Maps Showing Implementation of Regulations<\/a> (PDF)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nTerminology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Emigration \u2013 Leaving a country and settling somewhere else<\/li>\n
- Transmigration \u2013 Passing through a country while emigrating<\/li>\n
- Immigration \u2013 Entering a country and settling there<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
How did they travel?<\/strong><\/p>\nAtlantic Crossings by Sail<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- This was the only option until the mid 1800\u2019s<\/li>\n
- A normal, uneventful trip took 7 \u2013 8 weeks<\/li>\n
- Schedules were unreliable<\/li>\n
- Emigrants congregated at the point of departure waiting for their ship<\/li>\n
- The entire trip could take 2 \u2013 5 months<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Atlantic Crossings: Steam Ships<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Steam powered ships emerged in the 1850\u2019s\n
\n- Sailing ships continued to sail during this transition period<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Steam effectively took over by 1880<\/li>\n
- Regular schedules were established<\/li>\n
- Crossing times reduced to 1 week by 1914<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Atlantic Crossings: Steam Trains<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Use of Steam powered trains also expanded greatly during this period.<\/li>\n
- Made it easier to travel to the port departure\n
\n- Enabled development of integrated train\/ship routes and schedules<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Made it easier to travel from the point of arrival to more distant destination<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Why did they come?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Food Shortage<\/li>\n
- To escape oppression<\/li>\n
- Economic Opportunity<\/li>\n
- Cheap\/free land<\/li>\n
- Slavery<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Prior to 1820: Organized Migration <\/strong><\/p>\n\n- The 1st Wave<\/li>\n
- England established outposts in the new colony<\/li>\n
- Native American population was decimated<\/li>\n
- There was a shortage of labor<\/li>\n
- Rotterdam and Antwerp were major ports of departure<\/li>\n
- Emigrants could get there by sailing down the Rhine<\/li>\n
- Approximately 1.2 Million people arrived in this period<\/li>\n
- Protestants from northwestern Europe\n
\n- Settlers recruited for chartered colonies<\/li>\n
- Religious missionaries<\/li>\n
- Exiles<\/li>\n
- Soldiers<\/li>\n
- Convicted laborers<\/li>\n
- Indentured servants<\/li>\n
- Slaves\n
\n- Brought into Virginia as early as 1619<\/li>\n
- Most arrived before 1780<\/li>\n
- It is estimated that 800,000 were in the US by 1808 (when the importation of slaves into the United States was banned)<\/li>\n
- In 1820 slaves represented 16% of the United States population<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
1820 \u2013 1890: Autonomous Migration <\/strong><\/p>\n\n- The 2nd<\/sup> Wave<\/li>\n
- Rapid industrialization provided opportunities for migrants of modest means and\/or skills<\/li>\n
- Advances in transportation (steamships and railway networks) made travel easer, more reliable and more economical<\/li>\n
- By 1840 Le Havre became a more attractive port than Rotterdam or Antwerp<\/li>\n
- European barriers to emigrating (such as serfdom) were removed<\/li>\n
- Government policies facilitated transatlantic relocation<\/li>\n
- Military conscription and ethnic discrimination prompted mass migration out of Eastern Europe<\/li>\n
- Countries of Origin\n
\n- Irish (Potato Famine – 1847)<\/li>\n
- German (failure of the democratic revolutions of 1848)<\/li>\n
- Scandinavians<\/li>\n
- Chinese<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Vast majority of the US arrivals were processed in New York City\n
\n- Castle Garden established in 1855<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
1890 \u2013 1920\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- 3rd<\/sup> Wave<\/li>\n
- Approximately 22.3 Million people\n
\n- From Southern and Eastern Europe (Italy, Russia, Austro-Hungary)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- 75% came through New York\n
\n- Ellis Island replaced Castle Garden in 1898<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Emigration was severely restricted at the outset of WWI<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Regulations & Records<\/strong><\/p>\nPrior to 1820<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- No records or documentation were required for immigrants arriving by ship in the United States<\/li>\n
- Philadelphia was the major port of entry<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Steerage Act of 1819<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- k.a. the Manifest of Immigrants Act<\/li>\n
- Took effect in 1820<\/li>\n
- Passed to alleviate overcrowding of passenger ships<\/li>\n
- Customs Passenger Lists <\/em>were submitted to U.S. Customs on arrival\n
\n- Name<\/li>\n
- Age<\/li>\n
- Gender<\/li>\n
- Occupation<\/li>\n
- Country of Origin<\/li>\n
- Destination<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Only applied to ships arriving at United States ports<\/li>\n
