United States, New York, Index to Passengers Arriving at New York City - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection contains an index to passengers arriving at New York City. The collection is arranged in soundex order. The images are originally part of NARA collection M1417 (rolls 7 and 35 are missing).

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Passenger lists
 * Name of immigrant
 * Age
 * Sex
 * Marital Status
 * Occupation
 * Port of entry
 * Nationality
 * Race
 * Place of birth
 * Name of vessel
 * Date of arrival
 * Last permanent residence
 * Destination
 * Physical description
 * Accompanied by

General Information About Passenger Arrival and Custom Lists
Passenger arrival lists, or customs manifests, date back to 1820. The first official emigration station for New York was Castle Garden, located at the tip of lower Manhattan. Congressional action in 1891 resulted in federal immigration officials recording the immigrants’ arrival. After January 1892, passengers arriving in New York debarked at Ellis Island, located east of Manhattan in the New York Harbor. From 1892 to 1924, almost all immigrants entered the United States through the port of New York. When passengers arrived at Ellis Island, they were asked a series of questions designed to determine whether they would be able to support themselves and did not have any health problems. The information was supplied by the immigrant or a traveling companion (usually a family member). Only 2% of immigrants were denied entry into the United States.

The passenger lists are usually two typed pages divided into columns and rows. When you select an image to view, sometimes the manifest includes more than one page, and when you use the "click to enlarge manifest" link, the image that appears is not always the first page. To view the other page, use the "previous" or "next" links.

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the person you are looking for
 * Location of departure
 * Approximate age

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the  Select NARA Roll Number to view the images

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you biographical details which can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Learn an immigrant’s place of origin
 * Confirm their date of arrival
 * Learn foreign and “Americanized” names
 * Find records in his or her country of origin such as emigrations, port records, or ship manifests
 * If your ancestor had a common name, be sure to look at all the entries for a name before you decide which is correct
 * Continue to search the passenger lists to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who may have immigrated at the same time
 * If your ancestor has an uncommon surname, you may want to obtain the passenger list of every person who shares your ancestor’s surname if they lived in the same county or nearby. You may not know how or if they are related, but the information could lead you to more information about your own ancestors

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Check for variant spellings. Realize that the indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings and misinterpretations
 * Entry clerks tried to record names correctly; however, mistakes may have been made in spelling foreign names. Often many second or third generation United States citizens Americanized their names, so the spelling in the passenger list may be different than the spelling that you are familiar with
 * Try a different index if there is one for the years needed. You may also need to search the passenger lists year by year
 * Search the indexes of other port cities
 * A fire broke out in the original buildings on 15 June 1897 destroying most of the immigrant records dating back to 1855. Record of your ancestor’s arrival may have been among those records

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in the state of New York.
 * New York Guided Research
 * Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

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