| Passenger
Lists
Learn how to search and understand Passenger Lists
by
Juliana Smith
Passenger
lists are among the most sought after records for our ancestors.
Apart from the information they contain, there is also an intangible
value to them. They represent the journey our ancestors took as
they left their home and traveled to a new land and a life that
was often uncertain. Just the thought of moving across town is
enough to have me hyperventilating into a paper bag.
The
trip was often hazardous and the conditions under which many of
our ancestors traveled could easily be described as horrific.
As someone who gets seasick on a one-hour boat trip, I can't even
imagine spending several months at a time onboard a ship, as they
had to in the pre-steamship days.
The
voyage also represents the link to the old country. Information
about the immigrant's origins will rarely be found in early records,
especially before the 1890s. Before we attempt to "cross
the pond" with our search, records on this side of the pond
should be exhausted. The more information we are armed with when
we begin to research overseas records, the better our chances
are for success.
Still,
the sentimental value and other clues that can be gleaned from
these records make them a valuable addition to our family story.
Obtaining these records can be tricky though, so let's take a
closer look.
Background
Pre-1820 Passenger Arrival lists, if they exist, can be a bit
more difficult to find than those of later years. Those that have
not been destroyed may be widely scattered in archives, museums,
and libraries, typically near the port of entry. There are also
some published indexes to these lists and in some cases transcriptions.
While there isn't enough room in this article to take a comprehensive
look at these compilations, Printed Sources: A Guide to Published
Genealogical Records, by Kory L. Meyerink devotes an entire chapter
to published immigration sources. Many lists have also surfaced
in periodicals. The PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) returned 5,640
hits in a search for 'passenger lists.' In some cases, these published
indexes and transcriptions may be all that remains of them.
Beginning
1 January 1820, the U.S. Government required passenger lists to
be filed by the ship master with the collector of Customs in the
port of entry. The lists that have been preserved from 1820 forward
are available at the National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA).
The
content of the lists varies greatly. There was no uniform format
and no requirement as to what information needed to be collected
in earlier lists, which from 1820-91 were often referred to as
"Customs Passenger Lists." With the creation of the
Department of Immigration in 1891, things got a bit more organized
and shortly after a standard form was put into use.
These
new lists, which are referred to as "Immigration Passenger
Lists," are much better sources of information than their
predecessors. In addition to the standardized forms, beginning
in 1893, much more information was required.
What
Do You Need to Locate the List?
The upcoming launch of the Ellis Island database on 17 April,
will be helpful in this aspect to many, but there will also be
many that will have to resort to the "old fashioned"
way of locating their ancestors. Misspellings, hard-to-read handwriting,
data entry errors, and other genealogical curses, will conspire
to make it difficult, if not impossible to locate some in the
database. Apart from that, the database will only cover arrivals
to the Port of New York from 1892- 1924, which is a comparatively
small window in American immigration history, albeit an important
and busy one.
In
addition, those searching for the Kellys, Smiths, Millers, and
other common names will need distinguishing information to pick
their ancestors from the crowd.(Wouldn't you know that I am searching
for all three of these surnames.)
Obviously,
you will need the name of the immigrant. OK, that's a no- brainer,
but also consider that you will need the name they gave to the
purser as they got on the boat in the old country. That name may
be different than the Americanized version you are familiar with.
Another consideration is the interpretation of that name by the
purser. As from experiences with our friend the census taker,
we know that these interpretations can vary wildly.
You
will want to know approximately when they came over. This can
be learned with careful examination of all available records here.
In the online timeline at Ancestry.com, I have estimated that
the Huggins family emigrated between November 1843 and May 1844
by using the birth date and baptism date with the locations of
each for two of their children. Catherine was born in Ireland,
31 October 1843 according to her death certificate, and I found
the baptismal record of a sister Anne, showing her as being born
28 April 1844 and baptized in Brooklyn, New York, 26 May 1844.
From this, I know that they had to be here by that 26 May 1844
and should have been in Ireland in 31 October 1843.
Now,
this is a very loose assumption because using these dates, there
is only 6 months between the births. Either Anne was very premature,
(which in those days makes it unlikely that she would have lived
out the month) or the birth date on the Catherine's death certificate
is wrong. Since death certificates are only secondary sources
for birth information, this is entirely possible.
There
are other clues that I can follow up on, too. Looking at other
siblings' birth and baptism dates I can see that the Huggins family
was typically prompt when it came to baptizing the children. Five
out of six of her siblings that were baptized in that same church
in Brooklyn, were baptized within two weeks of being born. With
this in mind, it is interesting to note that Anne was baptized
nearly a month after she was born. Could it be that she was born
on the trip over? Maybe, maybe not—but these are possibilities
that I am anxious to investigate further.
In
addition it is helpful to know approximately how old they were
when they came over since ages are typically included in the passenger
lists. This information can be estimated using information found
in various records the same way we estimate the arrival date.
Look
at the Record
You've probably heard this somewhere around a bazillion times
before, but once you locate them in an index or if you find the
entry in the Ellis Island database,
you will want to look at the original list if at all possible.
Along with the possibility of omissions, and misinterpreted or
misspelled names that you may be able to recognize easier than
the indexer, there are many other things you can find when you
look at the list in its entirety. You may see other familiar names
that turn out to be maiden names, neighbors, sponsors, and future
spouses on that same list. On a long trip in close quarters, you
got to know your travel companions really well--probably a bit
too well!
If
you are interested in learning more about passenger lists and
how to find them, I highly recommend They Came In Ships: A Guide
to Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor's Arrival Record, by John P.
Colletta, Ph.D. In addition to being a very helpful guide, it
is written in an interesting and easy-to-read manner.
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