- Canada did not (yet) have similar requirements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Additional Laws, Regulations and Events<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- 1825: Erie Canal opened, New York surpassed Philadelphia as the busiest US port of entry.<\/li>\n
- 1849: Changes in British law made Canadian ports much more desirable for shipping companies<\/li>\n
- 1855: Castle Garden immigration center opened in New York<\/li>\n
- 1865: Canada began documenting immigrants (similar to US records)\n
\n- Schedule A \u2013 Particulars Relative to the Vessel<\/li>\n
- Canadian Ports of entry:\n
\n- Quebec and Montreal (Summer)<\/li>\n
- John and Halifax (Winter)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- 1883: US begins requiring an Immigration Passenger List\n
\n- k.a. \u201cShip Manifests\u201d<\/li>\n
- Similar to earlier records, adds:\n
\n- Birthplace or Last Residence<\/li>\n
- Marital Status<\/li>\n
- Previous US residence<\/li>\n
- Destination<\/li>\n
- Names or relatives in country of origin<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- 1891:\n
\n- Inspection and deportation of emigrants begins in the US<\/li>\n
- The 1st<\/sup> Immigration Inspection Station established at the US \u2013 Canadian border\n
\n- ~40% of Canadian Immigrants were traveling directly to the United States<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- US Compliance for Canadian Ports of Entry<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- 1895:\n
\n- Established a uniform Passenger Manifest form<\/li>\n
- US laws and rules were applied to all US-bound passengers<\/li>\n
- Tickets for transportation to the US were only provided to those who appeared to admissible under US law<\/li>\n
- The US placed Immigration Service agents at Canadian seaports to collect the manifests and inspect US-bound passengers<\/li>\n
- US Compliance for Canadian Ports of Entry<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- 1906:\n
\n- Canada began to document immigration of Canadians to the US\n
\n- Prior to this documentation was only required for those born outside of Canada<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- US Began documenting immigrants from Mexico\n
\n- Card Manifest was created for each person<\/li>\n
- Recorded the same information as the ship manifest<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Search Strategy<\/strong><\/p>\nBegin by Researching the Basic<\/strong>s<\/p>\n\n- Birth<\/li>\n
- Marriage<\/li>\n
- Death<\/li>\n
- Burial<\/li>\n
- Children<\/li>\n
- Parents<\/li>\n
- Siblings<\/li>\n
- Occupation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Additional Immigration Facts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Reason for immigration<\/li>\n
- Port of Departure<\/li>\n
- Name of the ship<\/li>\n
- Traveling companions<\/li>\n
- Route Traveled<\/li>\n
- Port of Arrival<\/li>\n
- Date of Arrival<\/li>\n
- Age on arrival<\/li>\n
- Final Destination<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Minimum Information You Need to Begin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Full Original Name\n
\n- Recorded at the point of embarkation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Date of Arrival<\/li>\n
- Age at Arrival<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Transmigration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Immigrants did not always sail directly from their native country\n
\n- Many traveled to Rotterdam, Antwerp, Le Havre, Bremen and Hamburg from other countries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Many entered the United Stated via Canada\n
\n- Sometimes it was the least expensive route<\/li>\n
- Some chose that route to avoid US regulations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Many European emigrants passed through England on their way to North America<\/li>\n
- England dominated the Atlantic route (because of the number of British and Irish immigrants)\n
\n- More ships<\/li>\n
- Better Service<\/li>\n
- Lower cost<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- This dominance grew as they established feeder routes to England from the rest of Europe<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Hull, England<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- The largest transmigration port in England\n
\n- Between 1836 and 1915 about 2.2 Million emigrants from Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Russia and Sweden passed through Hull<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- They would remain on their ships until their train was ready<\/li>\n
- Then they would travel directly to Liverpool, Glasgow, London or Southampton and immediately board their ship\n
\n- The train station was usually immediately adjacent to the boat dock<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Grimsby was also a major transmigration port<\/li>\n
- They All Sailed From England (or Scotland)\n
\n- Regardless of their county of origin<\/li>\n
- Keep this in mind when searching for them<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Don\u2019t Make Assumptions About the Route<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- April 1903 \u2013 Great Grandfather Hans Isakson sails from Liverpool to Quebec<\/b><\/li>\n
- February 1904 \u2013 Sons sail from Liverpool to Boston<\/b><\/li>\n
- March 1904 \u2013 Wife and daughters sail from Liverpool to Boston<\/b><\/li>\n
- February 1906 \u2013 daughter sails from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia<\/b><\/li>\n
- May 1908 \u2013 Grandmother sails from Oslo directly to New York<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Arrival via Canada<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Arrivals were not recorded until 1865<\/li>\n
- US-bound arrivals after 1894 were handled differently\n
\n- Cleared Canadian quarantine<\/li>\n
- Inspection by US\u00a0Immigration Service agents<\/li>\n
- Issuance of a \u201cCertificate of Admission\u201d<\/li>\n
- Immigrants who had arrived in Canada within 30 days had to show their\u00a0\u201cCertificate of Admission\u201d to board a US-bound train<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
St. Albans Border Crossing Records<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- All of the records created by the US Agents in Canada were sent to Montreal to be filed<\/li>\n
- These records were later moved to the INS district office in St. Albans, Vermont in the United States<\/li>\n
- Vermont, St. Albans Canadian Border Crossings, 1895-1954 (Canada to the U.S.)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
NARA Microfilms Publications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- M1464 – Emigration from 1895 \u2013 1954\n
\n- Chronological Order<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- M1461 – Soundex Name Index of 1895 \u2013 1954 Emigrants\n
\n- Created from the original manifests<\/li>\n
- Sorted by Soundex code, then First\/Middle name<\/li>\n
- Isakson\n
\n- Soundex Code I225<\/li>\n
- Rolls 202, I126 Hija \u2013 I460 Winnie<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Immigrants Ships Transcribers Guild<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- https:\/\/immigrantships.net<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Online Search Tips<\/strong><\/p>\nQuality of the Information Recorded<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- The information was recorded at the port of departure<\/li>\n
- The informant and the recorder may not have spoken the same language<\/li>\n
- The informant may not have been able to read or write<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Database May Have Incorrect Information<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- The recorder\u2019s handwriting may be hard to read<\/li>\n
- The condition of the document may have deteriorated prior to transcription, making accurate transcription difficult or impossible<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Search Other Repositories<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- If the images have been indexed by somebody else, try searching their database<\/li>\n
- Sometimes things get indexed differently<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Age on Arrival and\/or Year of Birth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Most search engines are sensitive to the year of birth or age on arrival\n
\n- They will restrict results to match what you specify<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- If these are indexed incorrectly, they may cause your search to fail\n
\n- You know they were 50, but it was indexed as 20<\/li>\n
- Possibly it was not indexed at all<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Possible solutions:\n
\n- Specify a very wide date range<\/li>\n
- Don\u2019t specify the age on arrival in your search query<\/li>\n
- Don\u2019t specify the birth year on arrival in your search query<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Names<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- It is very common for names to be recorded incorrectly<\/li>\n
- Some emigrants intentionally changed their names when they immigrated<\/li>\n
- Possible Solutions\n
\n- Only specify a first name<\/li>\n
- Only specify a last name<\/li>\n
- Use wildcards to get around spelling variations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Wild Card Characters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Special instructions to the search engine<\/li>\n
- The most popular one is the asterisk ( * )\n
\n- It means \u201clook for zero or more characters in this position\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- A search for \u201cHans*\u201d would match on these (and many more) names\n
\n- Han<\/strong>s<\/li>\n
- Hans<\/strong>on<\/li>\n
- Hans<\/strong>en<\/li>\n
- Hans<\/strong>sen<\/li>\n
- Hans<\/strong>son<\/li>\n
- Hans<\/strong>datter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- The asterisk can be used anywhere in the string\n
\n- *born (to search for variations on Amborn)<\/li>\n
- Johansd*ter (to search for variations of datter\/daughter)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- Another popular one is the question mark ( ? )\n
\n- It means \u201clook for any character in this position\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- A search for \u201cHans?n\u201d would match on these names\n
\n- Hans<\/strong>on<\/strong><\/li>\n
- Hans<\/strong>en<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Search For Travel Companions<\/strong><\/p>\n