Passenger Guide: Don’t Miss the Boat

If your families migrated to America from anywhere other than Canada or Mexico and came before the middle of this century, they arrived by ship. So it is no wonder that ship passenger records are among the most sought after by genealogists.

To find those immigrant ancestors--whether they sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 or crossed the Atlantic on the Stavangerfjord in 1930--is the goal of every genealogist.

But locating your immigrant ancestors in the multitude of records of those who arrived at American ports by sail and steam calls not only for diligent research, but a knowledge of American immigration records and the history of migration to this country--and how all of it applies to your family.

Knowing exactly what records exist for certain time periods is critical to researchers. To find your families in these records, you first must know what records exist and the time period they cover. In his new book, “American Passenger Arrival Records,” Michael Tepper provides a splendid history of--and guide to--these records.

Whether you are seeking information about ancestors who came during the Colonial period or those who arrived at later dates, this book explains what records are available and how you can locate them. Beginning with the Colonial period, Tepper relates in laconic style the history of immigration and emigration records. He untangles the differences in confusing terms of customs, passenger lists, baggage lists and immigration passenger lists, and gently guides the reader through the maze commonly referred to as ship passenger records.

The famous Hamburg Emigration Lists are explicated with detailed instructions on how to access them. These passenger lists are invaluable for researchers tracing ancestors who came via Hamburg, Germany, between 1850 and 1934. In an appendix is a list of the principal passenger list publications mentioned in the book’s text and notes. It basically is a checklist of the key books and articles that will refer to you to the many passenger lists published in books and articles.

Another table shows the customs passenger lists in the National Archives, arranged by port or district, dates of the originals, dates of copies or abstracts. This is valuable to the researcher since simply checking for the likely port of entry of one’s ancestors will provide you with information of what records are available and for which dates.

Not all of our ancestors came through New York or Philadelphia--instead you may find your ancestors entered America by way of Mobile, Ala., Key West, Fla., Galveston, Texas, Kennebunk, Maine, Portsmouth, N.H., Tacoma, Wash., San Francisco, Calif. or Rochester, N.Y.

“American Passenger Arrival Records,” is available from Genealogical Publishing Co., 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21202 ($20.95). It is the kind of book that you will refer to over and over as you seek the name of the ships that brought your ancestors here.