New York Emigration and Immigration

How to Find the Records
A large number of immigrants coming to the United States landed in New York. There were three different ports in New York City from 1855 to 1954, where passengers landed: Castle Garden, the Barge Office, and Ellis Island. Regardless of whether your ancestor arrived in New York City during the Castle Garden, Barge Office, or Ellis Island period, you can search the same ship manifests.

Online Resources

 * 1500s-1900s All U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s at Ancestry; index only ($); Also at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of New York
 * 1675-1920 New York, Genealogical Records, 1675-1920 at Ancestry; index only ($)
 * 1820-1846 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1820-1850 New York, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1850 at Ancestry; index only ($)
 * 1820-1891 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1820-1929 Immigrant Ships Transcriber's Guild - New York Arrivals - Vol. 1; index only
 * 1803-1930 Vol. 2; index only
 * 1802-1930 Vol. 3; index only
 * 1710-1939 Vol. 4; index only
 * 1823-1936 Vol. 5; index only
 * 1624-1941 Vol. 6; index only


 * 1820-1957 New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 at Ancestry; index & images ($); Also at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * 1820-1957 Ellis Island and Other New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 at MyHeritage; index & images ($)
 * 1846-1890 United States, Passenger and Crew Lists - New York Passenger Lists 1846-1890 at FindMyPast; index only ($)
 * 1881-1922 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1887-1921 New York, New York, Soundex to Passenger and Crew Lists, 1887-1921 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1892-1924 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1894-1954 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1895-1956 United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956 at MyHeritage; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of New York
 * 1895-1964 All U.S., Border Crossings from Mexico to U.S., 1895-1964 at Ancestry; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of New York
 * 1897-1902 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1902-1956 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1906-1942 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images; Also at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * 1909, 1925-1957 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1917-1957 New York, New York, Index to Alien Crewmen Who Were Discharged or Who Deserted, 1917-1957 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1917-1957 Port of New York, Index to Discharged or Deserted Crew, 1917-1957 at MyHeritage; index & images ($)
 * 1917-1966 New York State, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1917-1966 at Ancestry; index & images ($)


 * 1944-1948 United States, New York, Index to Passengers Arriving at New York City, compiled 1944-1948 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1948-1972 New York, Ogdensburg Passenger and Crew Lists, 1948-1972 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild at MyHeritage; index only ($)
 * New York Immigration Records, statewide and by county
 * United States, Passenger and Crew Lists at FindMyPast; index & images ($)

Cultural Groups

 * 1624-1664 List of Early Immigrants to New Netherland. Alphabetically Arranged, With Additions and Corrections, From Manuscripts of the Late Teunis G. Bergen inThe New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 14 (see page 500) and Vol. 15 (see page 560).
 * 1846-1851 United States Famine Irish Passenger Index, 1846-1851 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index only; Also at Ancestry.com; index only ($)
 * 1881-1894 Dutch Immigrants: New York Passenger Lists, 1881-1894 at Ancestry; index only ($)
 * 1846-1851 Passengers arriving in New York from Ireland 1846 - 1851 at MyHeritage; index only ($)
 * 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of New York
 * Germans Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of New York
 * Italians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of New York
 * Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of New York
 * "Origins of Some New Netherland Families," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 123

Offices to Contact
Although many records are included in the online records listed above, there are other records available through these archives and offices. For example, there are many minor ports that have not yet been digitized. There are also records for more recent time periods. For privacy reasons, some records can only be accessed after providing proof that your ancestor is now deceased.

U.S. Citizenship and and Immigration Services Genealogy Program
The USCIS Genealogy Program is a fee-for-service program that provides researchers with timely access to historical immigration and naturalization records of deceased immigrants. If the immigrant was born less than 100 years ago, you will also need to provide proof of his/her death.

Immigration Records Available

 * A-Files: Immigrant Files, (A-Files) are the individual alien case files, which became the official file for all immigration records created or consolidated since April 1, 1944.
 * Alien Registration Forms (AR-2s): Alien Registration Forms (Form AR-2) are copies of approximately 5.5 million Alien Registration Forms completed by all aliens age 14 and older, residing in or entering the United States between August 1, 1940 and March 31, 1944.
 * Registry Files:''' Registry Files are records, which document the creation of immigrant arrival records for persons who entered the United States prior to July 1, 1924, and for whom no arrival record could later be found.
 * Files:''' Visa Files are original arrival records of immigrants admitted for permanent residence under provisions of the Immigration Act of 1924.

