Naturalization Records, the often overlooked way to find a Ships Passenger List

We all want to know where our ancestors came from. We want to know when they arrived in North America and when they became citizens. Naturalization and immigration records are the answer.

Sometimes naturalization records for an ancestor are the only way to discover the family origins and that all-important ships passenger list.

Naturalization records can help you find the date of immigration, ship's passenger list, port of arrival, and the place of birth for your ancestor. Some naturalization records include occupations, names and ages of minor children, names and birth dates and places of spouses --- and more!

There is a wealth of genealogical information just waiting for you in your search for an ancestor. 

 NaturalizationRecords.com has links to online Naturalization records - many are projects published on the site and are free to view. Some links lead to various other websites and may be free or pay-to-view, depending on the site.
 

The following examples of various American Naturalization Documents shows you what type of information you might find. You can view these American Naturalization Record Documents on the NaturalizationRecords.com website

* 1795 Petition for Naturalization for Patrick Ryan in Pennsylvania
* 1906 Petition for Naturalization for Christopher Alt in Baltimore Maryland. Gives occupation, date and place of birth, date of immigration, port of departure and port of arrival, names of children plus dates and locations of births
* 1912 Petition for Naturalization for Jacob Imfang of Pittsburg Pennsylvania. Gives occupation, date and place of birth, date of immigration, port of departure and port of arrival, name of spouse, names of children plus dates and locations of births
* 1880 Naturalization Certificate includes name, age, country of origin
* 1891 Naturalization Certificate with name, date, country of origin
* 1922 Naturalization Certificate with name, age, physical description, wife's name, children's names and ages, country of origin
* 1925 Naturalization Certificate with name, age, physical description, wife's name, children's names and ages, current address, country of origin
* 1941 Naturalization Certificate with photo, name, age, physical description, marital status, country of origin, current address
* 1832 Declaration of Intent includes name, birthplace, age, settlement location
* 1846 Declaration of Intent for Daniel Stinger. Provides name of ancestor, current residence, age, country of origin,
* 1895 Declaration of Intent for Thomas Jones. Gives name, age, occupation, place and date of birth, physical description, current residence, name of ship sailed on, date of immigration, port of departure, port of arrival, last residence, marital status,
* 1937 Declaration of Intent for Pinchos aka Phillip Goldstein. Includes ancestor name, residence, occupation, physical description, race, nationality, place of birth, date of birth, name of spouse, place and date of marriage, Date and place of spouse's birth, year and port of immigration of spouse, current residence of spouse, number and names of children, location and dates of birth of children, year of immigration of ancestor, name of ship sailed on, port of departure, port of arrival, previous residence, actual name at immigration, and photograph

Jews from Brazil to New Netherland (New York)

Recife Brazil early map

In 2000, Olive Tree Genealogy was approached by the Jewish Archives in Recife Brazil, asking for help in identifying the 23 Jewish refugees who were on board the ship St. Charles sailing from Recife to New Netherland in 1654. According to the Archives in Recife, the first Jewish Synagogue in America was built in Recife, this is known from archeological excavations.

I have a small connection with the Dutch settlement in Recife Brazil through my 8th great grandmother Maria Post who was born there and baptised on 6 June 1649 in the Dutch church in Recife. See FN 1:

The Archives interest was in the names of the refugees, and what their lives were like in New Netherland. As far as I am aware, there is no passenger list for the St. Charles. Names of the Jewish refugees may be able to be pieced together by using other documents. I managed to find the names of some of the adult passengers from other records -- mainly court documents of the time. The names I found (using primary records only) were: Abram Israel, David Israel, Asser Levy, Moses Ambrosius & Judicq de Mereda

One source I consulted stated that there were 23 Jews "big and little" (meaning adults and children)

On 7 Sept. 1654 Capt. Jacques de la Motthe aka Motte, skipper of the St. Charles, appeared in court with a petition. He requires payment for freight and board 'of the Jews whom he brought here from Cape St. Anthony". de la Motte states that "the Netherlanders who came over with them" are not included in his suit and that they have paid him. Solomon Pietersen "a Jew" appears and says that "900 guilders of the 2500 are paid and that there are 23 souls, big and little [meaning adults and children] who must pay equally" [Source: The Records of New Amsterdam from 1653 to 1674 Anno Domini, edited by Berthold Fernow in 7 volumes. reprint Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc. Baltimore. 1976 Vol. I Minutes of the Court of Burgomasters and Schepens 1653-1655 p 240]

It is not clear if Solomon Pietersen was on board the ship so I have not added his name to the list. There are some published materials on the Jewish refugees who came from Brazil to New Netherland, but I have not attempted to find them. I have found the names of several other Jewish settlers to New Netherland who may have been passengers on St. Charles -- but they may also have arrived before or after the Recife refugees.

