PILGRIMS, PIONEERS & ALIENS

By Diana L. Smith

On the Road Again: Visiting the National Archives in Washington, DC

Part II: Immigration and Naturalization Records

December 1999

Last month we took a "field trip" to the National Archives & Records Administration facility in Washington, DC, specifically discussing Civil War pension records. This month we'll go back for a look at immigration and naturalization records.

We'll start with a very brief background on immigration and naturalization in the United States over time. We'll then look at what you need to know before going to the National Archives and finish with what resources you'll find when you get there. This is NOT designed to be a comprehensive review of naturalization or immigration, but more a guide to the resources of the National Archives.

Definitions:

As usual, we'll start with a few definitions from Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc., 1989:

Alien - a foreign-born resident who has not been naturalized and is still a subject or citizen of a foreign country

Allegiance - the fidelity owed by a subject or citizen to his sovereign or government

Declarant - an alien who has declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the U.S. by signing his first papers

Ellis Island - an island in Upper New York Bay which served as immigrant station 1892-1954

Emigration - leaving one's place of residence or country to live elsewhere

Immigration - coming into a country of which one is not a native for permanent residence

Naturalization - admitting to citizenship; conferring the rights of a national

Passenger - a traveler in a public or private conveyance

Port - a harbor town or city where ships may take on or discharge cargo [or passengers]

Immigration to the United States

We all learned in school that the first settlers came to Plymouth on the Mayflower; or to Jamestown; or to St. Augustine. At that early date, immigration records were not kept in the colonies, so what you are able to find will generally be in some other type of record. There are transcribed passenger for many early ships, which can be found in various publications or even on-line. Check the bibliography for a few examples. And, of course, unless they were VERY strong swimmers, they came by ship until recent years with the advent of air travel.

Naturalization in the United States

Naturalization has never been required for United States residents. For example, of the foreign-born persons listed on the 1890 through 1930 censuses, 25% had not even begun the naturalization process.

Before 1790 naturalization was not required for British subjects in the New England colonies, since they were still in British territory. After the Revolutionary War, naturalization was the method for all immigrants (including British subjects) to obtain rights of citizenship.

The general process involved filing a Declaration of Intention (also referred to as "first papers") after at least two years of residence. After three more years, the alien could file a Petition for Naturalization. After the petition was granted a Certificate of Citizenship was issued.

Homework Before You Go

Before going to the National Archives you need to get as much information as possible on your immigrant(s):

Check home sources to see if the immigrant's naturalization certificate is in the family files. This is the easiest way to find the correct ship and/or arrival date and port.
Check any U.S. Federal or State Censuses available for the immigrant. The Federal census for 1830-1840 have a column for head of household an alien; 1850-1870 show birthplace of each person; 1870 shows males over 21 and able to vote (i.e., naturalized), and father or mother of foreign birth; 1880 shows birth place of each person and his/her parents; 1900-1910 show year immigrated, number of years in the U.S., and citizenship status (NA=naturalized; AL=alien; PA=process started); 1910 also shows native language; 1920 shows the same as 1900-1920 plus year naturalized. State censuses may show similar information, or in some cases even more.
Collect all family stories regarding the immigrant's arrival. They may be conflicting (noting arrival in different ports or different years or different ships), but all are clues and none should be discarded. Remember that he/she may have been one of those who came more than once before staying, so the different stories could all be true.
References to travelling companions - friends or relatives. Your immigrant's name may have been written illegibly, misspelled, or not indexed, so checking travelling companions may sometimes provide an appropriate clue.
Personal information. Know several identifying facts about the individual - particularly an estimated birth date, since age at time of immigration is one near-constant in the various stages of passenger lists - other information may be included on some, but nearly all will show age. Knowing the occupation, home town or province, spouse, children, etc., will all help make definite identification much easier.
Check to see if there is an Emigration Record for the native country. For example, the Hamburg Passenger Lists or Copenhagen Police Records. These lists are available on microfilm through the LDS Family History Library and local Family History Centers. They will help pinpoint the departure of the immigrant, possibly even giving a ship identification. (For example, my Danish immigrant ancestor was found on the Copenhagen Police records as purchasing a ticket on the S.S. United States in 1903. This narrowed my search somewhat - he didn't actually arrive until February 1904, but at least I had a smaller range of dates to check.)
If you have a known or suspected ship name, and approximate arrival date, check the Morton Allan Directory (see bibliography below for details) at your local library or Family History Center to get the specific date(s) of arrival. As stated above, I had a ship name and ticket purchase date. In the Morton Allan Directory I found that ship listed under the Scandinavian-American Line, along with three other ships of the line. I noted all the arrival dates in the U.S. from the date of ticket purchase through the end of 1904, just in case. Morton Allan is arranged by year, port, port of origin, and steamship company. It then shows the arrival date and steamship name.

