California Emigration and Immigration

Pioneer Immigration

 * 1790-1950 California, Pioneer and Immigrant Files, 1790-1950 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
 * 1906-1935 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * California Bound Passenger list of those bound from NY to CA for the Gold Rush.
 * Native Daughters of the Golden West, Index to the Roster of California Pioneers
 * The argonauts of California : being the reminiscences of scenes and incidents that occurred in California in early mining days, by a pioneer, e-book

California

 * 1500s-1900s All U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s at Ancestry; index only ($); includes those with Destination of California; Also at MyHeritage; index only ($)
 * 1882-1959 California, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1959 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
 * 1893-1957 California Passenger Lists, 1893-1957 at MyHeritge; index & images ($)
 * 1895-1956 United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956 at MyHeritge; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of California
 * 1895-1964 All U.S., Border Crossings from Mexico to U.S., 1895-1964 at Ancestry; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of California
 * 1907-1956 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 at MyHeritge; index only ($); includes those with Destination of California
 * 1947-1948 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * One Step Webpages by Stephen Morse Links to free and $ online passenger lists
 * Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild at MyHeritge; index only ($)
 * Germans Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritge; index only ($); includes those with Destination of California
 * Italians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritge; index only ($); includes those with Destination of California
 * Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of California

Los Angeles

 * 1900-1948 United States, Passenger and Crew Lists - California, Los Angeles, San Pedro, and Wilmington Passenger Lists, 1900-1948 at FindMyPast — index ($)
 * 1907-1948 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images

Mexico

 * 1895-1964 Border Crossings:From Mexico to U.S., 1895-1964 at Ancestry — index & images ($)

San Diego

 * 1904-1952 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images; Also at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * 1905-1923 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1929-1954 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images; also at Ancestry ($)
 * 1929-1954 California, San Diego Airplane Arrivals, 1929-1954 at FindMyPast — index & images ($)

San Francisco

 * 1850-1864 San Francisco Ship Passenger Lists Vol. I (1850-1864), Vol. II (1850-1851), Vol. III (November 7, 1851 to June 17, 1852) at Ancestry — images ($)
 * 1882-1888 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1882-1947 California, San Francisco Chinese passenger lists, 1882-1947 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1883-1924 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1886-1890 United States, Passenger and Crew Lists - California, San Francisco, Shangaiers Crew List, 1886-1890 at FindMyPast; index only ($)
 * 1893-1934 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1893-1953 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images; Also at FindMyPast; index & images ($)
 * 1896-1921 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1903-1918 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1903-1944 San Francisco Chinese Exclusion List at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1907-1911 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1910-1941 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1912-1943 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1912-1946 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1928-1942 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1930-1949 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1936-1949 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1954-1957 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * One Step Webpages by Stephen Morse Links to free and $ online passenger lists

San Pedro

 * 1930-1936 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1900-1948 California, Los Angeles, San Pedro, and Wilmington Passenger Lists, 1900-1948 at FindMyPast — index ($)

Passport Records Online

 * 1795-1925 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1795-1925 - U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 Index and images, at Ancestry ($)

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.

National Archives and Records Administration

 * The National Archives (NARA) has immigration records for arrivals to the United States from foreign ports between approximately 1820 and 1982. The records are arranged by Port of Arrival (See Part 5).
 * You may do research in immigration records in person at the National Archives Building, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001.


 * Some National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regional facilities have selected immigration records; call to verify their availability or check the online Microfilm Catalog.
 * Libraries with large genealogical collections, such as the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and the Allen County Piblic Library also have selected NARA microfilm publications.
 * Order copies of passenger arrival records with NATF Form 81.

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

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
In the colonial era Spaniards established most of the early settlements, although England and Russia also made expeditions to California. During the 80 years of Spanish and Mexican dominion in California (1769-1848), few immigrants came from Spain and Mexico, and even fewer came from other countries.

In 1841, overland travelers from the United States began to come to California. In 1846, war broke out between the U.S. and Mexico when American settlers in California protested Mexican rule and set up a republic. By 1848, when the U.S. acquired the area, fewer than 15,000 settlers lived there. Over half were Spanish or Mexican. The rest were of various nationalities, including English, Scottish, Irish, German, French, and Italian.

The discovery of gold in California in 1848 triggered a major exodus from the eastern states. Chinese also began to arrive in California. By 1850, Anglo-Americans (U.S. citizens of English descent or birth) made up the majority of the population. Individuals from New York, Pennsylvania, and the New England states predominated in migration during the gold rush years.

