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Maine Research Outline |
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Table of Contents
Records Of The Family History Library
Family History Library Catalog
Archives And Libraries
Bible Records
Biography
Cemeteries
Census
Church Records
Court Records
Directories
Emigration And Immigration
Gazetteers
Genealogy
History
Land And Property
Maps
Military Records
Naturalization And Citizenship
Newspapers
Periodicals
Probate Records
Societies
Taxation
Town Records
Vital Records
For Further Reading
Comments And Suggestions
DIRECTORIES Directories Portland (Maine) City Directories. Woodridge, Conn.: Research Publications, 1980-1984. (On 29 FHL films starting at 1377315; on 41 fiche 6044325-39; computer number 658031.)
The United States Research Outline (30972) "Emigration and Immigration" section lists several important sources for finding information about immigrants. 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.
Prestatehood settlers of Maine were generally of English and Ulster Scots Two groups of French descent compose 15 percent of the present population. The Acadians 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.
The major port of entry to New England is Boston. The Family History Library and the National Archives have passenger lists
The Massachusetts State Archives also has Boston passenger lists for 1848 to 1891. This collection includes records for the nine years missing from the National Archives records (1874-1883). The Family History Library does not have lists for the years 1874 to 1883.
There are two types of Canadian border crossing records:
The Family History Library has copies of both kinds of immigration records. Since the records 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
Manifests for Pacific and Atlantic ports (M1464) 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 lists are arranged by month, then alphabetically by port and then railway. For more information about border crossing records, see the “Emigration and Immigration” section of the United States Research Outline (30972).
You can find incomplete 19th-century passenger lists for Portland-Falmouth, 1820 to March 1868, and Passamaquoddy, 1820 to 1859, in:
United States. Bureau of Customs. Copies of Lists of Passengers Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and at Ports of the Great Lakes, 1820-1873. National Archives Microfilm Publication. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1964. (FHL films 830237-44; computer number 216254.) These records are available at the Family History Library and the National Archives.
For indexes to the above lists, see:
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 Publication, Washington, D.C.: National Archives Record Services, 1960. (FHL films 418161-348; computer number 216582.)
Portland (Maine) passenger lists are also available at the Family History Library and the National Archives for the years 1893 to 1930 . More recent lists are available at the National Archives. Indexes to the lists cover 1893 to 1954.
United States. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Portland, Maine, 1893-1943; Index, 1893-1954. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Record Service, 1944, 1986. (Index FHL film 1412619; passenger lists films 1449398-430; computer number 92110.)
United States. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Book Indexes, Portland, Maine Passenger Lists 1907- 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Record Service, 1944. (FHL films 1375989-6000; computer number 92064.) These are by arrival of ship 1907-1926, 1930.
Names of colonial immigrants listed in published sources are indexed in:
Bolton, Ethel Stanwood. Immigrants to New England, 1700-1775. Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute, 1931. (FHL book 974 W2b; film 874195 item 3; computer number 87360.) This list includes the person's name, date of entry, place of origin, place of settlement and includes some family information.
Coldham, Peter Wilson. The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1776, and Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775. [Novato, Calif.]: Brøderbund Software, 1996. (FHL compact disc no. 9 pt. 350; not available at Family History Centers; computer number 784052.) This is a comprehensive list of approximately 140,000 immigrants to America from Britain. Because Maine was part of Massachusetts until 1819, many immigrants to Maine should be listed. The entries may contain the person's hometown, emigration date, ship, and destination as well as the text of the document abstract.
Filby, P. William. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 15 vols. Detroit: Gale research, 1981-. (FHL book Ref 973 W32p; some of the volumes are on 5 FHL films beginning with 1597960, items 4-6; computer number 75625.) This work indexes over 2,500,000 passengers to America from 1650 to mid-1980 in published passenger lists. It includes the person's name, age, and year of arrival and provides a list of sources for all indexed passengers. The first three volumes are a combined alphabetical index published in 1981. Supplemental volumes have been issued annually.
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of heads of households have been published for major cities in Maine. The New England Historic Genealogical Society has an extensive collection of directories. The Family History Library has the following directories for Portland from 1823 to 1934:
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EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION
People
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.
from Nova Scotia settled the Saint John Valley after 1763. A later French Canadian immigration from Quebec began after the Civil War.
Records
for Boston from 1820 to March 1874 and 1883 to 1943 (listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under MASSACHUSETTS, SUFFOLK, BOSTON - EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION). The following indexes are also available:
Canadian Border Crossing Records
, 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, such as Quebec and Winnipeg. The manifests from all Canadian seaports and emigration stations were gathered together at St. Albans, Vermont.
may include information such as the person's name, port or station of entry, date of entry, literacy, last residence, previous visits to the United States, and place of birth. The passenger lists are reproduced in two series:
Published Sources
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Version of Data: 6/9/2001]