SHIPS LISTS ONLINE

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)
• Ships Passenger Lists toMassachusetts (ISTG)
• Ships Passenger Lists toMassachusetts
• Search Ships Sailing to New England: Custom Search Engine allows you to search multiple Internet sites for Passenger Lists of ships going to New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island & Vermont)
• Passenger Arrivals in the U.S., 1819-20 [$]
• Atlantic Ports, Gulf Coasts, and Great Lakes Passenger Lists, Roll 1: 1820-1871 Roll 2: 1820-1873 Roll 4: 1820-1870 Roll 5: 1820-1873 Roll 6: 1820-1863 Roll 7: 1820-1835 Roll 8: 1845-1849 [$] [$] 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: Barnstable, Massachusetts (1820-26)

• The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607–1776 [$]

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
• Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild Ships to Massachusetts
• Boston 1821-1850 Passenger and Immigration Lists [$]
• Index to names of Immigrants on Massachusetts ships passenger lists January 1848 - July 1891 (Searchable database at the Massachusetts Archives)
• Ships sailing out of Gloucester Massachusetts and shipwrecked with names of passengers and crew who were lost at sea 1830 to October 1, 1873 (Rootsweb.com)
• Atlantic Ports, Gulf Coasts, and Great Lakes Passenger Lists 1820-1873 includes passengers to Fall River, Massachusetts 1837-1865 [$]
• Boston Massachusetts Passenger Lists, 1884 [$]

2. Search microfilmed ships passenger lists 1820-1891 available at NARA or Family History Centers. Remember there is an 8 1/2 year GAP in the lists but the index is complete

3. Write to the Massachusetts State Archives for full passenger lists in the 8 1/2 year GAP (1874-1882)

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)
• Ships Passenger Lists to Massachusetts (ISTG)
• Boston Passenger Lists, 1891-1943 [$]
• Miscellaneous Atlantic Ports Passenger Lists, 1893-1945 includes passenger lists to Gloucester, Massachusetts & New Bedford, Massachusetts [$]

What's Available at NARA for Ships Passenger Lists to Massachusetts

• Barnstable, Massachusetts, 1820-1826
• Boston, Massachusetts, 1820-1891, 1891-1943
• Dighton, Massachusetts, 1820-1836
• Edgartown, Massachusetts, 1820-1870
• Fall River, Massachusetts, 1837-1865
• Gloucester, Massachusetts, 1820-1870, and 1918-1943
• Hingham, Massachusetts, 1852
• Marblehead, Massachusetts, 1820-1849
• Nantucket, Massachusetts, 1820-1862
• New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1826-1852 and 1902-1954
• Newburyport, Massachusetts, 1821-1839
• Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1821-1844
• Salem, Massachusetts, 1865-1866

Search NARA Microfilm for Ships Passenger Lists to Massachusetts Ports of Arrival 1820-1954