MURPHY'S EMERALD IDYLL
GENEALOGY
From: Jack Murphy
Notes on National Archives Passenger List Films
I am certainly no expert. I have not
been at this very long. I have gone through dozens of genealogy related emails
every day for long periods hoping to pick up information. The impression I have
acquired is that even though many people have put a lot of work into getting
passenger lists posted on the net, the number of passenger lists posted is a
small fraction of those that exist. The actual lists probably run into the tens
of thousands. I don't think anyone knows for sure.
You can go crazy if you keep looking
for the lists ONLY on the net. Or even on published cd's. I bought 19 cd's
without finding a single ancestor--even though they contained
"MILLIONS" of names. (I later bought 5 more. Ditto.) The US government
began requiring passenger lists in 1820. This massive amount of information is
available on microfilms in two forms.
Since many people don't know the ship
in question, or the year of arrival or the date of arrival, the simplest way to
set up this information is by starting with what the researcher does know--the
NAME of the person in question. When information was recorded about each
passenger, it was usually done with all the information about each person being
on one single line of the ship's manifest. It usually gives: name, age,
occupation, the country of which they are a citizen, where they have been
living, and the country (or state) where they plan to settle. In later years,
more questions were asked.
The government made an alphabetical
list of the 1.24 million immigrants involved. They did so by copying the
information onto index cards, one for each person, including the ship name and
date of arrival. Then these cards were all alphabetized and photographed. These
were called the INDEX to PASSENGER LISTS microfilms. Before you order one of
these films, you have to make a decision as to where the person came into the
country. These films are grouped by port of entry. If you are not certain, you
might have to consider several ports. The National Archives website listed below
has a list of ports and the dates of their films. Please note carefully the
dates involved. There are several places where gaps exist in the INDEX films.
The most notable being New York from 1847-1896. Without an INDEX, a person has
to slog through the ship lists themselves for a whole year, one list at a time.
Sometimes Naturalization or other records may narrow down the effort.
To get the order number of one of
these INDEX films, you find your surname on the list where it fits in. The
lookup list shows the first name and the last name on each list. The lists may
split a popular surname into two or more lists. An Arthur Murphy might be on one
list and a Thomas Murphy on another if they run out of space. Since one often
finds many persons with the same given name, it is helpful to know how old the
relative was, or if he traveled with other family members. If you find your
relative, you should find his ship and arrival date, too.
For people who are researching names
that have various spellings, there is a system called SOUNDEX. The NARA site
explains this system which attempts to deal with this problem. If you cannot
find a name the usual way, look into the SOUNDEX system.
Since you may have to wait several
weeks for the film to arrive at the local library (on inter library loan from
NARA) or from Salt Lake City in the case of the Mormon centers, You may want to
spend an extra $3.50 or so (rental per film) to check other ports at the same
time. At least the extra money is only for the INDEX films. You won't need the
PASSENGER LIST film rental until you find the right one.
Now that you have that information,
you can then go to the second set of films, the PASSENGER LIST set of films.
These are films of the actual handwritten lists made out by ship personnel, with
the old dip-in-the-inkwell type pen. Most people find the handwriting a
challenge. There are tutorials on the net on old fashioned handwriting styles
(Check the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild Site.). (The index cards, done in
the 20th century, by the way, are typed.) These LIST films have the ships
arranged in chronological order, often breaking up the year into quarters, date
wise. You simply order the film number for the date you have now acquired from
the INDEX film. You have several locations for viewing these films: National
Archives regional locations (each serving several states), Mormon (Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) Family History Centers, and larger public
libraries which participate in the inter library loan program.
These films are not the be-all and
end-all. There are postings on the net. There are cd's. There are certainly many
fine hard cover books in libraries all over the country. All I know is that when
I pursued this route, I found 14 relatives in three ship arrivals within a
matter of days once I had ordered a group of films at a Mormon Center. I
wouldn't spend my life waiting for people to post lists on the net. I am not
putting down the work these people do by any means. It is just that the body of
information out there is too massive to sit back holding your breath waiting for
someone to post your list. Find it and post it yourself. I have recently
finished the list for my grandmother's arrival in 1883, with 1,270 passengers. I
submitted it the ISTG for posting. For information on how to post on the net see
the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild site for tutorials. http://istg.rootsweb.com/compass/begin.html
http://www.nara.gov/publications/microfilm/immigrant/immpass.html
http://www.familysearch.org/
LDS site (Mormon Church) http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/passrecs.html
Nara film numbers converted to LDS numbers.
Hope this has been helpful.
Jack Murphy jackmurphy27@gmail.com