Have you encountered the challenge of finding immigration records for your ancestors? In our United States research, we may discover our ancestor’s home country and wonder how to find the original ship passenger lists or other immigration records. Whether they hailed from the British Isles, Europe, Scandinavia, or any other country, we hope for that exact date and place of entry. Difficulties come with the multitude of locations they could have entered the U.S. – New York? New Orleans? Boston? San Francisco? Perhaps they arrived in Canada and crossed the border or came north from Mexico. In this blog series, we’ll look at strategies for finding this important information.
Clues from United States Records
From the time an ancestor left their home country and arrived in the United States, immigration records began being created. Whether they settled permanently in the U.S. or traveled back and forth, they could be named in family sources, county histories, vital records, naturalization records, military records, passports, voting registers, ethnic church records, newspapers, census records, and land records. Each of these records could provide clues about the home country, ship’s name, date of immigration, and family relationships.
In our research, we are looking for a body of evidence to uniquely identify our ancestors. Immigration records are one piece of that evidence and must be used with other records because of the sheer volume of individuals immigrating to the U.S. with similar names, ages, occupations, and countries of origin.
If the ancestor was alive for the U.S. Federal Censuses of 1900-1940, important immigration information could be noted and should be the starting place for research analysis. Each year asked similar questions such as year of immigration, number of years in the U.S., naturalization status, etc. Combining naturalization and immigration research can give us our best chance at finding an ancestor’s information. See my three-part blog series for details on naturalization records.
Here is the breakdown by census year.
- 1900: Year of immigration to the US; the number of years in the US whether still an alien, having applied for citizenship, or naturalized ( AL=Alien, PA=First Papers Filed, NA=Naturalized)
- 1910: For foreign-born males 21 years old or older, whether naturalized or alien (AL=Alien, PA=First Papers Filed; NA=Naturalized)
- 1920: Whether naturalized or alien (A or AL=Alien; NA=Naturalized; NR=Not Reported; PA=First Papers Filed), and year of naturalization – only census to do so
- 1930: Year of immigration, whether naturalized (Na=Naturalized, Pa=First Papers, Al=Alien)
- 1940: Birthplace; citizenship if foreign born (Na=Naturalized, Pa=Having First Papers, Al=Alien, Am Cit=American Citizen Born Abroad)
Often, the census information doesn’t correlate with other records. This is due to the informant not being the immigrant but another household member who simply didn’t know this information and may have guessed or didn’t answer the question. Using what is available, though, we can get a rough estimate of the timeline for an ancestor and an approximate date of immigration.
Establishing Identity
One of the challenges of searching ship passenger lists is distinguishing our ancestors from people of the same name. If they had a common name, there may be many individuals with a similar country of origin, age, and date of entry. To overcome this obstacle, we have several strategies.
First, we must thoroughly search U.S. records to establish as complete as possible identification of the immigrant. This includes the following:
- Full name
- Birth date or marriage date
- Ethnicity
- Religion
- Family and friend relationships
The ancestor may have used various names in the U.S., perhaps even shortening a foreign name to sound more American. Seeking out each record could find name variations that could be searched in passenger lists.
The immigrant’s age was generally noted on the passenger list and could be correlated with the age from the U.S. census records, tombstones, etc. Information about marriage is important to determine. Did they marry in the U.S. before immigration, or did they return to their home country to marry? We may assume an ancestor only made the voyage once, but he may have made multiple trips – especially if a man was earning money in the U.S. and returning home to help his family.
Ethnicity is important to understand and must be combined with a study of the country’s geopolitical changes. An ancestor may have identified as Prussian in one census and German in the next because of changes in European borders.
Knowing the ancestor’s religion will point to appropriate church records to search – both in the United States and in the country of origin. If the priest or minister spoke the same language, the immigrant’s name could be recorded more correctly, and then the appropriate church records could be searched in the home country.
Immigrants often traveled with extended family, friends, or people from the same community. When other identifying factors don’t help – relationships may be the key to finding our ancestors among all those with similar names. Follow each clue from the known records to find connections between your ancestor’s associates in both the U.S. and his home country.
Case Study – Irish Immigrant Patrick Savage (1825- about 1880)
For example, let’s look at the case of Patrick Savage. His descendants had not located his immigration record and knew only of his family in the United States who had settled in Michigan by 1870. His wife’s name was either Hanora, Mary, Anna, or Angela, depending on the record. Patrick and his wife were both born in Ireland, and their oldest child was born about 1860 in either Ireland or New York.
Researching Patrick found him residing in Allen Township, Hillsdale County, Michigan, in 1850. The census was taken on 25 September 1850, and Patrick, age 25, was listed among a group of Irish laborers residing in the boarding house of Stephen C. Gardner. Of note is the entry of James Daley, just three lines below that of Patrick Savage.1
1850 Census, Allen, Hillsdale County, Michigan – entries for Patrick Savage and James Daley
When did Patrick Savage arrive in the United States? With this common name, indexes for ship passenger lists have entries for multiple men named Patrick Savage. One entry, however, also includes a James Daley. It is probable that the two men either traveled from Ireland together or became friends on board the ship and continued on to Michigan.2
The ship manifest for the “Guy Mannering” lists Patrick Savage, 24, a laborer from Ireland, destination USA. On the next line is James Daley, 24, a laborer from Ireland, destination USA. The ship manifests generally list family groups together, and although the two men are not in a family group, the listing one line apart does point to a possible connection when paired with the 1850 census.