From what can be pieced together about them, it seem probable that the twenty-three consisted of six family heads---four men (with their wives) and two other women who in all likelihood were widows, since they were counted separately---and thirteen young people. The heads of the families were Asser Levy, Abraham Israel De Piza (or Dias), David Israel Faro, Mose Lumbosco, and ---the two women---Judith (or Judica) Mercado) (or De Mercado, or de Mereda) and Ricke (or Rachel) Nunes. [Source: The Grandees: America's Sephardic Elite by Stephen Birmingham]

The Jewish Archives representative informed me that they plan on establishing a Jewish Center Study at the old Synagogue, and they will place the information and sources I find for others to use. I do not know if this happened.

Historical Background

On January 26, 1654, approximately 150 Jewish families of Portuguese background fled the city of Recife, in Pernambuco, Brazil. By September a number of these refugees had established the first community of Jews in the future United States.

Known as Sephardim (Jews of Spanish-Portuguese extraction), theirs was a complex saga. After 1497, the kingdom of Portugal outlawed Jewish life, causing many to flee to Holland where a climate of acceptance prevailed. From there, some migrated on to Pernambuco, a colony of the Dutch West India Company in modern day Brazil. Their community flourished there until the Dutch eventually surrendered Pernambuco to the Portuguese and the Sephardim were again forced to flee.

After being driven ashore in Jamaica by Spanish ships, twenty-three members of the community, along with a group of Dutch Calvinists, made their way to New Netherland (New York)—another colony run by the Dutch West India Company. Peter Stuyvesant, Director General of all Dutch possessions in North America, feared the indigent newcomers would burden the colony but when he motioned to eject the Jewish newcomers the Company refused his petition (many of the company's shareholders themselves being Jewish). [Library of Congress. http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan26.html]

Helpful Sources

A book cited by Stokes in his Iconography: Samuel Oppenheim, _The Early History of the Jews in New York, 1654-1664_ (1909) As cited by Russell Shorto in The Island at the Center of the World: Hershkowitz, Leo, "New Amsterdam's Twenty-Three Jews -- Myth or Reality?" In Shalom Goldman, ed., _Hebrew and the Bible in America: The First Two Centuries_; Hanover, N.H.: Brandeis Unirversity Press, 1993. [Howard Swain]

Harry Macy has an interesting article in the latest (vol 15, nos 2-3; Spring/Summer 2004) NYGBS newsletter now titled The New York Researcher. The article is titled: "1654-2004: The 350th Anniversay of New York's First Jewish Settlers" and is on pp 35-37. In a footnote he mentions that Leo Hershkowitz has "compiled a probable list of those coming in 1654 and the next few years." This is in his article, "Original Inventories of Early New York jews (1682-1763)" in American Jewish History vol 90 (2002) pp 246-47, note 7. Mr. Macy''s article lists many other sources of interest to those researching these early Jewish settlers. [Howard Swain]

(Summer 2004) issue of "de Halve Maen", the quarterly publication of The Holland Society of New York. It is Professor Leo Hershkowitz' article, "By chance or by choice: Jews in New Amsterdam 1654", pages 23-30. Herkowitz says that de Peereboom (The Peartree) sailed from Amsterdam to New Amsterdam on 8 July 1654. New Amsterdam is now New York City.

Among those who disembarked were Jacob Barsimon, probably with Asser Levy and Solomon Pieterson. These were the first known Jews to set foot in the Dutch settlement...

"The 23 Jews whose voyage had originated in Brazil arrived shortly after "de Peereboom". On page 29 Herkowitz says, "Though Jews asked for permission to build a synagogue, it was not granted by Stuyvesant, and this issue was never pursued..." [courtesy of Dorothy Koenig]

Visit Ancestry.com's free JEWISH FAMILY HISTORY COLLECTION for access to their Jewish records

FN 1: C.J. Wasch, Doopregister der Hollanders in Brazilie 1633-1654, (1889), Adriaen Crijnen Post, Clara Moockers. Wt Christoffel ---, Andelijina Caron, Dorothea Montanier.

