Tracing Immigrants Arrival Newspapers

Portal:Tracing Immigrant Origins ► Country of Arrival Record Types ► Newspapers ◄ Return to Naturalization and Citizenship

Newspapers also provide immigration information. Search both the local newspapers where the immigrant settled and the ethnic newspapers in the immigrant's language or for his or her cultural group. In addition to obituaries (described next), newspapers from the immigrant's lifetime may list—


 * Passengers or new arrivals.
 * Immigrants treated in a local hospital.
 * Immigrants who came as indentured servants or apprentices.
 * Missing relative or friend queries.
 * Marriage announcements.
 * Notices of estate probates.

An example of an index of immigrants in early newspapers is—

Harris, Ruth Ann M., and Donald M. Jacobs, eds. The Search for Missing Friends: Irish Immigrant Advertisements Placed in the Boston Pilot 1831- 1850. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1989. (FHL book 974.461 H29s.)

Current newspapers from the area where the immigrant settled may have genealogical columns or print queries. You can generally get newspapers through your local public library. Public libraries have bibliographies you can use to identify useful newspapers. They can usually order copies through interlibrary loan.

Additionally, ethnic immigrant newspapers often carried regular notices from correspondents in various locales. Also, many serials and newspapers of political, cultural, fraternal, religious, and other groups printed abundant news of their individual members. Good examples of ethnic newspaper bibliographies are—

Wynar, Lubomyr R., and Anna T. Wynar. Encyclopedic Directory of Ethnic Newspapers and Periodicals in the United States. 2nd ed. Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1976. (FHL book 973 E4w.)

Arndt, Karl J.R. German-American Newspapers and Periodicals, 1732-1955. New York: Johnson Reprint, 1985. (FHL film 824091.)

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