1820-1883: All Boston Customs Passenger Lists were destroyed by fire
22 Sept 1820-31 March 1874: Boston State Department Passenger Lists replace some of the lost Custom Passenger Lists.
1 April 1874-31 December 1882: 8 1/2 YEAR GAP No Federal Boston Ships Passenger Lists survive. State Ships Passenger Lists for this GAP period available
How to Find Ancestors on Ships Passenger Lists to Massachusetts from 1630 to 1820
1. Search online ships passenger lists. The best sites for ships passenger lists to Massachusetts before 1820 are:
- Ships Passenger Lists to Massachusetts, The Winthrop Fleet (Olive Tree Genealogy)
- Ships Passenger Lists to Massachusetts
- Port Arrivals and Immigrants to the City of Boston, 1715-1716 and 1762-1769 ($)
- Atlantic Ports, Gulf Coasts, and Great Lakes Passenger Lists 1820-1863
Roll 1: 1820-1871; Roll 2: 1820-1873 ; Roll 3 1846-1871; Roll 4: 1820-1870 Roll 5: 1820-1873 Roll 6: 1820-1863 Roll 7: 1820-1835 Roll 8: 1845-1849 [$] Originally published by the National Archives as Copies of Lists of Passengers Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and Ports on the Great Lakes, 1820-63, this database includes passenger lists from the following ports: Annapolis, Maryland (1849), Dighton Maine 1820-1836, Edgartown Maine 1820-1870, Frenchman’s Bay, Maine 1821-1827; Bangor, Maine (1848); Bath, Maine (1825-67); Belfast, Maine (1820-51), Bridgeton, New Jersey (1825-28); and Cape May, New Jersey (1828), Bridgeport, Connecticut (1870); Fairfield, Connecticut 1820-21, Darien Georgia 1823-1825, Beaufort, North Carolina (1865), Charleston South Carolina 1820-1829
2. Search published records in books
How to Find Ancestors on Ships Passenger Lists to Massachusetts from 1820 to 1891
1. Search online ships passenger lists. The best sites for these early ships passenger lists to Boston are:
- Olive Tree Genealogy Ships to Massachusetts after 1820
- Boston 1821-1850 Passenger and Immigration Lists [$]
- Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore Steamship Arrivals, 1890-1930 ($)
- U.S, Boston Arrivals of Jewish Immigrants from HIAS Records, 1882-1929 ($)
- Index to names of Immigrants on Massachusetts ships passenger lists January 1848 – July 1891 (Searchable database at the Massachusetts Archives)
- Ships sailing out of Gloucester Massachusetts and shipwrecked with names of passengers and crew who were lost at sea 1830 to October 1, 1873
- Boston Massachusetts Passenger Lists, 1884 [$]
- Passenger Arrivals at the Port of Baltimore, 1820-1834 [$]
- Massachusetts, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963 [$]
- Atlantic Ports, Gulf Coasts, and Great Lakes Passenger Lists 1820-1863
Roll 1: 1820-1871; Roll 2: 1820-1873 ; Roll 3 1846-1871; Roll 4: 1820-1870 Roll 5: 1820-1873 Roll 6: 1820-1863 Roll 7: 1820-1835 Roll 8: 1845-1849 [$] Originally published by the National Archives as Copies of Lists of Passengers Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and Ports on the Great Lakes, 1820-63, this database includes passenger lists from the following ports: Annapolis, Maryland (1849), Dighton Maine 1820-1836, Edgartown Maine 1820-1870, Frenchman’s Bay, Maine 1821-1827; Bangor, Maine (1848); Bath, Maine (1825-67); Belfast, Maine (1820-51), Bridgeton, New Jersey (1825-28); and Cape May, New Jersey (1828), Bridgeport, Connecticut (1870); Fairfield, Connecticut 1820-21, Darien Georgia 1823-1825, Beaufort, North Carolina (1865), Charleston South Carolina 1820-1829
How to Find Ancestors on Ships Passenger Lists to Massachusetts from 1891 to 1943
1. Search online ships passenger lists. The best sites for ships passenger lists to Boston are:
- One-Step Search Engines for Boston Passengers 1891-1943 (Steve Morse)
- National Archives of Canada Immigration Records 1925-1935 includes ships to Boston
- Ships Passenger Lists to Massachusetts (Olive Tree Genealogy)
- Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., Book Indexes to Passenger Lists, 1899-1940 ($)
- Massachusetts, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1949-1957 ($)