I am just a little bit excited! Have you checked out the new Ancestry.com Immigration Collection? Well, technically, it was an update, but boy, what an update! Look under the image in this posting to see specifics of the 66 million records that have been added.
Selfishly, though, I'm just thrilled! It's no surprise that I couldn't resist taking this for a spin -- and what do we all do in those situations? We go poking into our own roots, of course! So I thought I'd try an Irish immigrant great-grandfather of mine who's always been a challenge. There are family stories that he continued to return to Ireland on a frequent basis, but I had never been able to find any proof. So I searched on his name -- David Shields -- and limited it to fellows with this name who were born within 2 years of 1857. Ta-da! There he was in 1929 as a 70 year old returning from a trip to Ireland! I'm sure it's him because the street address given is correct. And look! There's passport info -- another clue to pursue!
The only bad news? It's inevitable that I will now spend hours playing with this new -- well, much improved -- toy! Here's hoping you find some long hidden ancestors as well!
Updating San Francisco Passenger Lists:
Adding NARA rolls -
M1494: Passengers of Vessels arriving at S.F. from Honolulu, 1902-1907
M1416: Crew of Vessels arriving at S.F. 1905-1954
M1438: Passengers of Vessels arriving at S.F. from Insular Possessions, 1907-1911
A3361: Register of citizen arrivals (1943-1947) and alien arrivals (1936-1949) by aircraft at S.F.
M1411: Passenger and crew of Vessels arriving at S.F., 1954-1957
M1412: Customs Passengers of vessels arriving at S.F., 1903-1918
M1388: Registers of persons held for boards of special inquiry at S.F. immigration office, 1910-1941
A3408: Registers of Japanese, Filipinos, and Hawaiians held for boards of special inquiry at S.F., 1928-1942
M1439: Lists of U.S. citizens arriving at S.F., 1930-1949
Adds 1,002,652 records
Adding Detroit Border Crossings and Passenger and Crew Lists, 1906-1957
Includes NARA rolls –
M1478: Card Manifests of individuals entering through the port of Detroit, 1906-1954
M1479: Passenger and crew of vessels arriving at Detroit, 1946-1957
Contains 1,045,150 records
Adding Massachusetts Crew Lists, 1917-1943
Includes NARA rolls –
T941: Crew lists of vessels arriving at Gloucester, MA 1918-1943
T942: Crew lists of vessels arriving at New Bedford, MA 1917-1943
Contains 36,010 records
Adding California Passenger and Crew Lists, 1907-1956
Includes NARA rolls –
M1764: Passengers of vessels arriving at San Pedro/Wilmington/Los Angeles, CA 1907-1948
A3363: Passenger and crew lists of vessels arriving at Ventura, CA 1929-1956
A3385: Passengers arrived at San Pedro/Los Angeles, CA 1920-1949, in transit to final destinations
Contains 537,459 records
Adding Seattle Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957
Includes NARA rolls –
M1398: Passengers of vessels arriving at Seattle, 1949-1954
M1383: Passenger and crew lists of vessels arriving at Seattle, 1890-1957
M1485: Passenger lists of vessels arriving at Seattle from Insular Possessions, 1908-1917
M1484: Customs passenger lists of vessels arriving at Port Townsend and Tacoma, 1894-1909
M1364: Lists of Chinese passengers arriving at Seattle (Port Townsend), 1882-1916
M1386: Passenger and crew lists of airplanes arriving at Seattle, 1947-1954
M1399: Crew of vessels arriving at Seattle, 1903-1917
M1365: Certificates of Head tax paid by aliens arriving at Seattle from Foreign Contiguous Territory, 1917-1924
Updating New York Passenger Lists
Adding NARA rolls –
M237, rolls 1-94, 581-675 (95-580 are already online): Passengers of vessels arriving at NY, 1820-1897
T715, rolls 1-5591, 6268-8892 (5592-6267 are already online): Passenger and crew of vessels arriving at NY, 1897-1957
NYPL 1820-1850 (4,148,545 records)
Ellis Island 1892-1910 (14,705,518 records)
Ellis Island 1911-1924 (13,907,625 records)
NYPL 1925-1934 (13,379,936 records)
NYPL 1943-1949 (7,190,180 records)
NYPL 1950-1957 (13,058,232 records)
This is a total of 66,390,036 new records.