Immigrant Ships
Transcribers Guild

Search Tips

1.  Our FreeFind search engine is now available.
2.  Please try our alphabetical surname lists for a more current list 
    of passenger surnames.  Our own surnames can be accessed by
    clicking on the appropriate beginning letters of the surname and it
    located in each volume.
3.  Be sure to check for every possible spelling.  When transcribing 
    we are possibly dealing with bad microfilm, a list taker that spells 
    phonetically or just poorly, and then our own imperfections in trying 
    to decipher what has been written.
4.  Many lists have given names that were abbreviated.  Please search for 
    surname first and then every possible abbreviation of given name.  
    Example Eliz'h could be Elizabeth.  Or Rich^d could be Richard.  Or 
    Chas could be Charles.
5.  Recently we found one list with a surname abbreviated as Hen^y.  We 
    cannot know how many letters are missing so the possibilities here are 
    many.
6.  The search engine does not recognize umlauts.  Surnames containing 
    umlauts have been written on our lists without them, often the name 
    containing the umlaut is written in transcriber's notes, or a description 
    of how the name was written on the original list is given, including 
    an alternative spelling.
7.  The FreeFind search engine, can be searched by surname,
    first name or any other combination of places, occupations etc.
8.  Other diacritical marks in surnames may also be ignored by the search 
    engine.  Searching by all possible spellings, leaving out diacritical 
    markings may provide better search results.  The engine does recognize 
    the apostrophe in many Irish names.
9.  As we begin to transcribe more ships arriving in the 1900's many other 
    names are referenced on these lists.  For example, the name and address 
    of the nearest relative in the old country is often given and also the 
    name and address of the non-immigrant person the immigrant is joining 
    in the US.  While these persons were not passengers, we are including 
    all names, including crew members in our surname database. It may be 
    the only reference to an ancestor someone is able to find. 


Searching for ships departures

As transcribers, we have noticed that several ships from Canada, the 
West Indies, or other Islands have immigrants stating that they are 
citizens of a country other than the one the ship is departing.  Some 
are citizens of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Portugal.  Please do 
not ignore these ports in your research as possible stopovers for these 
immigrants.

We regret we are unable to do research for you.  We do not have the time
nor the resources to do so.  We do not have access to additional information.
Please visit the COMPASS and you may find the information you are looking for.



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