Maryland Emigration and Immigration: Difference between revisions

The following types of records can help you identify an ancestor who arrived in Baltimore City, Maryland between 1820 and 1891:  

:Customs passenger lists of Baltimore City were kept beginning in January 1820, but most of the early lists are missing and were reportedly destroyed by a fire. The Family History Library has the following records in one collection on Family History Library films beginning at 417383.

*• '''Surviving U.S. Customs passenger lists from 1 January 1840 to 28 December 1891'''

::Baltimore City lists for 4 September 1833 to 13 June 1866 (with some gaps). During these years, ship masters were required to submit copies of their passenger lists to the mayor of Baltimore. These city lists partially replace the missing original lists.  

::Cargo manifests from 2 September 1820 to 30 March 1821 and 19 August 1832.

::- Quarterly abstracts of Baltimore City passenger lists. Beginning in 1820, U.S. Customs collectors were required to send quarterly copies of the customs lists to the U.S. Secretary of State who published transcripts for Congress.

:::These quarterly abstracts or copies give the quarter-year of an individual's arrival and sometimes the port of embarkation. Passengers' given names are usually shortened to the initial letter, but otherwise the information is the same as that found in the original lists. Use the abstracts when the original list is missing. The abstracts also have many gaps, and some years are missing. The Family History Library has the abstracts for the following years (Family History Library films [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titlefilmnotes&columns=*%2C0%2C0&titleno=65295&disp=Passenger+lists+of+vessels+arriving+at+B++ 1376177]-82):

:January 1820 to December 1845  

:July 1848 to September 1850  

:March 1857 to June 1869

:::- Indexes to the quarterly abstracts. There are two indexes to the abstracts. Those up to 1834 are indexed in:

::::• Bentley, Elizabeth P., and Michael H. Tepper, eds. ''Passenger Arrivals at the Port of Baltimore, 1820-1834: From Customs Passenger Lists''. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982. (Family History Library book [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&titleno=290278&disp=Passenger+arrivals+at+the+port+of+Baltim%20%20&columns=*,0,0 975.26 W3p].) This also indexes the few city lists, cargo manifests, and state department transcripts for this period.

::::A second and more comprehensive index is:

:::::• United States. Bureau of Customs. ''A Supplemental Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Atlantic and Gulf Coast Ports (Excluding New York) 1820-1874''. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service, 1960. (Family History Library films [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titlefilmnotes&columns=*%2C0%2C0&titleno=67478&disp=A+supplemental+index+to+passenger+lists+++ 418161]-348.) This indexes the Baltimore City abstracts through June 1869 and the existing Annapolis and Havre de Grace lists (see the paragraph labelled "Other Ports").