Wisconsin, Milwaukee Passenger and Crew Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

United StatesWisconsinMilwaukee County

What is in the Collection?
This collection consists of images of passenger lists. It corresponds with NARA collection A3399: Lists of Immigrants, Ship Passengers, Arrivals at Seaports, Pioneers, etc.; Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 1922-December 1956, and Records of Selected Airplane Passengers, 1956-1963. The collection is part of Record Group 85 Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Collection Content
The records may contain any of the following:


 * Port and date of departure
 * Port and date of entry
 * Name of ship
 * Country of citizenship
 * Name of passenger, including maiden name of women
 * Names of persons accompanying passenger
 * Age, gender, marital status and occupation of passenger
 * Date and place of birth of passenger
 * Address of last permanent residence
 * Name and address of friend or relative at last address
 * Final destination
 * Name and address of friend or relative in U.S.
 * Physical description and distinguishing marks
 * Who paid for passage
 * Purpose of visit

How Do I Search the Collection?
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 browse by image: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the "NARA Roll Number - Contents" 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. 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.

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. For example, you can use passenger lists 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.

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.

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

 * Check for variant spellings of the name.
 * Look for an index. Records are often indexed by local historical and genealogical societies.
 * Search the passenger lists year by year.
 * Search the indexes of other port cities.

Related Websites

 * NARA Collection Description A3399
 * NARA Immigration Records
 * NARA US Laws Relating to Immigration and Naturalization
 * NARA Great Lakes Crew Lists.
 * Wisconsin Marine Historical Society Great Lakes Vessel Enrollment Database

Related Wiki Articles

 * Wisconsin Emigration and Immigration
 * United States Emigration and Immigration

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:

Image citation: