October 24, 2025
Finding an ancestor’s passenger list is a research goal for many genealogists. Before beginning work on that goal, it’s important to understand what kind of passenger lists have been kept over the years.
Before 1820, there were few requirements to enter America. No official lists were kept at entry ports during that period. The lists that were kept were generally made at the point of embarkation and were not filed with anyone at the ship’s destination.
Most surviving passenger lists from before 1820 have been published. The largest index to surviving lists was published in Passenger and Immigration Lists Index edited by P. William Filby. Many libraries have copies of these indexes, and they can also be found on Ancestry.
Beginning in 1820, the United States required all ships arriving at U.S. ports to file passenger lists with the U.S. Customs Bureau. Nearly all Customs lists still survive. They were originally microfilmed by the National Archives and have been digitized. Researchers can access the lists at websites such as Family Search, Ancestry and others.
Customs lists usually list passengers by first and last names, although first names are often shortened to a first and middle initial. In addition, they list age, gender, occupation and nationality.
Because so little information was collected, it is often difficult to determine whether an individual listed is the person being searched for. It can be helpful to gather additional information from other sources such as emigration lists in the emigrant’s native country or the name of the ship an emigrant sailed on from a journal or diary. This can help narrow the search.
The U.S. Immigration Act of 1891 created the Immigration Bureau. The Bureau was tasked with keeping passenger lists for everyone entering the United States. Like the earlier Customs Lists, Immigration Lists were microfilmed by the National Archives. Immigration lists have been digitized and are available at Ancestry and other genealogy websites.
Immigration lists contain a lot of information about passengers. This makes it easier to identify ancestors on them. In addition to name and age, the lists include last residence of immigrant, marital status, amount of money, condition of health, physical description and the name, address and relationship of any person the immigrant is joining.
Both Customs Lists and Immigration Passenger Lists were kept for all U.S. ports. The major ports were Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and New Orleans. As the country grew westward, ports on the West Coast such as Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles were added. New York City was always the busiest port in the United States, and researchers should check there first for ancestor arrivals unless they are certain an ancestor landed elsewhere.
Knowing the history of passenger lists can help researchers to set realistic goals for finding the lists. For example, pre 1820 lists are the scarcest while post 1891 lists are the easiest to find ancestors on.
Happy Hunting,
Carol Stetser
Researcher
Larimer County Genealogical Society