• First, find as much information as possible about your ancestor as discussed in Section 2.1 - What You Need to Know to Get Started.

• In this example, the following information was known:
• Full Name              Maria Dorothea Kampe
• Date of Arrival      About 1910
• Port of Arrival        Probably the Port of New York
• Age                         About 25
• Since only the approximate date of arrival is known, the index to the passenger lists must be researched.

• The first step is to look in the catalog to find the microfilm publication number for the index for the desired port of arrival.

NOTE:  If you are researching at the Archives, this catalog will be in a notebook on the reference table at the archives.  If you are researching at the LDS Family History Center, you search either the computer catalog or the catalog on the fiche - See the procedure described in Section 2.0 -The Family History Library of the Church of the Latter Day Saints .
 
 

Catalog Page for the Port of New York

New York, New York Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, NY, June 16, 1897--June 30, 1902. T519. 115 rolls. 16mm. Click here for list of microfilm rolls. Index (Soundex) to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, NY, July 1, 1902--December 31, 1943. T621. 755 rolls. 16mm. Click here for list of microfilm rolls. <------- YOU WOULD CLICK HERE TO GO THE INDEX - T621 Book Indexes to New York Passenger Lists, 1906--1942. T612. 807 rolls. (A complete list of rolls has been added.) These alphabetical indexes to passenger manifests are grouped by shipping line and arranged chronologically by date of arrival in the Port of New York. There is an index for each vessel. Click here for list of microfilm rolls. Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, NY, 1897--1957. T715. 8,892 rolls. (Rolls 6675--8892 are new listings, and a complete list of rolls has been added.) Click here for list of microfilm rolls.   <------- YOU WOULD CLICK HERE TO GO THE PASSENGER LIST - T715 Index (Soundex) to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York, 1944-48. M1417. 94 rolls. 16mm. Click here for list of microfilm rolls.

• Note from the above table that the index for the years 1902 to 1943 uses the Soundex code.  You must next find the Soundex code for your ancestor (See Section 2.4.1 Guide to the Soundex System for guidance).  For this example, the Soundex Code for KAMPE is K510.  (If you were searching in the period from 1897 to 1902, the index is arranged alphabetically.)

• Now, referring back to the NARA catalog web page, click on the link to the index to passenger lists. The link to  microfilm publication - T621 is highlighted in the above table for this example.

• After you link to that web page, search down for the desired soundex code.  For this example, you will see from the following that Soundex code K510 is on roll 342.

 

Excerpt from Catalog Page for microfilm Publication - T621

<snip> 339      K-452 Magdalene--K-456 Johanne 340      K-456 Johannes--K-500 Benno 341      K-500 Benny--K-500 Siegfried 342      K-500 Siegmund--K-520 Abraham W.  <----- Roll 342 contains soundex code K-510 343      K-520 Abrahm--K-520 Simonas 344      K-520 Simone--K-525 Josef 345      K-530 Josip F.--K-532 Oscar V.                 <snip>

• Obtain the microfilm roll and place it in the microfilm reader.  As you search the film, you will note that there is a column of index cards as illustrated below.  Look through these index cards to find your ancestor's name.

NOTE: The information on these index cards have different formats as shown below.  These two formats may be intermixed on the same microfilm.  (In fact, the two index cards below were adjacent to each other on the microfilm.)  There also may be additional information shown on these index cards, but the information that is shown below is generally the minimum that will appear.

Image of Index Cards
From roll 342 of microfilm publication - T621

The first card shows that this passenger was a 9 year old female.  The listing for her in the passenger list would be on line 7 of page 9 of microfilm volume number 5261 (of NARA Record Group 85).

If you go to the catalog for the Index (Soundex) to Passenger lists for ships arriving at the Port of New York - 1902-1947, you will find that Volume number 5261 is NARA  microfilm roll number (or LDS FHC number  1400984 ).  This film includes arrivals on Apr 19, 1914.

The second card does not show the age or sex or the passenger.  It shows that the listing for this passenger can be found on line 5 of page 9 for the ship George Washington arriving on March 21, 1910.

Referring to the catalog for the Index (Soundex) to Passenger lists for ships arriving at the Port of New York - 1902-1947, you will find that the microfilm roll number for March 21, 1910 is NARA roll number (or LDS FHC number  1400118 ) and it relates to volume numbers 3154 to 3156.

NOTE:  Maria Kampe could not be found in this index.  However, she was found as Dora Kampe as shown in the above index card.  (She used her middle name which was not uncommon.)  This emphasizes the importance in knowing as much as possible about the passenger before starting your search.

HINT - You very likely may find more than one index card that could refer to your ancestor.  Make note of the names and related information for all possible candidates to permit you to research these further if required.  Also, you normally can make copies of the selected page of the microfilm for a nominal fee. It is suggested that you copy the index card for each candidate for reference as you proceed with your search.  This may save you the time if you would have to return to make a second search of the index.

• Once you have found your ancestor in the index and know the date of arrival (or the volume of the microfilm), you then return to the catalog to look at the "Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, NY, 1897--1957. T715" to find the roll number of the microfilm that includes that date.  You either look at the paper catalog at the Archives, or again click on the on the link to: National Archives web site for Record Group 85 .   (When you arrive at that page, click on the Passenger and Crew Lists - T715)

• Then,  look for either the Volume number or the Date of Arrival (whichever was on the index card) and note the microfilm roll number.  For this example you will see that either roll 1433 or 1434 contains the passenger lists for March 20, 1910.

NOTES:
• The dates shown on this list are the BEGINNING dates for records on that microfilm.  Roll 1433 may contain records for March 20, 1910 and for March 21, 1910.
• The center column on the above list refers to the volume number
• The next step is to obtain that microfilm roll and place it in the microfilm reader.

• Then search through the microfilm to locate the records relating to the ship (e.g. George Washington).  You may have to search through both rolls 1433 and 1434 to find the ship that arrived on March 21, 1910.  Find the  page of the passenger list (e.g. page 9) as noted on the index card, and then look down to the line on that page (e.g. line 5, which was also shown on the index card) to find the name of the immigrant.

• Click on the image below to view a larger size image of page 9 of the passenger list for the George Washington..

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