Free Access to Canadian & Immigration Records!

Olive Tree Genealogy received the following announcement: 

While Family Day isn’t celebrated nationally – in fact, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. are the only provinces to officially celebrate the day – Ancestry.ca is using this family-focused holiday to offer free access to all Canadians. 

We hope this will be welcome news to the 93 per said of Canadians who said they were interested in learning more about their family history according to a recent Ancestry survey.

Until February 15, Canadians will have free access to all Canadian records in additional to Global Immigration Records – that’s more than 230 million records.

So while the extra day off will allow for some Canadians to catch up with their present family, this free access on Ancestry.ca also allows all Canadians to connect with family members of the past.

Image is a screenshot from Ancestry.ca

10 Important Characteristics of a Good Genealogist

We all want to be good genealogists, don't we. We want to know that we did our best to find our ancestors and that what we found is accurate. We don't want to spend time searching an individual's ancestors and adding them to our family tree only to find out it was the wrong person!

That means we need to be thorough and methodical and very very cautious about accepting documents and individuals without verifying and double-checking every fact we find. 

I've come up with a list of the 10 most important characteristics that will tell you if you're on the right track to being a good genealogist.

A good genealogist

1. Finds every document possible on an ancestor. He/she does not stop at census and vital registrations but looks beyond to records such as land records, court records, military records, church records, immigration records, education records, newspaper articles, tax and assessment records, etc. Checks for more obscure records such as coffin plates, funeral cards, and other miscellaneous records pertaining to the time and location of his/her search.

2.  Learns what records have survived for the location and time period for each ancestor's life.

3. Copies documents exactly as found, not as he/she thinks it should be. Example: You know your Grandmother's name to be Mary but in one census she is record as Marie. A good genealogist copies her name exactly as found in the original record, not as he/she knows it. A good genealogist notes the discrepancy in names but does not alter what was found in the original document.

4. Cites sources for all facts found.

5. Never relies blindly on family stories or online family trees but searches out a source for each. Verify, verify, verify! Example: If great aunt Harriet told you Great-Grandpa was a trapeze artist who deserted his wife and children, make note of this in your notes with the source and date you were given this information, then hunt for proof of her statement.

6. Makes an accurate copy of all records found. Carefully notes spelling of names while copying and does not make changes. Example: my name (Lorine) is often carelessly copied from my websites, blogs or emai by genealogists who write to me and address me as Lorrine, Lorraine or Lori.This makes me wonder how good a genealogist they are if they are unable to copy a name correctly.

7. Keeps a research log of all sources checked, and notes if the search was successful or not.

8. Analyzes each record and document carefully in order to spot clues that may lead to other areas of research and to accurately understand what the record is  and is not. Example: A woman who asked me for help told me she knew when her grandfather arrived in N. America and had his immigration record. She provided a complete date - day, month and year. But when I looked at the original document it was not an immigration record but rather his naturalization paper.

9. Searches siblings of a challenging ancestor in order to find more documents that may hold clues pertaining to his/her ancestor.

10. Leaves no stone (record) unturned. Extends his/her search to records not found online such as in local courthouses or archives. 

There are more characteristics of a good genealogist and the list could be extended. But these may be the 10 most important and if we make sure we are following these characteristics, we are definitely on the way to being a good genealogist.

What would you add to the list? 

Free Access Immigration Records April 16-20

That's right. Ancestry.com is offering Free access to immigration records for the next 4 days!

Don't miss this great opportunity to search for your ancestors' arrival in N. America

Certificate Frederick Swindells, a Power Loom Overlooker Found

 This lovely print was discovered in a local antique shop yesterday and I wanted to share it in case a descendant wishes to purchase it.

The handwritten label, signed by 3 men, reads:

This is to certify that Fred W. Swindells was admitted a member of the above General Union in the Leigh District on the 5th of July 1907

The bottom of the certificate reads  

"Campbell & Tudhope  Chromo Lith  Glasgow"

The Union is the General Union Associations of Power Loom Overlookers. The seller is asking $250.00 and the Antique Store is the Barrie Antiques Centre in Barrie Ontario Canada.

