Maine Emigration and Immigration
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Beginning Research |
Record Types |
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Maine Background |
Cultural Groups |
Local Research Resources |
United States Emigration and Immigration lists several important sources for finding information about immigrants. Tracing Immigrant Origins introduces the principles, search strategies, and additional record types you can use to identify an immigrant ancestor's original hometown.
How to Find the Records
Online Resources
- 1500s-1900s All U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s at Ancestry; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Maine; Also at MyHeritage; index only ($)
- 1795-1925 U.S. Passport Applications for Maine, 1795-1925 at Ancestry; index & images ($)
- 1893-1943 Passenger lists of vessels arriving at Portland, Maine, 1893-1943 - at FamilySearch, images only
- 1894-1954 United States, Border Crossings from Canada to United States, 1894-1954 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
- 1894-1962 Maine, Passenger Lists, 1894-1962 at Ancestry; index & images ($)
- 1895-1956 United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956 at MyHeritge; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Maine
- 1906-1953 Maine, Alien Arrivals, 1906-1953 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
- 1907-1930 Book indexes, Portland, Maine, passenger lists, 1907-1930 - at FamilySearch, images only.
- 1911-1954 United States, New England Passenger and Crew Lists, 1911-1954 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
- 1947-1954 - Maine Crew Lists Arriving at Robbinston 1947-1954 at FamilySearch— index and images
- 1949-1958 Maine, Crew List Arriving at Eastport, 1949-1958 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
- Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild at MyHeritge; index only ($)
- United States, Passenger and Crew Lists - New England Passenger And Crew Lists at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
Cultural Groups
- 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 at MyHeritge; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Maine
- Germans Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritge; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Maine
- Italians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritge; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Maine
- Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of Maine
Background
- Pre-statehood settlers of Maine were generally of English and Ulster Scots descent. They came from Massachusetts and New Hampshire or directly from England. *There were also a few hundred persons of Irish origin and free blacks in Maine.
- A large group of Germans came to the Waldo County area in the late 1700s.
- Two groups of French descent compose 15 percent of the present population. The Acadians from Nova Scotia settled the Saint John Valley after 1763. A later French Canadian immigration from Quebec began after the Civil War.
- During the 19th century, jobs in textile and lumber mills also attracted European immigrants of many nationalities, especially the Irish.
- In the 1870s. the state recruited Swedish settlers to farms in Aroostook County.