New York Emigration and Immigration: Difference between revisions

The [[United States Emigration and Immigration|United States Emigration and Immigration]] Wiki article provides several important sources for finding information about immigrants. These nationwide sources include many references to people who settled in New York. The [[Tracing Immigrant Origins|Tracing Immigrant Origins]] Wiki article introduces the principles, search strategies, and additional record types you can use to identify an immigrant ancestor's original hometown.  

'''Pre-Revolutionary War.''' Before 1775 settlement in New York was confined to the Hudson, Mohawk, Schoharie, and Delaware valleys until after the Revolutionary War. During and after the war, New Yorkers loyal to the King of England emigrated to Canada and elsewhere. The Revolutionary War temporarily halted further expansion into the interior. Once the war was over and the title to western lands was obtained from the Iroquois in 1786, New Englanders flocked to all parts of the state. In the two decades after the war, 500,000 new settlers came into New York, and the state tripled its population.  

:::This hospital was organized in 1869 and began placing out children in 1873.<br><br>

The Dutch brought the first Blacks to New York during colonial times. Blacks composed about 10 percent of the population during the eighteenth century. The greatest migration of Blacks came from the southern states and Caribbean after World War II.  

The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc. has a local chapter in Greater New York. To learn more, visit their [http://aahgs.org/chapters.htm#ny website].  

The original inhabitants of New York were Algonquian (Lenni Lenape, [[Mohegan Indians|Mohegan]], and Wappinger) and Iroquoian tribes ([[Mohawk Indians|Mohawk]], Oneida, [[Onondaga Indians|Onondaga]], [[Cayuga Indians|Cayuga]], and [[Seneca Indians|Seneca]]). The [[Tuscarora Indians|Tuscarora tribe]] from [[North Carolina|North Carolina]] migrated to New York and joined the [[Iroquois Confederacy|Iroquois Confederacy]] in the 1700s.  

See also [[Indians of New York]].  

In the 1620s and 1630s, the Dutch and Walloons (French-speaking Belgians) settled in the Hudson Valley and on western Long Island. The Dutch West India Company made settlements at New Amsterdam (New York City) and Ft. Orange (Albany) in 1624 and 1625. Later settlements were at Beverwyck (outside Fort Orange), Esopus (Kingston), and western Long Island. In 1664 the English captured New Netherland and renamed it New York.  

*Zabriskie, George Olin. ''Early Dutch - New Netherlands - Family Correspondence''. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1987. (Family History Library films {{FHL|532504|title-id|disp=1421766–6}}.) Contains correspondence about Dutch families from the 1500s to the 1900s. Includes information from church, military, land, and probate records.

In the 1640s New England settlers came to eastern Long Island. New Englanders continued to migrate to the lower Hudson Valley in the early and mid-1700s.  

*Hoff, Henry B. ''English Origins of American Colonists from The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record''. Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1991. {{FHL|443720|item|disp=FHL Book 973 P2ho}}.

Huguenots settled on Staten Island and in New Harlem, Bushwick, and Flushing in 1657 and 1658. New Paltz, Ulster County, was founded in 1677 by Huguenots. In 1688 the Huguenots established New Rochelle in Westchester County. Non-Huguenot French Catholics from Quebec later settled large areas of the northern Adirondacks.  

*Reeve, Vera. compiler. ''Register of Qualified Huguenot Ancestors: The National Huguenot Society''. Third Edition, Washington, DC: the Society, 1983. (Family History Library book {{FHL|55570|title-id|disp=973 D2rq}}.) Genealogies and sources. See also the 1995 supplement (Family History Library book {{FHL|771567|title-id|disp=973 D2rq 1992 suppl}}.)

German "Palatines" came in 1709/10 to the upper Hudson Valley, near present-day Germantown, Columbia County. Many had been lured to America after reading the "Golden Book," published by British authorities, to promote the colonization of America. It portrayed the New World as a paradise. Some lived in England for a few years. Reconstructed passenger lists are available online as part of ProGenealogists' [http://www.progenealogists.com/palproject/ny/index.html Palatine Project]. After arriving in New York and working in the tar and naval stores industries to pay off their passage, they found themselves landless, and in an undeveloped wilderness. The British failed to keep their promise to grant each immigrant 40 acres of land for emigrating. Many ventured to the unsettled Schoharie Valley backcountry and purchased land from Indians. They established seven villages. 1709ers include Valentin Bresseler (ancestor of Elvis Presley) and Jost Hite "Baron of the Shenandoah."<ref name="hank" /><ref>Henry Z. Jones, Ralph Connor, and Klaus Wust, ''German Origins of Jost Hite, Virginia Pioneer, 1685-1761'' (Edinburg, Va.: Shenandoah History, c1979). {{FHL|488732|item|disp=FHL Book 929.273 H637j}}.</ref>&nbsp; The "[http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/bios-season-2/tim-mcgraw/ Tim McGraw]" episode of ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' (NBC) brings this immigration story to life. McGraw descends from Hite. DNA has been collected from descendants of many 1709ers, see [http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/palatine/pats The Palatine DNA Project].  

