California, San Francisco, Register of Chinese Immigrant Court Cases and Foreign Seamen Tax Cards - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States CaliforniaSan Francisco County

Access the Records
California, San Francisco, Register of Chinese Immigrant Court Cases and Foreign Seamen Tax Cards, 1883-1924 CID2443318 {{{CID2}}} {{{CID3}}} {{{CID4}}} {{{CID5}}} {{{CID6}}} {{{CID7}}} {{{CID8}}} {{{CID9}}}
This article describes a collection of records at FamilySearch.org.
San Francisco, California,  United States
Flag of the United States of America
National Archives and Records Administration Logo
Location of the United States of America
Record Description
Record Type	Immigrant Court Cases and Head Tax Cards
Record Group	RG 85: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service
Collection years	1883-1924
Microfilm Publication	A3381. Register of Federal Court Cases Related to Chinese Americans and Chinese Immigrants Arriving at or Departing from San Francisco, ca. 1916-and Head Tax Cards of Alien Seamen Examined at San Francisco, California,1921-1924.. 1 rolls
Arrangement	By Court Cases and by Head Tax
National Archives Identifier	4477273414
FamilySearch Resources
California
San Francisco County, California
California Emigration and Immigration
Chinese Partnerships and Departures from San Francisco, 1893-1943
San Francisco, Immigration Office Special Inquiry Records, 1910-1941
Related Websites
NARA Chinese Immigration and the Chinese in the United States
NARA Immigration and Naturalization Laws
NARA Passenger Lists
NARA NARA Chinese Immigration into San Francisco Reference List
NARA Chinese Immigration
Archive
National Archives and Records Administration

What is in the Collection?

This collection contains a register of court cases related to Chinese immigrants arriving at or departing from San Francisco, California for the years 1883 to 1916. It also contains tax cards of foreign crew members examined at San Francisco, California for the years 1921 to 1924.

The court case index cards are arranged numerically by court case number. The tax cards are arranged numerically by ship arrival number. These records correspond with NARA publication A3381 part of Records Group 85 Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

To Browse this Collection

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for California, San Francisco, Register of Chinese Immigrant Court Cases and Foreign Seamen Tax Cards, 1883-1924.

Collection Content

Samples Images

• California, San Francisco, Register of Chinese Immigrant Court Cases and Crew Member Tax Cards
• 

  Federal Court Case Card (sample 1)

• 

  Federal Court Case Card (sample 2)

• 

  Tax Card

What Can this Collection Tell Me?

The court case index cards usually list the name of the petitioner, claimant, or defendant.

The tax cards may contain any of the following:

• Name
• Sex
• Age
• Marital status
• Head tax status
• Citizenship
• Race
• Place of last permanent residence
• Destination
• Port and date of arrival
• Purpose for entering the U.S.

How Do I Search the Collection?

To begin your search, it is helpful to know at least some of the following:

• The full name of your ancestor.
• The age or birth date of your ancestor.
• The approximate date of immigration.
• The port of arrival or departure.

If you do not know this information, check the census records after 1900. Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Page:

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page:
To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links:
⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page
⇒ Select the "NARA Roll Number - Contents" which takes you to the images.

What Do I Do Next?

Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

• Use the name, residence, and approximate birth date to locate your ancestor in church, land, and census records.
• Use occupations to find military records.
• Use the naturalization information to find immigration and naturalization court documents which lead to the country of origin. Then search for records in the country of origin.
• Use the information in each record to find additional family members.
• Repeat this process with additional family member’s records to find more generations of the family.
• Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

• Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
• Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
• If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
• Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
• Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
• Search the indexes and records of California, United States Genealogy.
• Search in the California Archives and Libraries.

Citing this Collection

Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Collection Citation: The citation for this collection can be found on the Collection Details Page in the section Cite This Collection.

Record Citation:

When looking at a record, the citation is found below the record. You can search records in this collection by visiting the search page for California, San Francisco, Register of Chinese Immigrant Court Cases and Foreign Seamen Tax Cards, 1883-1924.

Image Citation:
This template has been deprecated and is no longer used.

When looking at an image, the citation is found on the Information tab at the bottom left of the screen. You can browse through images in this collection by visiting the browse page for California, San Francisco, Register of Chinese Immigrant Court Cases and Foreign Seamen Tax Cards, 1883-1924.

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.

National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.