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Notes on Creating a Family History
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Tracking Ancestors Who Came to the United States
| New York was the major port of entry for immigrants from Europe and Castle Garden was New York's primary immigrant landing place from 1855 to 1890, when there was a surge of immigrants from Europe. You can look up those who were processed through this entry place at http://castlegarden.org and search a free online database of New York passenger lists from 1830 through 1913. The Battery Conservancy (http://www.thebattery.org), an organization to restore Manhattan's Battery Park, launched the 10 million-name database. Besides Castle Garden immigrants, it includes passengers who were dropped off at the Battery before Castle Garden opened and 2,000 Ellis Island immigrants who aren't in the database at http://www.ellisisland.org. (Ellis Island opened in 1892.) The free Quick Search lets you look for a first and last name and arrival date range. You can narrow your results by choosing a place of origin, occupation and ship. The searchreturns only exact matches, so you'll need to try spelling variations on your ancestor's name. If you're not sure of the first name, leave that field blank to see everyone with the surname you're looking for. Results show name, occupation, age, sex, arrival and ship's name.
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