Requesting a Record

 * Web Request Page allows you to request a records, pay fees, and upload supporting documents (proof of death).
 * Record Requests Frequently Asked Questions

Orphan Out-migration

 * From about 1854–1929, some 100,000 homeless children from New York City were "placed out" to families in upstate New York and the midwestern states. They are frequently referred to as the orphan train children. New York agencies that have records are:
 * New York Children's Aid Society (organized in 1853)
 * Adoption and Foster Home Division
 * 150 East 45th Street
 * New York, NY 10017


 * Telephone: 212-949-4800
 * Fax: 212-682-8016
 * Internet: http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/


 * New York Foundling Hospital (Catholic) (organized in 1869 and began placing out children in 1873)
 * 590 Avenue of the Americas
 * New Y:ork, NY 10011


 * Telephone: 212-633-9300
 * Fax: 212-886-4048
 * Website

Societies

 * The Holland Society
 * Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society

Finding Town of Origin
Records in the countries emigrated from are kept on the local level. You must first identify the name of the town where your ancestors lived to access those records. If you do not yet know the name of the town of your ancestor's birth, there are well-known strategies for a thorough hunt for it.
 * U. S. Immigration Records: Finding the Town of Origin

Background

 * During the 17th century, Dutch trading posts established for the trade of pelts from the Lenape, Iroquois, and other tribes were founded in the colony of New Netherland.
 * Both the Dutch and the British imported African slaves as laborers to the city and colony; New York had the second-highest population of slaves after Charleston, South Carolina. Slavery was extensive in New York City and some agricultural areas. The state passed a law for the gradual abolition of slavery soon after the Revolutionary War, but the last slave in New York was not freed until 1827.
 * In the 1620s and 1630s, the Dutch and Walloons (French-speaking Belgians) settled in the Hudson Valley and on western Long Island.
 * German "Palatines" came in 1709/10 to the upper Hudson Valley, near present-day Germantown, Columbia County. Many had been lured to America after reading the "Golden Book," published by British authorities, to promote the colonization of America. After arriving in New York and working in the tar and naval stores industries to pay off their passage, they found themselves landless, and in an undeveloped wilderness. The British failed to keep their promise to grant each immigrant 40 acres of land for emigrating. Many ventured to the unsettled Schoharie Valley backcountry and purchased land from Indians. They established seven villages.
 * Large numbers of Irish and Germans came to New York cities in the mid-1800s. The Irish tended to settle in New York and other large cities, such as Albany, and along the canal. Large numbers of Germans settled in New York City, Buffalo, and Rochester.
 * New York was the destination for millions of southern and eastern Europeans, especially Italians and Russian Jews, from about 1890–1910.
 * According to immigration statistics, the state is a leading recipient of migrants from around the globe. New York State has the second-largest international immigrant population in the country among the American states, at 4.2 million as of 2008; most reside in and around New York City, due to its size, high profile, vibrant economy, and cosmopolitan culture. New York has a pro-sanctuary city law.
 * According to the U.S. Census Bureau, New York has a racial and ethnic makeup of 55.1% non-Hispanic whites, 14.2% blacks or African Americans, 0.2% American Indians or Alaska Natives, 8.6% Asians, 0.6% from some other race, 2.1% from two or more races, and 19.3% Hispanics or Latin Americans of any race. There were an estimated 3,725 Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders in the state in 2019. Hispanics or Latin Americans of any race were 17.6% of the population in 2010; 2.4% were of Mexican, 5.5% Puerto Rican, 0.4% Cuban, and 9.4% other Hispanic or Latino origin. According to the 2010–2015 American Community Survey, the largest ancestry White American groups were Italian (13.0%), Irish (12.1%), German (10.3%), American (5.4%), and English (5.2%).

In-Country Migration
Pre-Revolutionary War.
 * Before 1775, settlement in New York was confined to the Hudson, Mohawk, Schoharie, and Delaware valleys until after the Revolutionary War.
 * During and after the war, New Yorkers loyal to the King of England emigrated to Canada and elsewhere.
 * The Revolutionary War temporarily halted further expansion into the interior. Once the war was over, and the title to western lands was obtained from the Iroquois in 1786, New Englanders flocked to all parts of the state.
 * In the two decades after the war, 500,000 new settlers came into New York, and the state tripled its population.

Pre-Civil War.
 * Before 1861, cities along migration routes such as Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo prospered.
 * Natives of other states such as New Jersey, Connecticut, and Vermont moved to New York in large numbers during the pre-Civil War era.

Scots and Irish
In the early 1770s Scottish and Irish immigrants settled in the upper Hudson and Delaware valleys. Ulster Scots, or Scotch-Irish, settled near the Hudson River in Orange and Ulster counties in the late 1600s. Millions (approximately 3 million) Irish (mostly Catholic) immigrated to the United States. Hundreds of thousands settled in New York City in especially the mid to late 19th Century. Some stayed for a few years and then migrated into the rest of the United States. Their migration fanned out into the midwest, i.e. Chicago St. Louis, south (Alabama and Georgia) and out west. Visit the Famine Emigrants 1846-1851 database at the NARA website for an online search of nearly 700,000 Irish Famine Immigrants, representing one of the most significant immigration epics of all time in America's history. In 1855, one in every four, or 54 percent of New York City's foreign-born population were Irish with over 200,000 registered as "born in Ireland". The largest New York immigrant passenger-list index, available for the first time for the years 1820 to 1957, is now online at Ancestry.com with 68 million names. Here is an enlarged List of Irish Emigration websites for locating Irish ancestors on ships.