How Do You Find the Passenger List?

The National Archives has inbound ship passenger arrival records dating back to 1820 for most east coast and gulf coast ports and a few lists as far back as 1800 for Philadelphia. These are not complete records, as many were destroyed by negligence or deterioration prior to the National Archives obtaining possession. There are indexes (mainly alphabetically by soundex) for the following:

Baltimore (1820-1852 and 1897-1952)
Boston (1848-91 and 1902-20)
New Orleans (1853-1952)
New York (1820-46 and 1897-1948)
Philadelphia (1800-1948)
66 minor ports (1820-74 and 1890-1924) - such as Galveston, Portland, Providence

Once you find the desired individual or family in the index, follow the instructions to find the volume and page or date of arrival. Some of the index cards have more information than others. Some will clearly indicate the ship and date of arrival, other show only the volume and page. It can be a bit confusing, but either will get you to the citation (assuming they are indexed properly). The films are filed by port, then by date, in the "vault" area. The volume numbers contained on each reel are clearly marked.

There are passenger lists for other periods, but they are unindexed. They are chronological by arrival date, so you need to know the port and date of arrival, then search all ships (or those from specific ports) page by page. The Morton Allan Directory can again be helpful in these searches, since you can narrow down the ships arriving from probable ports. Don't forget that they may have gone to another country to leave if it was more convenient than a port in the home country. For example, Germans, Russians, Norwegians, Finns, and Swedes may have left Copenhagen, as well as Danes.

Note that there was no law requiring passenger arrival records be retained for persons entering the U.S. by land from Canada or Mexico before the 20^th century However, there are a few helpful series for border crossings from Canada:

Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through the St. Albans, Vermont, District, 1895-1924. Microfilm Series M1461
Soundex Index to Entries into the St. Albans, Vermont, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports". Microfilm series M1463.
Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Albans, Vermont, District through Canadian Pacific Ports, 1929-1949. Microfilm Series M1465.

What Kind of Information is in a Passenger List?

Before 1893 the format of the passenger lists varies widely. There was no mandated standard, just a requirement beginning on 1 January 1820 that the names of all passengers be submitted to the port authority by the ship's captain upon arrival. During most of the years from 1820-1892 there were various companies which printed forms for this purpose and sold them to the steamship companies. In 1893 the passenger list forms were standardized by the government, so all companies providing them used the same information. Information may be found in varying degrees of regularity over time. For example, beginning in 1891 more information was required, including how much money the immigrant carried (note that many said $20 as this was an accepted minimum, and they tended to be suspicious of giving a government too much information). After 1906 the exact town of birth was required.

A typical passenger list from 1904, for example, included the following information:

Ship name
Port of departure
Date of departure
Port of arrival
Date of arrival
Full name
Age (years and months)
Sex
Married or single
Calling or occupation
Able to Read?
Able to Write?
Nationality (country of which citizen or subject)
Race or People
Last Residence (Province, City or Town)
Final Destination (State, City or Town)
Whether having a ticket to such final destination
By whom was passage paid?
Whether in possession of $50, and if less, how much?
Whether ever before in the United States; and if so, when and where?
Whether going to join a relative or friend, and if so, what relative or friend, and his name and complete address.
Ever in prison or almshouse or institution for care and treatment of the insane or supported by charity? If so, which?
Whether polygamist
Whether an anarchist
Whether coming by reason of any offer, solicitation, promotion or agreement, express or implied, to labor in the United States.
Condition of health, mental and physical
Deformed or crippled. Nature, length of time, and cause.

