Alabama Emigration and Immigration

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U.S. Emigration and Immigration

Alabama

Emigration and Immigration

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Online Resources

• 1500s-1900s All U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s at Ancestry; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Alabama; Also at MyHeritage; index only ($)
• 1820-1835 Atlantic Ports, Gulf Coasts, and Great Lakes Passenger Lists, Roll 7:1820-1835 at Ancestry; index only ($)
• 1820-1870 Atlantic Ports, Gulf Coasts, and Great Lakes Passenger Lists, Roll 4:1820-1870 at Ancestry; index only ($)
• 1820-1874 United States, Index to Passenger Arrivals, Atlantic and Gulf Ports, 1820-1874 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images ($)
• 1821-1822 Mobile ship news at FamilySearch; images only
• 1845-1849 Atlantic Ports, Gulf Coasts, and Great Lakes Passenger Lists, Roll 8:1845-1849 at Ancestry; index only ($)
• 1890-1924 Index to passenger lists of vessels arriving at ports in Alabama 1890-1924 at FamilySearch; images only
• 1895-1956 United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956 at MyHeritge; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Alabama
• 1895-1964 All U.S., Border Crossings from Mexico to U.S., 1895-1964 at Ancestry; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Alabama
• 1904-1962 Alabama, U.S., Arriving Passenger Lists, 1904-1962 at Ancestry; index & images ($)

Cultural Groups

• 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 at MyHeritge; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Alabama
• Germans Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritge; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Alabama
• Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild at MyHeritge; index only ($)
• Italians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritge; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Alabama
• Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Alabama

History

During the early 1700s, some French and Spanish families immigrated to the southern coastal area, but most pre-statehood settlers of Alabama came from the older southern states, especially North Carolina and Georgia. Many of these were brought to the state. Most American Indians cotton planters of English or Ulster Scots origin. Many slaves were were moved westward to Oklahoma by 1839, but a few hundred Creek Indians still live in southern Alabama.

Southern Ports

Mobile has been a port of entry for overseas immigrants since early colonial times. Relatively few overseas immigrants who came in the 1800s stayed in Alabama. The place to start your Alabama passenger list search is the online Immigration & Travel Collection at Ancestry ($). The Family History Library and the National Archives have the following indexes and records accessible onsite in their facilities:

Indexes to passengers arriving at Mobile are:

• Connick, Lucille Mallon. Lists of Ships Passengers, Mobile, Alabama. Two Volumes. Mobile, Alabama: L.M. Connick, 1988. FHL book 976.122 W3c. Volume One has passenger lists for 1838 to 1840; Volume Two has lists for 1841 to 1860. These provide the ship’s name; the name of the ship’s captain or pilot; and the names of passengers, often with their age, country of birth, occupation, and residence.

• Hageness, MariLee Beatty. Passports and Ship Passengers 1849-1862: Mobile, Alabama. Anniston, Ala.: M.B. Hageness, 2002.

• United States. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, 1890–1924. National Archives Microfilm Publications, T0517. Washington, DC: Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1957. FHL films 1324938–63.

Mobile and other southern ports passenger lists:

• United States, Index to Passenger Arrivals, Atlantic and Gulf Ports, 1820-1874 Browse through images.

• United States. Bureau of Customs. Copies of Lists of Passengers Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and at Ports on the Great Lakes, 1820–1873. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M0575. Washington, DC: National Archives, 1964. FHL film 830234. The film includes portions of Mobile lists for 1832 and 1849 to 1852.

• United States. Bureau of Customs. A Supplemental Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Atlantic & Gulf Coast Ports (Excluding New York) 1820–1874. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M0334. Washington, DC: National Archives and Record Services, 1960. (Family History Library FHL films 418161–348. This film indexes Mobile passengers for 1832, 1849 to 1852.

Colonial Settlers

• DeVille, Winston. "Anglos and Anglo-Americans in Early Alabama," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 70 (1982):243-245. Digital version at National Genealogical Society website ($); FHL Book 973 B2ng v. 70

Migration

A source listing persons traveling through Indian lands is:

• Potter, Dorothy Williams. Passports of Southeastern Pioneers, 1770–1823: Indian, Spanish, and Other Land Passports for Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi, Virginia, North and South Carolina. Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press, 1982. FHL book 975 W4p. During the period from 1798 to 1819 Alabama was part of the Mississippi Territory. These records list people going from the Mississippi Territory elsewhere, or coming into the Mississippi Territory from other states. The records also mention people who obtained passports from the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Cherokee Indian agencies to pass through their land. The book is well indexed.

What was it like to move from Virginia to Alabama in the early 1800s? Owen's journal of his trip is available online at Internet Archive - free.

How did your migrant ancestor find the correct destination in Alabama? Quite possibly they had a copy of Brown's book:

• Brown, Samuel R. The Western Gazetteer or Emigrant's Directory, Containing a Geographical Description of the Western States and Territories, viz. The States of Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Mississippi: and the Territories of Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, Michigan, and North-Western. Auburn, N.Y.: H.C. Southwick, 1817. Digital versions at NIU Library Digitization Projects and World Vital Records ($).

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