United States, Index to Passenger Arrivals, Atlantic and Gulf Ports - FamilySearch Historical Records: Difference between revisions

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If unable to find your immigrant ancestors in the vital records of the state, you may find them in the passenger lists. In order to find ancestors in the passenger lists, you need to know an approximate date and port of arrival. You can narrow the date down with a birth and death date. With these pieces of information, you can search indexes created for the lists that are grouped by nationality or port of arrival.  

Ship captains kept lists of passengers to manage their finances and prevent stowaways. Later, immigration laws increased the need for passenger lists, which grew in detail. Eventually,&nbsp;the Federal Government&nbsp;began to store&nbsp;immigrant documentation.  

Passenger lists were first created to keep track of a captain's shipment and paying passengers. Later, they became a means to document immigration to the United States.  

Although generally reliable, passenger lists were handwritten, causing possible spelling errors.  

<!--bibdescbegin-->United States. Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Atlantic and Gulf Coast Ports, 1820-1874. Federal Archives and Records Center, Washington, D.C. <!--bibdescend-->