Being the curious sort I couldn't resist looking for Fred W Swindell on Ancestry.com. To my delight I found him in the 1911 census with his wife Emily.

He is listed as a Silk & Cotton Weaving Overlooker, age 25 and born Macclesfield, Cheshire, England but living in the Leigh District of Lancashire England.  His full name is recorded as Frederick William Swindell.

Wondering how his certificate ended up in Ontario Canada I checked immigration records on Ancestry.com and found him visiting England in various years - and listed as a citizen of Canada. So it appears he settled in Canada at some point in time.

Update: I just found Emily Swindells arriving in Canada in 1921, heading to join her husband in Guelph Ontario. That is where both my parents were born and my roots there go back to the 1840s.

Family Search Update of Records from Austria, Brazil, Italy, South Africa & USA

FamilySearch Adds More Than 3.2 Million Indexed Records and Images to Collections from Austria, Brazil, Italy, South Africa, and the United States

FamilySearch has added more than 3.2 million indexed records and images from Austria, BillionGraves, Brazil, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and the United States.

Notable collection updates include the 1,157,399 images from the Brazil, São Paulo, Immigration Cards, 1902–1980, collection, the 324,226 images from the newSouth Africa, Eastern Cape, Estate Files, 1962–2004 and South Africa, Western Cape, Estate Files, 1966–2004, collections, and the 71,367 indexed records from the U.S., Minnesota, Naturalization Card Index, 1930–1988, collection 

Search these diverse collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org.

Hunting for an Elusive Passenger List and Naturalization Record

Bob asked a very interesting question which I believe this may be useful to other genealogy researchers.  Here is my edited version of Bob's email:

My 2nd great grandfather was Michael McGinnis.  He is said to have been born 1805-1807 in Dublin, Ireland. He was m. to Catherine McGuire in Ireland. Children born in Ireland were: Patrick- abt.1826, Edward-abt. 1829, and two daughters- abt.1831 &1834.  A daughter, Ellen was born in New York, Dec. 27, 1836. The family inferentially dates his immigration to America between Jan.1835-Dec. 1836, possibly on the Barque Tweed (although no other family members are shown).  
 

He lived in Johnson Co., Iowa from 1841 until his death Jan. 11, 1870. I recently found his date of naturalization, July 22, 1844, in Dist. Court, of Keokuk Co., Sigournery, IA. The card only shows his name and country of birth as Ireland. No other information.  Do you think there would be a Declaration of Intent record somewhere?  I've checked Keokuk Co. clerk and recorder, public library, historical society, and genealogical society, without success.

Bob - For naturalization records you may want to visit the USA section of NaturalizationRecords.com  Since your ancestor naturalized in 1844, you will want to look at "Naturalization Records Before 1906". There should be a Declaration of Intent for your ancestor and it will almost certainly have more details such as exact date of arrival, but may not have an exact location of birth.

Be sure to use the interactive map on this page to check for naturalization records specific to Iowa - both online and offline. 

If your ancestor arrived via New York, be aware that many of the 1830 arrivals are missing. So finding him or his family may not be possible. Also, they may have sailed into a Canadian port as that would have been much cheaper. Unfortunately Ships Passenger Lists arriving in Canada before 1865 are difficult to find (if they exist at all) as there was no requirement that they be kept.

However there are alternate lists for Canadian arrivals and some passenger lists, which can be found at Filling in the Gaps

If your ancestor did arrive alone on the Tweed (and you haven't told me what your source is for this conclusion), be aware that men often sailed ahead of their family in order to establish a new place of residence. But I had a quick look at some online Passenger Lists and I noted that there were several men named Michael McGinnis (with variant spellings) arriving in the right timeframe to be your ancestor. So I wouldn't be too quick to jump to the conclusion that the Michael McGinnis sailing on the Tweed is yours without some concrete proof.

Filling in the Gaps - Finding an Ancestor Arriving Canada Before 1865

Cindy asked Olive Tree Genealogy a question about her Irish ancestors' immigration to Canada.

thank you in advance for your time,  I am trying to find my husbands family.

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/25599501/person/1678863353 Robert Moynan born 1821 in Ireland and his wife also from Ireland lived in Farnham and is buried there along with his wife. I am looking for records of emmigration but find nothing.  I do know that some records from Ireland are missing and I don't know if they came as "Poor" any ideas?

