Passenger Records
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 – 3:00 amMany families came to the United States before Ellis Island began operation on January 1, 1892. Instead of one single port of entry prior to 1892, there were many, run by the states themselves, and most did not document well the incoming passengers. To complicate things further, in order to avoid more rigorous entry requirements, people would disembark in Canada and then cross into America. For those who did come through New York, the debarking point was Castle Garden. Originally known as Fort Clinton in the West Battery, it reopened as Castle Garden in 1824 and served as a an entertainment venue. In 1855 it became the Emigrant Landing Depot run by the State of New York. Although some records were damaged in a fire, many are available online for searching. The Castle Garden site allows you to search by passenger name, ship name, occupation, port of departure, country of last residence, and by date-1820-1913. Sometimes the best way to search is with the least amount of information. To perform a wildcard search use the first three letters in the name followed by an asterisk (*). This is especially useful if you aren’t sure how the name was spelled-ie. Gustav instead of Gustaf. You might be surprised to find that you have been spelling it wrong the whole time!
