooseveltown, and Waddington, New York, July 1929-April 1956 (NARA M1482).

These card manifests are arranged in Soundex order and document over 1,000,000 arrivals. Some citizen arrivals are also included. The bulk of the arrivals were at Buffalo and Niagara Falls. The cards are arranged by soundex code and include permanent, temporary, statistical, and nonstatistical arrivals.

Record Content


The cards generally include the following:


 * Name
 * Age
 * Sex
 * Marital status
 * Place of birth
 * Physical description
 * Occupation
 * Citizenship ("nationality")
 * Race
 * Ability to read and write and in what language
 * Place of last permanent residence
 * Port and date of arrival
 * Destination
 * Purpose for entering U.S.
 * Intention of becoming a U.S. citizen or of returning to country of previous residence
 * Name and address of nearest relative or friend in the country from which he or she came
 * If the alien had ever been in the U.S. previously
 * Dates and places of previous residence or visitation
 * The reverse side of the card manifest sometimes includes the alien`s photograph and other miscellaneous information

How to Use the Record
These card manifests are arranged in Soundex order. For help in using the soundex refer to the wiki article: Soundex.

When searching these records it is helpful to know the full name of your ancestor and the approximate date of immigration. If you do not know this information, check the census records after 1900. Compare the information in these records to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if you have found the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination.

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:

Use these records 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.

You may also find these tips helpful:


 * Use the age to calculate an approximate birth date.
 * 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.

If you do not find the name you are looking for, try the following:


 * Check for variant spellings. Realize that the indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings and misinterpretations.
 * Try a different index if there is one for the years needed. You may also need to search the passenger lists year by year.
 * Search the indexes of other port cities.

Online Soundex Converters
The easiest way to obtain the Soundex code for a name is to use one of several online Soundex converter programs. Simply type a name, and at the click of a button, the converter will divulge the corresponding Soundex code. There may be subtle differences between programs:


 * Yet Another Soundex Converter
 * SoundEx Converter Form
 * Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter Soundex Calculator
 * RootsWeb’s Soundex Converter
 * Surname to Soundex Converter

Record History
The National Archives have kept lists of immigrating individuals since about 1820. Some cities or ports of immigration have kept lists since the colonial period.

Why this Record Was Created
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.

Record Reliability
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.

Related Websites
Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Buffalo, Lewiston, Niagara Falls, and Rochester, New York, 1902-1954 Immigration Records The Soundex Indexing System

Related Wiki Articles

 * Soundex
 * Tracing Immigrant Origins
 * New York Emigration and Immigration

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. 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.

A suggested format for citing FamilySearch Historical Collections is found in the following article: How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection
"New York, Northern Arrival Manifests, 1902-1956," index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 21 April 2011). entry for Kate, E Ashworth, admitted October 5, 1917; citing Arrival Manifests, Buffalo, Lewiston, Niagra Falls and Rochester, Soundex: A-263 Florance to A-416 Otto H, Image 110; United States Federal Archives and Records Center, New, York.

Sources of Information for This Collection
“New York, Northern Arrival Manifests, 1902-1956,” images, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org/). United States Federal Archives and Records Center, New York. NARA M1480 and M1482. FHL microfilm, 136 reels, Family History Library Salt Lake City, Utah.