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(This page's most recent update is November 2025)
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When I first started my ancestor research, after I had gotten over the initial excitement of reviewing census records and interviewing my living relatives, I almost immediately began trying to find my immigrant ancestors and how they got to America. Through free repositories such as Ellis Island and Castle Garden and other sites, as well as records available via subscription sites I plugged away.
After collecting a few records, I began to analyze the contents of those records. There is a ton of information included in them, and thorough analysis can lead you to discover familial relationships that are much beyond what ship they arrived in and on what date they immigrated.
Download the Quicksheet PDF
To obtain the two-page Quicksheet pdf for easy reference of what information to look for, you can download it by clicking on the Download button below:
For all the previously published Quick Reference Guides, click on QuickSheets.
Genealogy QuickSheets – Frequently Asked Questions
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5 replies on “45 Reasons to Research Immigration Records”
Kenneth,
Immigration records really are amazing!
I want you to know that your blog post is listed in today Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2014/04/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-april-25.html
Have a fantastic weekend!
I didn’t know (or forgot) about the second page of immigration records. Thanks for the information-rich list.
All that, and if the manifest was marked up later when the immigrant went through the naturalization process, you can even find exact dates and document numbers for records created decades after the immigrant arrived!
Kenneth, will be posting a brief – very brief – review of this article and a link to it in the June issue of Root Cellar’s “Preserves” our 3 times/hr emagazine. FYI – I frequently post links, and make recommendations, to your website. You do a Super Job!!!
Thank you, Linda
Thank you Linda for the very kind comments and recognition!