Before 1776 Germans and Dutch settled the Mohawk Valley.  

In the early 1770s Scottish and Irish immigrants settled in the upper Hudson and Delaware valleys. Ulster Scots, or Scotch-Irish, settled near the Hudson River in Orange and Ulster counties in the late 1600s. Millions (approximately 3 million) Irish (mostly Catholic) immigrated to the United States. Hundreds of thousands&nbsp;settled&nbsp;in New York City in especially the mid to late 19th Century. Some stayed for a few years and then migrated into the rest of the United States. Their migration fanned out into the midwest, i.e. Chicago St. Louis, south (Alabama and Georgia) and out west. Visit the [http://aad.archives.gov/aad/fielded-search.jsp?dt=180&cat=GP44&tf=F&bc=sl Famine Emigrants 1846-1851 database at the NARA] website for an online search of nearly 700,000 Irish Famine Immigrants, representing one of the most significant&nbsp;immigration epics of all time in America's history. In 1855, one in every four, or 54 percent of New York City's foreign-born population were Irish with over 200,000 registered as "born in Ireland". The largest New York immigrant passenger-list index, available for the first time for the years 1820 to 1957, is now online at [http://search.ancestry.com/search/DB.aspx?dbid=7488 Ancestry.com] with 68 million names. Here is&nbsp;an enlarged [[List of Irish Emigration]] websites for locating Irish ancestors on ships.  

Passengers Aboard the "Buchannon", Newry to New York August 1765. A list of 43 passengers who travelled from Newry Co. Ireland to New York in August 1765 aboard the ship "Buchannon". Article in The Irish Ancestor, vol. XII. no. 1-2, 1980, page 52, Family History Library Ref. 941.5 B2i  

Records of major ethnic groups, including Dutch, Swedes, German, French Huguenots, Quakers, and Jews, are listed in the Family History Library Catalog Locality Search under:  

NEW YORK - MINORITIES.  

One of the largest waves of British migrants to the United States occurred in the nineteenth century.  

:*'''1817''' - Molerio, Dagoberto. "A Passenger List for the Ship ''William,''" ''The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record,'' Vol. 101, No. 3 (Jul. 1970):142-144. Digital version at [http://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/public-elibrary New York Family History] ($); {{FHL|1181533|item|disp=FHL Book 974.7 B2n v. 101}}.

The German Genealogy Group can help you trace your New York German ancestors. Their [http://www.theggg.org/ website] offers many free resources to help you in your quest.  

[[National Archives and Records Administration|NARA's]] website includes [http://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-list.jsp?cat=GP44 Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Germans to the United States, documenting the period 1850 -1897].  

The Hispanic Genealogy Center of New York can help you discover your New York Hispanic ancestry. To learn more, visit their [http://www.hispanicgenealogy.com/ website].  

[[Image:Famine memorial dublin.jpg|thumb|right|200px]]Tens of thousands of potato famine Irish immigrants arrived at the Port of New York City in the nineteenth century.  

*[http://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-list.jsp?cat=GP44 Records for Passengers Who Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine, documenting the period 1/12/1846 - 12/31/1851] - free, courtesy: [[National Archives and Records Administration|NARA]].

The Italian Genealogical Group can help you discover your New York Italian ancestry. Their [http://italiangen.org/ website] offers many free resources to help you in your quest.  

*Carmack, Sharon DeBartolo. "Italian Naming Patterns and Necronyms: Six Generations of the Vallarelli Family as an Example of the Effect of Immigration," ''The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record'', Vol. 133, No. 3 (Jul. 2002):177-181. Digital version at [http://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/public-elibrary New York Family History] ($); {{FHL|161380|item|disp=FHL Book 974.7 B2n v. 133}}.

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society will search their indexes and files at no charge. Supply the individual ancestor's name as spelled at the time of arrival and, if known, the year and port of entry and relatives traveling with the ancestor. It also helps to give birth and last known address. Records of Jewish immigrants since 1909 are at:  

The Jewish Genealogical Society can help you discover your New York Jewish ancestry. To learn more, visit their [http://www.jgsny.org/ website].  

The Polish Genealogical Society of New York State can help you discover your New York Polish ancestry. To learn more, visit their [http://pgsnys.org/ website].  

[[National Archives and Records Administration|NARA's]] website includes free [http://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-list.jsp?cat=GP44 Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Russians to the United States, documenting the period 1834-1897].  

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