New York Emigration and Immigration: Difference between revisions

=== Canadian Border Crossing Records ===

In 1895 Canadian shipping companies agreed to keep passenger lists, or manifests, of people who were in transit to the United States. These lists allowed U.S. immigration officials to inspect passengers bound for the United States via Canada. The U.S. inspectors worked at Canadian seaports and major cities of the interior like Quebec and Winnipeg. The manifests from any seaport or emigration station in Canada were collected at St. Albans, Vermont.  

In addition, U.S. immigration officials kept records of passengers arriving by train along the Canadian border in the states from Washington State to Maine. The records of Canadian border crossings into any state between Washington and Maine, including New York, were also gathered together at St. Albans, Vermont.  

The Family History Library has copies of both kinds of immigration records. Since they were sent to St. Albans they are called Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Albans, Vermont, District. Despite the name, the manifests are actually from ports and railroad stations all over Canada and the northern United States, not just Vermont.  

Border Crossing Lists may include information about name, port or station of entry, arrival date, literacy, last residence, previous visits to the United States, and place of birth. The passenger lists are reproduced in two series:  

''Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Albans, Vermont, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895–1954'' (608 rolls; FHL films 1561087–499). From seaports and railroad stations all over Canada and the northern United States.  

''Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Albans, Vermont, District through Canadian Pacific Ports, 1929–1949'' (25 rolls; FHL films 1549387–411). In transit to the United States from Canadian Pacific seaports only.  

Manifests for Pacific and Atlantic ports provide two types of lists: the traditional passenger lists on U.S. immigration forms and monthly lists of names of aliens crossing the border on trains. These monthly lists are arranged by month, thereunder alphabetically by name of port, and thereunder by railway.  

'''Border Crossing Indexes'''. In many cases, the index cards are the only record of the crossing. Two published indexes apply to New York:  

''Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through the St. Albans, Vermont, District, 1895–1924'' (400 rolls; FHL films 1472801–3201).  

''Soundex Index to Entries into the St. Albans, Vermont, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1924–1952''(98 rolls; FHL films 1570714–811).  

The [[Soundex|Soundex]] is a coded surname index based on the way a name sounds rather than how it is spelled. Names like Smith and Smyth have the same code and are filed together.