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Early settlers of Massachusetts generally came from England and Scotland and the other New England states. Plymouth Colony was first settled in 1620. From 1630 to 1642, fifteen to twenty thousand people settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
The following sources for immigrants to Massachusetts will be helpful:
Filby, P. William. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index. 11 vols. Detroit: Gale Research, 1981-. (FHL book Ref 973 W32p; some volumes are on microfilm; computer number 75625.) Indexes over 500,000 passengers to America from 1650 to mid-1980 in published passenger lists. Includes the immigrant's name, age, and year of arrival. Provides source list for all indexed passengers.You can buy the CD
Ships Passenger Lists Index, 1500s-1900s Indexed CD with names of approximately 3,530,000 individuals who arrived in United States and Canadian ports. Or search online Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s [$]
Coldham, Peter Wilson.
The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1776, and Emigrants in Bondage, 1614–1775. [Novato, Calif.]: Broderbund Software, 1996. (FHL compact disc no. 9 pt. 350 [does not circulate to Family History Centers]; computer number 784052.) A comprehensive list of about 140,000 immigrants to America from Britain. Includes Massachusetts immigrants. You can buy the CD
Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1776
Coldham, Peter Wilson. The Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage, 1614–1775. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1988. (FHL book 973 W2c 1988; computer number 490705.) An alphabetical list of English convicts transported to colonial America.
Coldham, Peter Wilson. The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1661–1669. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1990. (FHL book 973 W2col 1661–1699; computer number 614339.) A list of those who emigrated from England to America, including those who were deported and those sold into labor.
Coldham, Peter Wilson. The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1700–1750. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992. (FHL book 973 W2col 1700–1750; computer number 649138.) A list of those who emigrated from England to America.
Bolton, Ethel Stanwood. Immigrants to New England, 1700–1775. Salem, Mass.: Essex Institute, 1931. (FHL 974 W2b; film 874195 item 3; computer number 87360.)
Looking for a Passenger List between 1874 and 1882?
Federal Passenger Lists between 1 April 1874 and 31 December 1882 have not survived. If you found your ancestor on a card index between those dates, you will not find the passenger list on film. However, Massachusetts recorded the names of immigrants arriving in the Port of Boston between 1848 and 1891. The Massachusetts State Archives holds those lists. Records are available as a name index. Information includes name, age, sex, country of birth, last residence, and occupation of the immigrant. The name of the ship and the date of arrival are also listed. Children may be listed separately or with other family members. Search Index to names of Immigrants on ships passenger lists January 1848 - July 1891
Brig Catherine Mary Bermuda to Boston, Massachusetts 22 February 1847
Anglo American A.H. Brown, Captain - partial list for passengers from Liverpool to Boston,Massachusetts arriving 3 April, 1848.
Libra8 May 1848 Rotterdam to Boston Massachusetts
Libra8 May 1848 Rotterdam to Boston Massachusetts
Ships Passenger Lists to Massachussets 1849
John Bell departed New Ross on 31st. March and arrived Boston Massachusetts14th. May 1849.
Tarifa Glasgow to Boston Massachusetts 1869 (606 names!)
Ships Passenger Lists to Massachussets 1906
SS Devonian 1906 Souvenir Passsenger List (Liverpool to
Boston) - Saloon Passenger List, Leyland Line S. S.
"Devonian," Sailing from Liverpool to Boston, Saturday, 1st
September, 1906. [This booklet was distributed to cabin
passengers. It may not be as accurate as the passenger
manifest][$]
Ships Passenger Lists to Massachussets 1909
RMS Republic foundered at sea January 24, 1909, 50 miles south of
Nantucket Island
Ships Passenger Lists to Massachussets 1913
SS Evelyn
Cape Verde Islands, Portugal to New Bedford, Massachusetts April 1, 1913
(graphics, slow to load)
SS
Winifredian 1913 Souvenir Passsenger List (Liverpool to
Boston) - Saloon Passenger List, Leyland Line S. S.
"Winifredian," Sailing from Liverpool to Boston, Thursday,
7th August, 1913. [This booklet was distributed to cabin
passengers. It may not be as accurate as the passenger
manifest][$]
SS Canopic Naples Italy to Boston Massachusetts Dec.17, 1917
RMS Scythia 1929 Souvenir Passenger List (Liverpool to
NY) - List of Tourist Third Cabin Passengers, Cunard
Line, R. M. S. "Scythia" (Twin Screw - Gross Tonnage,
19,730) Sailing From Liverpool to Boston and New York (via
Queenstown and Galway), Saturday, 19th October, 1929. [This
booklet was distributed to cabin passengers. It may not be
as accurate as the passenger manifest][$]
If you don't find your ancestor on my ships' pages, try genealogy records on Ancestry.com. You can view them with a trial period free access. OliveTreeGenealogy.com free immigration databases are listed after the fee based databases below
New England Irish Pioneers
New England Founders
Genealogical Dictionary of New England Settlers
New England Immigrants, 1700-75
Boston Port Arrivals and Immigrants, 1715-16,62-69
Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore Steamship Arrivals, 1890-1930
New England Captives' Stories
To help you find your immigrant ancestor, I created search engines to search for passengers on ships to Massachusetts. These search dozens of Internet sites with FREE passenger lists, including ISTG (Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild). Search FREE WEBSITES or browse Olive Tree Genealogy ships and links to ships below
Search FREE Ships Passenger Lists to New England
This Search Engine will search FREE off-site Internet pages and Olive Tree Genealogy pages for ships passenger lists to New England.
[585 ships]
National Archives of Canada Immigration Records 1925-1935
Search for passengers on ships to Boston Massachusetts [330 names] & Providence, Rhode Island [42 names]
The National Archives of Canada holds immigration records from 1865 to 1935. The names of immigrants arriving from overseas are recorded in passenger lists. Those arriving from or via the United States are recorded in border entry lists. A series of old nominal indexes exist for the 1925 to 1935 records. In cooperation with the National Archives of Canada, the Pier 21 Society in Halifax, Nova Scotia, has input the information from the passenger list indexes into this database. Use the Search Box below to search the NAC database of immigration records. It is not necessary to fill in all the fields. Results of your search will show in a separate browser window, and clicking on any 'hit' will take you directly to the NAC site for more details.
Wildcard characters:
$ (eg. colon$ for colonie, colony, etc.) ? (eg. Sm?th for Smith, Smyth, etc.)
Surname:
Given Name:
Year of Arrival:
Port of arrival:
Ship:
Number of references per page:
Search Passenger Lists on Rootsweb.com! [333 records for ports in New England]
Naturalization Records are a great way to find an ancestor's arrival year and ship name!
Step 2:
If you don't find your immigrant ancestor in a large port city, try smaller
ports of arrival - Virginia, Connecticut,
Delaware,
Texas, Georgia,
South
Carolina,
North Carolina, Maine, Rhode
Island,
Florida, New Jersey, New Hampshire,
Michigan, Alaska, California, Hawaii and Washington
Step 4:
If you still can't find your ancestor in free ships passenger lists, try ships
passenger lists and naturalization records on a pay site. See the Immigration Comparison Chart to help you decide which of the fee-based sites has the passenger lists you need to find your immigrant ancestor
** Canadian Passenger Lists 1865-1935 are now online! Take a Free Trial to search for ancestors **
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Did you know that Immigration means To enter and settle in a country or region to which one is not native and that Emigration means To leave one country or region to settle in another
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