And don't forget to read the whole list and all of the miscellaneous comments that may be made on the document. For example,

One record I was searching had a date and place. Upon checking, I found that was the naturalization date and place for the individual! When a person applied for naturalization, they stated their date and ship of immigration; it was actually checked, and often notes were made right on the original document - before it was microfilmed!
Read the list of detainees (usually at the end of the list). Many were detained until someone came to get them or their destination was confirmed. For these people, the contact person is indicated, and the disposition. (Either someone did pick them up, or in some cases they were put on a train to meet their party). If they were refused admission, it will generally state the reason (usually some health problem). If the person ended up in the United States, look for another crossing later.
Note whether the person is marked as a U.S. citizen. They were sometimes stamped, other times the native country is scratched out and "citizen" or some other term is written in above. Some have a stamp that says "Citizen, Released at Dock", etc.
Check the ship for others with the same name, coming from the same town, or going to the same destination. There may be others in the same party who were separated into a different group at some point. These may be valuable clues to others travelling together.

What Naturalization Records are Available?

Most naturalization records are at the local or district court level. However, the National Archives does have some naturalization information. Here are a few examples. Check the catalog for details and further holdings.

Records of District Courts of the United States. Record Group 21. Indexes and Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Courts in various areas; for example, Alaska, index 1900-1929; records 1900-1924; Arizona, records 1864-1915 and 1912-1955 [may be Descriptive Pamphlet available]
Index to New England Naturalization Records, 1791-1906. Microfilm Record Series 1299.
Case Files of Chinese Immigrants, 1895-1920, From District No. 4 (Philadelphia) of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Microfilm Series M1144 [Descriptive Pamphlet available]
Soundex Index to Naturalization Petitions for the United States District and Circuit Courts, Northern District of Illinois, and Immigration and Naturalization Service District 9, 1840-1950. Microfilm series M1285 [Descriptive Pamphlet available]
Naturalization Index of the Superior Court for Los Angeles County, California, 1852-1915. Microfilm Series M1608. (1 reel)
Index to Citizens Naturalized in the Superior Court of San Diego, California 1853-1956. Microfilm Series M16109. (1 reel)
Index to Declarations of Intention in the Superior Court of San Diego County, California, 1853-1956. Microfilm Series M1612 (1 reel)

What Other Records Might Be Available?

In addition to the pension files, the National Archives also has

Passport applications. 1795-1905. Microfilm series M1372. If your immigrant was naturalized, then returned to the native country, they quite possibly obtained a U.S. passport before returning. This would be protection from impressment into the military of the native country, and avoid complications on their return to the U.S. later.
Registers and Indexes for Passport Applications, 1810-1906. Microfilm Series M1371. [Descriptive Pamphlet available]
Records of the Bureau of Ships. Record Group 19. Index to the General Photographs of the Bureau of Ships. 1914-1946. Microfilm series M1157. General Photographs of the Bureau of Ships, 1914. (1100 reels). Microfilm series M1222
Registers of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York, New York, From Foreign Ports, 1789-1919. Microfilm Series M1066. This register can be helpful particularly for the unindexed years at the port of New York. It gives the vessel, port of origin, and arrival date in New York. [Descriptive Pamphlet available]

What Is the Benefit of Visiting the National Archives in Person?

You can search different arrival dates without ordering multiple films to review locally. (One of my immigrants was found on the 13^th film I checked.)
You can follow up on leads you find in the file referring to other trips (some immigrants made several crossings, often with different family or friends each time).
You can read the entire list without having to order copies of all the pages for the entire ship.

Copies of passenger lists are available (using NATF Form 81). You can obtain the NATF Form 81 by providing your name and mailing address to inquire@nara.gov. Be sure to specify "Form 81" and the number of forms you need.

Follow the instructions carefully and note the appropriate fee. The more information you supply, the better your chance of success (with the limited information I had, they were unable to locate the immigrant I finally found on the 13^th film.)