United States, New England Passenger and Crew Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection contains passenger and crew lists from vessels arriving at various ports in New England from 1918-1954. It corresponds with NARA Publication A3468: Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Providence, Davisville, Melville, Newport, Quonset Point, and Tiverton, Rhode Island; Fall River, Massachusetts; and New London, Connecticut, Aug. 1918-Nov. 1954.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

Suggested citation format for a record in this collection.

Record Content


Passenger lists after 1906 generally include the following information:


 * Name of ship
 * Port and date of arrival
 * Port and date of embarkation
 * Name
 * Position in ship's company
 * When and where joined the crew
 * Able to read and write
 * Age
 * Sex
 * Race
 * Nationality
 * Height, weight, and physical impairments

How to Use the Record
To search the collection, you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select the “Browse" link on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the “NARA Roll Number - Contents” category which takes you to the images.

Look at the images one by one comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

To begin your search 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.

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:


 * Request federal immigration record
 * 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:


 * 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 of the name.
 * Search the indexes of other port cities.

Related Websites

 * Your Ancestors in One Step $
 * US Ports of Arrival and their Available Passenger Lists 1820-1957

Related Wiki Articles
New England

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should 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 keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation Example for a Record Found in a Historical Record Collection
“Argentina, Buenos Aires, Catholic Church Records, 1635-1981,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org: accessed 28 February, 2012), La Plata &gt; San Ponciano &gt; Matrimonios 1884-1886 &gt; image 71 of 389 images, Artemio Avendano and Clemtina Peralta, 1884; citing Parroquia de San Ponciano en la Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Matrimonios. San Ponciano, La Plata.