Finding Town of Origin - United States Immigration

Do You Know When Your Ancestor Immigrated to the United States?

I know the time period

[hide]

Click on the Migration Wave Covering the Year Your Ancestor Came to the United States.

pre-1790

1790-1820

1820-1880

1880-1930

1930-1965

1965-2000

I do not know the time period

[hide]

Below is a list of record collections that can give clues to immigration years

Introduction

Sometimes the immigration year or naturalization year of an ancestor can easily be located by doing a name search in online databases. However, sometimes these can be harder to locate. Below is a list of other records in the United States that can be searched for immigration years. For an article with additional resources and search suggestions see U. S. Immigration Records: Finding the Town of Origin.

Census Records

Below is a table with possible immigration information found in the United States Census records. The below information can give clues as to when a person immigrated. Beginning in 1850, the United States censuses listed the birthplace of a person. This information can be helpful in knowing the country of origin. These earlier census records can also give clues as to when a family immigrated to the United States if some of the children were born in their homeland country and some in the United States. This is helpful in narrowing down the year of immigration. As noted in the table, some of the later censuses provide an estimated or exact year of immigration as well. NOTE: The immigration years can vary from census to census, especially if the person immigrated as a child and did not remember the year exactly.

Census Year	Wiki Article about the Census	Websites	Information found in census
1850	United States Census 1850	FamilySearch Ancestry.com $	Birthplace of individual given.
1860	United States Census 1860	FamilySearch Ancestry.com $	Birthplace of individual given.
1870	United States Census 1870	FamilySearch Ancestry.com $	Birthplace of individual given, if parents were of foreign birth, and whether or not they're a male citizen of the United States over 21 years of age (this is helpful in knowing whether they have been naturalized or not).
1880	United States Census 1880	FamilySearch Ancestry.com $	Birthplace of individual and parents.
1890	United States Census 1890	FamilySearch Ancestry.com $	The majority of this census was destroyed and there are very few records remaining. Birthplace of individual and their parents, number of years in the United States, whether or not the person was naturalized, whether or not they had their naturalization papers taken out, if they did not speak English then what language.
1900	United States Census 1900	FamilySearch Ancestry.com $	Birthplace of individual and parents, year of immigration, years in the United States, whether or not naturalized.
1910	United States Census 1910	FamilySearch Ancestry.com $	Birthplace of individual and parents, year of immigration, naturalized or alien, whether they speak English or if not what language.
1920	United States Census 1920	FamilySearch Ancestry.com $	Birthplace and mother tongue of individual and parents, year of immigration, naturalized or alien, year of naturalization, whether or not they spoke English.
1930	United States Census 1930	FamilySearch Ancestry.com $	Birthplace of individual and parents, language spoken at home before coming to the United States, year of immigration, whether or not naturalized, whether able to speak English.
1940	United States Census 1940	FamilySearch Ancestry.com $	Birthplace of individual, Citizenship status for those foreign-born, where the individual lived in 1935 (this is especially helpful if the person immigrated around this time).

Military Records

Military records often state the birthplace of individuals. If the person of interest was in the United States during a mandatory draft or they were known to have served in the United States military, these records could give possible clues.

Online Naturalization Resources

Since the adoption of the United States constitution, there have been naturalization laws and regulations in place. The naturalization process often took place in county courts. To learn more about the naturalization process and what records are available see United States Naturalization and Citizenship.

Vital Records

Vital records can be helpful in discovering when a person came over; you can find clues based on where they or their parents were born. Sometimes the town of origin will be listed on the death certifcates or marriage. However, the information contained on these records is only as accurate as the memory of the person relaying the information.

Migration Routes/Communities

Researching the migration patterns of where a person lived can give possible clues as to where they originated from. A lot of people moved where people from their homelands had already set up residence. If you know the community where they lived look up the history of it.