Pennsylvania Emigration and Immigration: Difference between revisions

The [http://www.familysearchwiki.org/../united-states-research-outline United States Research Outline] (30972) "'''[[United States Emigration and Immigration|Emigration and Immigration]]'''" section lists several important sources for finding information about immigrants. These nationwide sources include many references to people who settled in Pennsylvania. The Tracing Immigrant Origins Research Outline (34111) introduces the principles, search strategies, and additional record types you can use to identify an immigrant ancestor's original hometown.

The first European settlers in Pennsylvania were the Swedes who came in the 1630s and the Dutch who came in the 1650s. By 1670 the English, Irish, and Welsh predominated in the area. They settled mostly in Philadelphia and the eastern counties.

For an account of some of these groups see John E. Bodnar, ''The Ethnic Experience in Pennsylvania'' (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania : Bucknell University Press, 1973; FHL book 974.8 F2bo).

For the period 1792-1794, there is A Health Officer's Register of Passenger's Names at the State Archives (but not at the FHL) that lists the names of ship passengers. In Pennsylvania Archives, Series 2 vol. 17, pp. 521-667, is ''Names of Foreigners Arriving in Pennsylvania, 1786-1808'', which appears to be the same records covering a longer span of time. Some entries include place of birth. They are also included in Strassburger and Hinke, Pennsylvania German Pioneers, which is listed below.

Philadelphia has been a major port of entry for European immigrants since the seventeenth century. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of passenger arrival records from the National Archives, including:

* Indexes,1800-1882, 1883-1948, 1906-1926

* Lists, 1800-1906, 1883-1921

Many passenger lists are now available on the internet. Use a search engine with "Pennsylvania Passenger Lists" terms to identify currently available lists.