On behalf of the members and the Board of Directors of the Southern California Genealogical Society, welcome to today’s session! We hope that you enjoy it and that you’ll learn a new aspect of family history research from our speaker. Please spread the word about the Jamboree Extension Series. Tell your cousins and fellow genealogists. Upcoming presentations are listed at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/JamboreeExtensionSeries2011.htm. Announcements of new sessions will be made through the SCGS blog at www.scgsgenealogy.blogspot.com. You can register to receive updates by email. Remember all these sessions are free and the original webcast is open to the public. All of the Jamboree Extension Series sessions will be archived and available for viewing 24/7 on the members-only portion of the SCGS website. This is only one of many benefits available for members of SCGS. You can join online at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=30. Can you imagine what it would be among 1800 fellow genealogists and family historians, all of whom are enjoying informative sessions by knowledgeable and professional speakers? That’s the description of the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, which will be held June 10-12, 2011, in Burbank. Keep updated on all things Jamboree by subscribing to email updates from the conference blog at www.genealogyjamboree.blogspot.com. If you have suggestions for improvement or ideas for future sessions, please contact us at [email protected]. Southern California Genealogical Society & Family Research Library Southern California Genealogy Jamboree 417 Irving Drive Burbank, CA 91504-2408 Office – 818.843.7247 • Fax – 818.688.3253 • [email protected] www.scgsgenealogy.com www.scgsgenealogy.blogspot.com www.genealogyjamboree.blogspot.com Tracing Your Immigrant Ancestors Presented by Lisa A. Alzo, M.F.A. www.lisaalzo.com [email protected] Overview America is a nation of immigrants, comprised of people who left home to find a better life for themselves and their families. Tracking down your immigrant ancestors can often be a daunting task. This session will show you tips and tricks for locating and searching passenger lists and other key immigration documents both on and offline to help you trace your roots. Online Immigration Sources Where to find key resources on the Web for tracing immigrant ancestors: General Information Genealogy Articles, Tips & Research Guides (Joe Beine) http://www.genealogybranches.com/#passenger Passenger & Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s P. William Filby’s index (still updated annually) - the classic starting point for immigrant research, listing 4.8 million people’s arrival details and the sources of that information. Ancestry.com http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7486 World Vital Records www.worldvitalrecords.com/indexinfo.aspx?ix=pili Both have this index, but WVR’s version omits source names in some entries—it gives just codes. US Passenger Arrival Lists NARA’s ship manifests from 1820 and later cover dozens of ports around the US. Ancestry.com’s immigration collection http://ancestry.com/search/rectype/default.aspx?rt=40 as indexes to (and images of) all of NARA’s microfilmed passenger lists. Paid subscription required or access via a subscribing library (Ancestry Library Edition). Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild site www.immigrantships.net, you can search millions of names from 10,000 ships’ passenger lists (all the way back to Columbus’ voyage in 1492), transcribed by more than 500 volunteers. The Ship’s List http://www.theshipslist.com/ - online since August 1999, this site has over 3,000 totally free access web-pages with new databases added regularly. Lisa A. Alzo - © 2011 Tracing Immigrants - 1 You’ll find immigration reports, newspaper records, shipwreck information, ship pictures, ship descriptions, shipping-line fleet lists and more; as well as hundreds of passenger lists to Canada, USA, Australia and even some for South Africa. New York Passenger Lists The Port of New York served as the entry point for the largest numbers of immigrants. Ellis Island <ellisisland.org> has indexes and record images from 1892 to 1924. Free to search, but must register with a username and password. CastleGarden.org www.castlegarden.org offers an index to earlier years, but for online copies of the actual passenger lists, you’ll need to use Ancestry.com or microfilmed copies. FamilySearch Record Search Pilot http://pilot.familysearch.org FamilySearch Beta (eventually to replace current page) http://fsbeta.familysearch.org You may view microfilmed copies of passenger lists at the Family History Library (FHL) www.familysearchorg – you can order microfilm for a fee at your local Family History Center (FHC); or view passenger lists at /order hard copies (for a fee) from the National Archives Records Administration http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigration/passenger-arrival.html or view them at some NARA regional facilities (selected immigration records) http://www.archives.gov/locations. Emigration Passenger Lists If you can’t find your ancestors coming to America, perhaps you’ll find them going from their port of departure. Ancestry.com’s immigration collection includes 1850-to-1934 lists from Hamburg, Germany http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1068 one of the top departure ports for European emigrants. Die MAUS - Family History and Genealogical Society of Bremen - Bremen Passenger Lists - Unfortunately, all lists from 1875 - 1908 older than 3 years were destroyed due to lack of space in the Bremen Archives. With the exception of 3017 passenger lists for the years 1920 - 1939 all other lists were lost in World War II. Some 1907/08 and 1913/14 lists and card index also transcribed. Search online http://www.passengerlists.de/. FindMyPast www.findmypast.com/passengerListPersonSearchStart.action about $145 a year) has outbound lists covering 1890 to 1960 for UK ports—where vessels originating at other European ports often stopped before crossing the Atlantic. Brigham Young University’s Immigrant Ancestors Project http://immigrants.byu.edu/ draws on emigrant records created in the old country, focusing on England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Scotland and Spain. Lisa A. Alzo - © 2011 Tracing Immigrants - 2 Naturalization Records A citizenship applicant’s declaration of intention, also called “first papers,” provides immigration clues—including, after 1906, a specific town of origin and immigration date. Earlier petitions usually give the country of birth or allegiance and sometimes the date and port of arrival. Ancestry.com U.S. Naturalization Records - Original Documents, 1795-1972 (indexes and images from some states) http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1193 Footnote www.footnote.com ($69.95 a year) – has a collection of digitized naturalization records from all over the United States. Ancestry.com has numerous searchable indexes, and is adding databases of original records. Many immigrants applied for naturalizations in state and local courts. Genealogy Articles, Tips & Research Guides (Joe Beine) http://www.genealogybranches.com/#naturalization Google www.google.com - search on state name plus naturalizations to locate online indexes produced by the agencies holding those records. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) http://www.uscis.gov/ Genealogy Program http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543 f6d1a/?vgnextchannel=d21f3711ca5ca110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgn extoid=d21f3711ca5ca110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD - a fee-for-service program providing family historians and other researchers with timely access to historical immigration and naturalization records. Click the links at left and below to learn about our services and records. Other Resources Ancestry.com ($) Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956 – http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1075 & Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1263 Great Migration Study Project -Thoroughly researched biographical sketches provide migration details on thousands of Colonial New England settlers. Search volumes covering 1620 to 1633 on the New England Historic Genealogical Society site www.newenglandancestors.org/database_search/gen_GreatMigrations.asp and Ancestry.com http://ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=4714 One-Step WebPages: Stephen P. Morse www.stevemorse.org - “Gold Form” lets you search the Ellis Island Database on additional criteria, including “sounds like” searches for first and last names and towns. Free to use. Must have user name and password to see results on the Ellis Island Site; Search tools for other ports (Castle Garden, Baltimore, Philadelphia, etc.) – must have access to Ancestry.com (either subscription or access via subscribing library). Lisa A. Alzo - © 2011 Tracing Immigrants - 3 U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 – Ancestry.com ($) http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1174 Search Secrets Start broad (unless common last name, e.g. Smith) Then narrow search as necessary Experiment with other search criteria Check for women under maiden and married names Try spelling variations (not just their suggestions, but your own too) Search on a middle name Browse by ship’s name Browse by arrival date http://ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7488 Use Steve Morse’s Gold form (arrival date, town search, sounds-like, etc.) Other Data to Watch For: Scroll to end of the manifests Births, Deaths