California, San Francisco Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States California  San Francisco 

What is in the Collection?
This collection consists of digital images of inbound passenger manifests, crew lists, and related form 1-489 (statement of changes in crew). These records are arranged in chronological order by date of arrival. The passenger lists are form 1-415 (manifest of inbound passengers, alien) and form 1-416 (manifest of inbound passengers, US citizens or nationals). The collection corresponds to NARA Publication M1411: Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, CA, December 1, 1954-February 1, 1957. There is a gap in the original records between September 18, 1955 and November 8, 1955 because roll 9 is missing at NARA. The collection is part of Record Group 85 Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
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?
You can search the index or view the images or both. Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:


 * Name of the person
 * The age or date of immigration

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page. br>
 * 1) Select NARA Roll Number
 * 2) Select Arrival Date
 * 3) Select Ship Name

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.

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

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 Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Copy the citation below, in case you need to find this record again later.
 * 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.
 * Church Records were kept years before counties began keeping records. They are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

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
 * Check the info box above for additional FamilySearch websites and related websites that may assist you in finding similar records.

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:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation:

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