 Hi Cindy - I see from your online tree that the family were in Quebec before 1851 when their daughter was born. That's a challenge because prior to 1865 ships passenger lists for Canada did not have to be kept. So finding one is tricky. Some have survived but most have not.

Don't despair though as there are substitutes to finding an actual passenger list, such as shipping company records, Emigration Agent records, Steamship records from ships taking immigrants up the St. Lawrence River, etc.

But first you might want to try to narrow your timeline for their immigration. Have you checked the online Lower Canada Land Petitions to see if Robert petitioned for land?

When you are ready to begin your immigration search, Filling in the Gaps has a comprehensive list of all passenger lists and substitutes for ships passenger lists to Canada before 1865. Each one is linked to an online database. The one exception is the 1831-1865 records from the Hawke papers which are not online but can be consulted at the Ontario Archives. Hawke was an emigration agent who kept records of arriving passengers. However the James Allison papers (another emigration agent) are available online or as a lookup from 1823 to 1845. 

Hamburg, Germany Emigration Museum Historian to Speak in Twin Cities Area

Hamburg, Germany Emigration Museum Historian to Speak in Twin Cities Area (New Ulm, St. Paul, Minneapolis), and then St. Louis, Mo. Rebekka Geitner a historian at the Ballinstadt Emigration Museum in Hamburg, Germany will be in the Twin Cities area giving three presentations at three locations during the period of 22, 23, 24 October 2011. She will then travel to St. Louis, Missouri to be a presenter at the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International's - Genealogical / Cultural Conference to be held from 26-29 October 2011. This is an outstanding opportunity to meet and learn from this International Historian. Plan now to attend any or all of these important events. Date / Time: Saturday, 22 October 2011 5:00 pm - Social Hour, 6:00 pm - Dinner, 7:00 pm - Presentation Presentation Title: Via Hamburg to the world: Emigration from the Bohemian Forest to the USA Location: Turner Hall, 102 S. State Street, New Ulm, MN. Host: German-Bohemian Heritage Society More Information: please contact Jenny Eckstein jieckstein@comcast.net Other event dates to follow

Find Ancestors in FREE Immigration & Naturalization Records on Ancestry Aug 29-Sept 5

Ancestry.com OFFERS FREE ACCESS TO IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION RECORDS

Week of Free Access Enables Families to Discover Stories of Ancestors’ International Travels and Passage

PRESS RELEASE PROVO, UTAH – (August 29, 2011) – Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource, today announced an entire week of free access to its popular U.S. and International Immigration and Naturalization records. The free access week begins August 29^th and runs through the Labor Day holiday ending September 5^th. During this time, all visitors to Ancestry.com will be able to search for free the indices and images of new and updated U.S. immigration records as well as selected international immigration records from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden and Mexico. Millions of Americans can trace their family history to other countries, and these collections provide valuable information about the travels and journeys that brought them to America or other countries around the world.

Ancestry.com’s extensive collection of immigration, naturalization and travel records offer an important resource for discovering and celebrating family history. As part of this promotion, the company is adding to its collection of U.S. and international records for tracing relatives from their homeland to other countries around the world. These records include ships passenger and crew lists, declarations of intent, petitions for naturalization, witness affidavits, border crossings, certificates and other records generated by the naturalization process, which is the act and procedure of becoming a new citizen of a country. Because the process has changed significantly over time and varies from country to country, different records are available from a wide variety of state, federal and international sources.

Newly added U.S. collections include Florida Petitions for Naturalization, 1913-1991; Delaware Naturalization Records, 1796-1959 and Utah Naturalization and Citizenship Records, 1850-1960. Noteworthy updated U.S. and international collections include U.S. Naturalization and Passport applications, 1795-1972; UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960; Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956; New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922; Border Crossings: From Mexico to U.S., 1895-1957; New York State, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1917-1973; Atlantic Ports Passenger Lists, 1820-1873 and 1893-1959.

“One of the most common elements of the American experience is our respect and interest in our native heritage.  Almost all Americans have international roots, and many take great pride and even feel patriotic toward the countries from which their ancestors originated,” said Josh Hanna, Ancestry.com Executive Vice President. “That’s why we continue to build and enrich our collection of immigration and naturalization records and why we are providing free access to anyone who wants to search these records to discover their family’s international history.”