The ship departed from Liverpool, England, and arrived in New York City on 12 October 1849. The majority of the ship’s passengers listed their destination as the USA, with a few going on to Canada. Many of them were from Ireland and England. The Irish potato famine had begun in 1845, and before it ended in 1852, over one million Irish had perished from starvation, and another one million had left their homes as refugees. The famine was likely the impetus that caused Patrick Savage to emigrate to the United States.
Ship’s Passenger List, 1849, entries for Patrick Savage and James Daley
Patrick Savage and James Daley arrived in October of 1849 and were living in Michigan by September of 1850 when the census was taken. They likely worked their way west, traveling by railroad until they arrived in Allen Township, Hillsdale County, Michigan. The main occupation of the individuals listed on the 1850 census in Allen Township was farming, with the usual spattering of carpenters, blacksmiths, and grocers. Patrick Savage and the other Irish immigrants boarding at Stephen C. Gardner’s boarding house were likely working on the railroad, their occupations all noted as laborer.
How long Patrick Savage stayed in the United States is unknown, but by 1859, he had traveled back to Ireland to marry Honora. The marriage record in Ireland states Patrick’s residence as Michigan, tying him to the Patrick Savage of the 1850 census. No other Patrick Savage is listed in the 1850 census index residing in Michigan.
The register of Abbeydorney, County Kerry, Ireland, provides evidence of the marriage of Patritri Savage of Michigan and Honora Shanahan of “Ballylahive” on 1 March 1859. The information was recorded in Latin with the heading “Incipit Mensis Martius 1859,” meaning the beginning of entries for the month of March 1859. Patrick and Honora’s entry is listed first, with the number 1 barely visible in the image. The page is folded over on the right side, obscuring any witness names and part of “Michigan.”3
Catholic Parish Register: Marriage of Patrick Savage and Honora Shanahan of Ballylahive
Although several Patrick Savages, born about 1825, are listed in Irish parish registers, a baptism record for Patrick Savage, born 9 May 1825, in Killury, Kerry County, Ireland, could very well be for the Michigan immigrant. Born to parents Richard Savage and Joanna Casey of Tinawley, the sponsors were Ellena Daly and Timotheus Murphy. Sponsors were often family members, and the surname “Daly” corresponds to that of James Daley, the Irish associate of Patrick Savage.4
This is the only Patrick discovered so far with a baptism in County Kerry, where Patrick Savage and Honora Shanahan married in 1859. If Patrick had been raised in County Kerry upon return to Ireland, it would be logical that he would return to his parents’ home.
In the case of Patrick Savage, the key to discovering his initial immigration to the United States was noticing his fellow boarder and traveler, James Daley. Patrick followed a pattern of coming to the United States to work and then returning to Ireland to marry Honora Savage.
When did Patrick and Honora emigrate to the United States? No ship passenger list has been discovered for the couple, but following their marriage on 1 March 1859, they likely lived in Ireland for at least two years. Their two oldest children, Thomas and Catherine Savage were reported as born in Ireland in 1860 and 1861 in the 1870 census. A search of Catholic parish registers did not locate a baptism for either child with the correct parents. The couple hasn’t been located on the 1860 census in the United States, so were likely in Ireland during those years.
This case study points out the challenges of immigration research with common names and finding the applicable ship passenger list. With many U.S. ports, perhaps the Savage family came through Canada or a different port than New York. Additionally, the records for their voyage may not be extant. The National Archives houses these records and explains that there are gaps in the records. As with any record type, loss occurs.5
Best of luck in all your genealogical endeavors!
The Complete Series
Back to the Basics with Immigration Records: Part 1 – Getting Started
Back to the Basics with Immigration Records: Part 2 – Colonial Era
Back to the Basics with Immigration Records: Part 3 1820-1906
Back to the Basic with Immigration Records: 1906 Forward
Sources
- 1850 U.S. Census, Hillsdale County, Michigan, population schedule, Allen, p. 417A (stamped), dwelling 184, family 199, Patrick Savage in the boarding house of Stephen C. Gardner; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Oct 2019); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 351.
- “New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891,” for Patrick Savage, 1849, line 79, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 4 Oct 2019), 084 – 26 Sept 1849-31 Oct 1849 > image 332 of 665; citing NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
- “Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915,” Kerry > Abbeydorney > 1837-1859, 1 March 1859, Savage – Shanahan, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 Oct 2019); National Library of Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; Microfilm Number: Microfilm 04274 / 06.
- “Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915,” for Pat Savage 1825, Kerry > Killury > 1809 – 1836,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 October 2019); citing National Library of Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; Microfilm Number Microfilm 04278 / 04.
- “Immigration Records, National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/overview : accessed 29 September 2023).
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