From 1850 to 1860, many immigrants came from the countries of northern Europe (especially Ireland) and from China. In the 1860s many came from western border states. The Chinese continued to immigrate to work on the Pacific railroad, which was completed in 1869. Until 1870, most of the Chinese came from the maritime provinces of China, especially Canton. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act suspended the immigration of Chinese laborers to the U.S. Other nationalities who arrived in this period were the Germans, Italians, French, and Portuguese.

In the 1880s a southern California real estate boom brought the first large migrations from the Midwest and the number of English and German immigrants increased. Other major increases were among the Italians, Portuguese, and Japanese. Japanese laborers could not legally leave Japan until 1885, but after that date, many came to California. The number of Mexicans dropped, and the Irish increased only slightly.

After 1890 the Italians, Mexicans, and Japanese became the major immigrant groups. Other countries that have contributed substantial numbers to California's population are Russia, Canada, the Philippines, and Poland.

The Irish, French, Italians, and Chinese tended to settle in San Francisco. The Mexicans, Russians, and Japanese settled mostly in the Los Angeles area, as did Anglo-Saxons from the Midwest. Few Blacks settled in California until World War II. Those from the southern states usually went to Los Angeles or Oakland.

Records
The major seaports of California have been Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Diego. There are very few passenger lists for the west coast ports. The Family History Library has ten microfilms of crew lists from the U.S. Customs House for the years 1848 to 1851, 1854 to 1862, 1881, 1886, and 1892.


 * 1883 - 1924 - at FamilySearch — images
 * 1904 - 1952 -
 * 1936 - 1949 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1907 - 1948 -
 * 1907 - 1948 -
 * 1918 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1928 - 1942 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1929 - 1956 -
 * 1929 - 1954 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1954 - 1957 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1930 - 1936 - at FamilySearch — index and images

The National Archives has recently discovered passenger lists of vessels arriving at San Francisco for the years 1893 to 1953, with an index for 1893 to 1934. The Family History Library has copies of the lists for the years 1903 to 1918 and the indexes from 1893 to 1934.

A reconstruction of passenger lists is Louis J. Rasmussen, San Francisco Ship Passenger Lists, Four Volumes. (Colma, California: San Francisco Historic Record and Genealogy Bulletin, [1965-]; Family History Library book ; film ). This covers primarily 1850 to 1852.

An excellent source of about 30,000 names of miners, immigrants, and other pioneers in the gold rush is Charles Warren Haskins, The Argonauts of California (New York, NY: Fords, Howard and Hulbert, 1890; ). This is indexed by Libera Martina Spinazze, Index to The Argonauts of California (New Orleans, Louisiana: Polyanthos, 1975; Family History Library ).

Passenger Lists for those bound from New York to California for the Gold Rush, published 1851-1860 &amp; 1865-1873 in the New York Daily Times.

Histories and records for ethnic groups such as the Chilean, Chinese, French, German, Irish, Jewish, Yugoslav, and Polish are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under CALIFORNIA - MINORITIES.

Records of American Indians are found in the FamilySearch Catalog under CALIFORNIA - NATIVE RACES. From the National Archives—Pacific Region (San Bruno),the library has acquired copies of agency records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the years 1873 to 1947.

The Oregon-California Trails Association is an educational organization that promotes the story of the westward migration. Their site includes a personal name index to trail diaries, journals, reminiscences, autobiographies, newspaper articles, guidebooks and letters at http://www.paper-trail.org/

Hayward's United States Gazetteer 1853 Routes to California and Oregon provides descriptions of the trails.

California Pioneer Project
The Native Daughters of the Golden West have a free 35,000 name index of California pioneer biographical sketches on the Internet. These pioneers resided or were born in California before December 31, 1869. The biographical sketches are permanently archived in individual volumes of 500 pioneers each in the California Room Library at the Native Daughters of the Golden West Home, San Francisco. New submissions are welcome. For a small fee the biographical sketches can be photocopied.

For a more complete explanation, see their Roster of California Pioneers Internet page.

Tips


 * Only the name of the pioneer has been indexed; others recorded in the submission, such as family members, are not included in the index.
 * The full record may contain the full name of pioneer, place and date of birth, marriage and death, date of arrival in California, method of travel, name of rail or vessel; states lived in prior to California, place and year of California residence; where educated, profession or occupation, public offices held; names of children; parents' names; name, address, relationship of informant (if any); date of registration and other comments.

Mexican Border Crossing Records
Numerous Mexicans came to California in the late 19th and early 20th century. Records of 20th century Mexican border crossings are available at the National Archives and Family History Library. These include:



Wiki articles describing online collections are found at: 


 * California, Los Angeles Passenger - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * California, San Francisco Passenger Lists, 1893-1953 - FamilySearch Historical Records