Many families have already made important discoveries in Ancestry.com’s immigration and naturalization collection. Each of the following stories offers an example of the exciting and often emotional discoveries made by some Ancestry.com users.

 

New Immigration records on Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com has added new immigration records. They include the following for Hawaii and Miami

Honolulu, Hawaii, Passenger Lists, 1900-1953

This index of passenger arrivals in Honolulu contains passenger's name, citizenship, age, and gender; date and ship of arrival at Honolulu; and the related "book" (volume), "list" (page), and line upon which the passenger's arrival is recorded.
 
Index to Alien Arrivals by Airplane at Miami, Florida, 1930-1942

The manifests in this collection record details on aliens who arrived as air passengers in Miami Florida.

New Tools for Immigration Records from Library & Archives Canada

The following press release looks quite interesting. The column headings are often missing or difficult to read.

Ottawa, November 18, 2010
Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce the launch of new tools to facilitate the consultation and use of its immigration records, one of the largest and most consulted by genealogists.

Transcriptions of headings of different forms used to record the names of immigrants arriving in Canada between 1865 and 1935 are now accessible on the Library and Archives Canada website. Links to different databases and websites offering nominal indexes or digitized images of immigration records have been regrouped on a single web page.

These pages can be accessed at the following addresses:

Immigration Records Headings

Immigration Records Indexes

USA Immigration Records FREE for Labor Day Weekend!

Terrific News! This Labor Day Weekend, Ancestry.com's entire USA Immigration Collection is free. That's all their Ships Passenger Lists. You can access the collection by clicking on the START NOW button on the image on the left of this blog post.



PRESS RELEASE from  PROVO, Utah, September 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ .— Ancestry.com announced today it has launched a collection of more than 1,700 recorded oral histories from immigrants who arrived in the United States through Ellis Island. This is the first time this collection of poignant recordings has been available online. To celebrate the new addition, Ancestry.com is making its entire U.S. Immigration Collection free through Labor Day.

“As immigrants created new lives in the U.S., the stories of their homelands and their remarkable journeys to America were often lost,” said Christopher Tracy, senior vice president of global content for Ancestry.com. “We are thrilled to offer people the opportunity to hear the voices of their ancestors sharing stories of their lives.”

Ellis Island was the gateway for millions of immigrants between 1892 and 1954. The oral histories were captured by the National Park Service starting in the 1970s, and contain uniquely inspiring first-hand accounts recalling the lives these immigrants left behind, their reasons for leaving and their incredible and often-trying journeys to America. These recordings are housed at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum and until now could be heard only by visitors to the Island itself. In addition to oral histories from immigrants, the collection also includes recordings from military personnel who were stationed on Ellis Island and former Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty workers.

 “To our family it is important that we in the U.S. know the origin of the people who came to this country, settled here and made it what it is today. It makes us very proud to know that our mother was part of this,” said Yvonne Rumac, daughter of oral history participant Estelle Belford, who immigrated to the United States from Romania via Ellis Island in 1905.

Other Records Added to the Ancestry.com U.S. Immigration Collection: The Ellis Island Oral Histories are the latest addition to Ancestry.com, which boasts the world’s largest online collection of U.S. immigration records. Comprised of more than 170 million records, the Ancestry.com U.S. Immigration Collection includes lists of passengers who immigrated by ship to America between 1820 and 1960, including those who came through Ellis Island; more than 7 million citizenship and naturalization records; border crossings, passport applications and more to help reconstruct our ancestors’ journeys and early lives in America.

Ancestry.com has also added nearly 2 million new U.S. naturalization record indexes, thanks to the many individuals who are part of the Ancestry.com World Archives Project –a community effort aimed at transcribing historical records. The indexes span 11 states (AK, CA, CT, HI, LA, ME, MT, NY, PA, TN, WA) and will provide Americans greater opportunity to learn more about their ancestors’ citizenship experience.

In addition, Ancestry.com has added nearly 2 million records documenting crew members on ships who arrived in the port of Boston. The records were added to an existing collection of over 3.8 million records from Boston Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1943.

To honor our nation’s immigrant heritage, Ancestry.com has opened up its entire U.S. Immigration Collection so that it can be searched free through Labor Day. The Ellis Island Oral History Collection will remain permanently free on Ancestry.com.