Immigration Research Time Periods

Since the early 1600s, upwards of 60 million people have arrived at the shores of North America. Some have moved on to other countries, or returned home, but more than 50 million stayed, and most of those who stayed left many descendants, including (perhaps) you!

Group One: 1890 to Present

This is the largest group and represents those arriving at Ellis Island in New York, as well as those arriving in Angel Island in San Francisco, and all the other ports around the U.S. This time period has the most records for providing information, but sometimes it can be the hardest time if the ancestor arrived during the years of privacy. Plus the surname spellings are often changed, and the wide range of countries from which the ancestors may have emigrated from can be a challenge.

Group Two: 1860s to 1890s

More than 10 million people came during this time period being driven by problems in their home countries, better transportation, and the attraction of land and opportunities in America.

Group Three: 1820s to 1860s

Canada and New England was the recipient of great populations of people in this era. Passenger lists started to be kept during this time, and in the past few years they have been indexed and many posted online at paid genealogy sites. Around 5 or 6 million people came to North America and many crossed the border from Canada without need of a passport.

Group Four: Prior to 1820

About 1 million immigrants arrived in North America prior to 1820 including thousands of slaves who are difficult to document. This group has the largest possibility of someone already writing about them, or having been researched and found in a database, because they have left the most descendants in North America. But this is also a difficult time to find records because:

• No passenger lists were systematically maintained.
• British citizens did not need naturalization prior to the Revolutionary War.
• Vital Records were no kept.
• Records have been destroyed or lost.

WARNING: Do not just skip ahead to the time period of your ancestor’s arrival in upcoming lessons. Do not ignore research tips on an ethnic group that is not your own. The methodology will weave in and out of each group that we introduce. You might just miss the method most needed to solve your own research problem.