Canada Emigration and Immigration: Difference between revisions

=== Canadian Border Crossings, 1895 to 1954 ===

The Family History Library and the National Archives of the United States have several collections of arrival indexes and manifests for persons crossing the United States-Canadian border. These are records maintained by U.S. immigration officials who inspected travelers at the following places:  

All Canadian seaports and emigration stations (including major interior cities such as Quebec and Winnipeg). Officials used shipping company passenger lists (manifests) to determine passengers bound for the United States by way of Canada.  

U.S. train arrival stations in all border states (from Maine to Washington state).  

The records may give this information:  

*Name  

*Port or station of entry  

*Date of entry  

*Literacy  

*Last residence and name of nearest relative there  

*Previous visits to the United States  

*Place of birth

''St. Albans District Manifest Records of Aliens Arriving from Foreign Contiguous Territory''. Washington, DC, USA: National Archives Record Service, 1986. (FHL film numbers listed below.) The Family History Library has more than 1,000 rolls of microfilm that include [[Soundex|Soundex]] (phonetic index) cards and original manifests giving detailed information pertaining to border crossings. Crossings from Maine to Washington state are included between 1895 and 1915. Beginning about 1915, the records are mainly limited to border crossing in the northeastern states. However, this includes major eastern Canadian seaports where U.S. officials processed ship passengers bound for the United States.  

The above collection includes:  

''Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries Through the St. Albans, Vt. District, 1895–1924''. (FHL films 1472801–1473201.) This gives complete geographic coverage to 1915 or later. Some of these index cards are the actual record of crossing; in those cases there is no original manifest. The [[Soundex|Soundex]] is a coded surname index based on the way a name sounds rather than how it is spelled. Names like Schmidt, Smith and Smythe have the same code and are filed together.  

''Soundex Index to Entries into the St. Albans, Vermont District Through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1924–1952.'' (FHL films 1570714–1570811.) The index cards in this set pertain to border crossing mainly in the New York-Vermont area. See the previous citation for an explanation of Soundex.  

''Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Albans, Vermont District Through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895–1954''. (FHL films 1561087–1561499.) Especially for the years before 1915, these sources include records from seaports and railroad stations all over Canada and the northern United States. These lists of arrivals are indexed by the above two sets of [[Soundex|Soundex]] cards.  

''St. Albans District . . . Records of Arrivals through Small Ports in Vermont, 1895–1924''. Washington, DC, USA: National Archives Record Service, 1986. (FHL films 1430987–1430992.) This source is arranged first by entry station and then alphabetically by surname. It covers Vermont ports of entry only, including Alburg, Beecher Falls, Canaan, Highgate Springs, Island Pond, Norton, Richford, St. Albans, and Swanton. It is especially useful for identifying Canadians who settled in New England.  

''Detroit District Manifest Records of Aliens Arriving from Foreign Contiguous Territory''. Washington, DC, USA: Immigration and Naturalization Service, 195?. (FHL films 1490449–1490565.) These are the original manifests, on cards arranged alphabetically, for persons entering the United States through Detroit and some other Michigan ports from 1906 to 1954.  

An online index of these Canadian border crossing records is available at [http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=List&dbid=1075&offerid=0:7858:0 Ancestry.com]for a subscription fee.  

The above collections are all listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under: