Sue's Cook Book, Recipe #8, Federal Records, Part 2, Immigration Records... IMMIGRATION RECORDS SHIPS' PASSENGER LISTS Official records of ships' passengers did not start until 1820, so you will not find records in the National Archives for the Colonial Period. Most of the records are from 1820 to 1945. These records include: customs passenger lists, immigration passenger lists, ships' captains lists. Most of them are indexed. In order to use these records, you first have to know the port of entry and the approximate date of arrival. Once you have this information, you may be able to find your ancestor of a ships' passenger list and, thereby, determine his exact date of arrival in the United States. For the colonial period, there are reconstructed lists of passengers available in various places, but not many of these would be found in the National Archives. If you don't know the port of entry and the approximate date of arrival, you may be able to find this information in the Naturalization records, if your ancestor applied for citizenship in the United States. NATURALIZATION RECORDS There are several different types of records: Declarations of Intention, Naturalization Petitions, Naturalization Depositions, Records of Naturalization, and Oaths of Allegiance. Not all of these records are in the National Archives. Many are in the court records of the various states. To make use of these records, you will have to do a little research to see where the records for your particular time and place are held. Between 1777 and 1790, each state handled its own Naturalization laws. In 1790, the United States passed its first Naturalization law. It concerned only white people who could become citizens after two years of residence. In 1798, the time was raised to 14 years, but it was lowered again in 1902 to five years (which is still valid). After 1802, several other requirements were added (such as proof that the person was in the country legally). In 1906, a stricter law was added. An immigrant had to first declare his intention to become a citizen and then, after an interval, he filled out an application. These applications contain a goldmine of genealogical information. The applications were checked by the nearest Federal Court, the applicant was examined before a judge, and then invited to give an Oath of Allegiance. After this, a Certificate of Citizenship was granted. The procedure is similar to this day. After 1930, the records will often include a photograph of the applicant. The National Archives has all of the records after 1906, and some of the records prior to that. A good resource for locating these records is A Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives, published by the National Archives Trust Fund Board. It is available in most libraries that have a genealogy collection or it can be purchased from the National Archives. To order copies of Ships' Passenger Lists or Naturalization Records from the National Archives, you must use special forms. Write first and ask for the appropriate form. ADDRESS General Reference Branch (NNRG) National Archives and Records Administration 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington DC 20408 You can write to this same address to request a free packet of information on the records and forms available from the National Archives. I would recommend that you do this first. Happy Hunting! Sue Roe