Texas, Laredo Arrival Manifests - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This article covers multiple collections.

The collection "Texas, Laredo Arrival Manifests, 1903-1955" contains 520,000 arrival manifests at Laredo, Texas from 1903-1955. It corresponds to NARA Publication A3437: Manifests of Statistical and Nonstatistical Alien Arrivals at Laredo, Texas, May 1903 – April 1955 and is part of Record Group 85 Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The records are arranged chronologically then numerically by manifest number.

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

Manifest
 * Date of arrival
 * Name, age and gender of arrival
 * Physical description
 * Birth place
 * Marital status and occupation
 * Nationality and race
 * Ability to read and write?
 * Place of last residence
 * Final destination
 * Who paid for passage
 * Reason for entering the U.S.
 * Name and address of friend or relative in U.S.
 * Name of nearest relative in native country
 * Intent to naturalize
 * Names of those persons accompanying the immigrant

How Do I Search This Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The approximate date of arrival

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page:
 * 1) Select Date Range
 * 2) Select Manifest Numbers to view the images.

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?
Indexes and transcriptions may not include all the data found in the original records. Look at the actual image of the record, if you can, to verify the information and to find additional information.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the information found in the record to find other records such as emigrations, port records, and ship’s manifests
 * Use the record to learn your ancestor’s foreign and “Americanized” names, if they were different
 * Use the record to learn the place of origin and find their church and vital records such as birth, baptism, and marriage records
 * Use the information found in the record to find land and probate records
 * Use the record to see if other family members who may have immigrated with the person you are looking for are listed and have additional information or leads; you may also find additional information on new family members in censuses
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family

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

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby town or county
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well
 * Look for the Declaration of Intent soon after the immigrant arrived. Then look for the Naturalization Petition five years later, when the residency requirement would have been met. Look for naturalization records in federal courts, then in state, county, or city courts. An individual may have filed the first and final papers in different courts and sometimes in a different state if the person moved. Immigrants who were younger than 18 when they arrived did not need to file a Declaration of Intent as part of the process
 * Check other possible ports of entry

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the state of Texas.
 * Texas Guided Research
 * Texas Record Finder
 * Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research

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.


 * Collection Citation: "Texas, Laredo Arrival Manifests, 1903-1955." Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 14 June 2016. Citing NARA microfilm publication A3437. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

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