US National Archives

If your ancestors – or members of their family – emigrated to the USA in the nineteenth century, you may find that the US National Archives have information about their arrival.

The excellent Access to Archival Databases facility has a vast number of subjects. By no means all of them are directly relevant to genealogical research, but a fair few are. Here are the best examples, but there are others – and it’s worth keeping an eye on the list from time to time to see what else is being added:

• Germans to America Passenger Data File, 1850-1897
• Famine Irish Passenger Record Data File, 1846-1851
• Italians to America Passenger Data File, 1855-1900
• Russians to America Passenger Data File, 1834 – 1897

(NB Poland was divided between the German, Russian and Austrian Empires in the 19th century, so if you have Polish ancestors who emigrated during that time you may well find themin the German or Russian records.)

You can find out more at the US National Archives Access to Archival Databases home page:
http://aad.archives.gov/aad/