A helpful publication listing immigrants from Scotland is


 * Dobson, David. Directory of Scottish Settlers in North America, 1625–1825 (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1984–, Volumes 1–7. Family History Library book ). Each volume has its own index. Often the town or city of origin in Scotland is mentioned. About a quarter of the families settled in New York.

Passengers Aboard the "Buchannon", Newry to New York August 1765. A list of 43 passengers who travelled from Newry Co. Ireland to New York in August 1765 aboard the ship "Buchannon". Article in The Irish Ancestor, vol. XII. no. 1-2, 1980, page 52, Family History Library Ref. 941.5 B2i

Other Groups
Records of major ethnic groups, including Dutch, Swedes, German, French Huguenots, Quakers, and Jews, are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog Locality Search under:

.

Germans
The German Genealogy Group can help you trace your New York German ancestors. Their website offers many free resources to help you in your quest.

NARA's website includes Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Germans to the United States, documenting the period 1850 -1897.

Hispanic
The Hispanic Genealogy Center of New York can help you discover your New York Hispanic ancestry. To learn more, visit their website.

Irish
Tens of thousands of potato famine Irish immigrants arrived at the Port of New York City in the nineteenth century.

Moorhouse wrote a very useful guide for tracing Irish immigrants in New York City:


 * Moorhouse, Ann. "Researching the Irish-Born of New York City," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 112, No. 2 (Apr. 1981):65-71. Digital version at New York Family History ($);.

Potato famine passenger lists are available online:


 * Records for Passengers Who Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine, documenting the period 1/12/1846 - 12/31/1851 - free, courtesy: NARA.

Many Irish settlers of New York are discussed in The Journal of the American-Irish Historical Society (Vols. 1-21 are available for free online).


 * The Emigrant Savings Bank, set up in New York City in 1850, helped many potato famine immigrants. It functioned until 1883. The collection of 58 volumes of bank records from 1941 to 1883 were later donated to the New York Public Library where they were described and filmed and made available to the public. Digital copies are currently available at the Ancestry website.

A helpful reference publication guide to identifying resources for tracing Irish families in the five boroughs of New York City is:


 * Buggy, Joseph. Finding Your Irish Ancestors in New York City. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2014.

This publication provides a detailed list of record sources for tracing Irish families coupled with research strategies.

Italians
The Italian Genealogical Group can help you discover your New York Italian ancestry. Their website offers many free resources to help you in your quest.

NARA's website includes free Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Italians to the United States, documenting the period 1855 - 1900.

Italians followed strict naming patterns in the home country. Carmack discusses the effect immigration had on this practice for Italian-Americans:


 * Carmack, Sharon DeBartolo. "Italian Naming Patterns and Necronyms: Six Generations of the Vallarelli Family as an Example of the Effect of Immigration," The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Vol. 133, No. 3 (Jul. 2002):177-181. Digital version at New York Family History ($);.

Jews
The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society will search their indexes and files at no charge. Supply the individual ancestor's name as spelled at the time of arrival and, if known, the year and port of entry and relatives traveling with the ancestor. It also helps to give birth and last known address. Records of Jewish immigrants since 1909 are at:

United Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society Service 200 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003 Telephone: 212-967-4100

The Jewish Genealogical Society can help you discover your New York Jewish ancestry. To learn more, visit their website.

Poles
The Polish Genealogical Society of New York State can help you discover your New York Polish ancestry. To learn more, visit their website.

Russians
NARA's website includes free Data Files Relating to the Immigration of Russians to the United States, documenting the period 1834-1897.

Websites

 * The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.
 * ellisislandrecords.org
 * www.nypl.org
 * www.archives.nysed.gov
 * www.archives.gov
 * www.afhs.ab.ca

http://www.migrations.org/county.php3?migcounty=NY - Site lists names, lifespan,origin, notes and migration steps, of persons migrating to or through New York. Names submitted by individuals.

http://stevemorse.org - This site contains tools for finding immigration records, census records, vital records, and for dealing with calendars, maps, foreign alphabets, and numerous other applications. Some of these tools fetch data from other websites but do so in more versatile ways than the search tools provided on those websites.

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


 * New York, Passenger Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1925-1942 - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * New York, New York, Index to passenger Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * New York, Northern Arrival Manifests - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * New York, Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island) - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * New York Passenger Arrival Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

Related FamilySearch Blog Articles

 * Ellis Island and Castle Garden Immigration Records
 * Complete Archive of Ellis Island Records—Now Online for Free
 * When Did New York Immigration Start at Ellis Island?
 * Castle Garden: Immigration Before Ellis Island
 * The Immigration Act of 1924 and the End of Ellis Island