Immigrant Passengers First View of the Statue of Liberty
Immigrants to America
Nearly fifty million people have come to
America. Within three Significant periods:
1. Pre-1820.
• An estimated 650,000 individuals arrived in America
with only a small number of persons of Slavic Decent.
The majority (60 percent) were English and Welsh.
II. 1820-1880.
•
Over ten million immigrants came from northern
Europe.
•
this included a significant number from Austria and
Hungarian Lands.
•
While some of the new arrivals settled in large
eastern and mid-western cities, most migrated to the
Midwest and West.
III. 1880-1920.
•
More than twenty-five million immigrants, primarily
from southern and eastern Europe arrived.
•
The largest numbers (in order) came from Germany,
Italy, Ireland, and Austria-Hungary.
•
Many of these immigrants settled in the larger cities,
including New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
Why did they Leave?
• Economic Hardships
i.
ii.
Land availability – Farms split into smaller parcels
Living and Working for large estates – provided inadequate compensations
to live in comfort.
• Religious Freedom
i.
ii.
Catholic Faith was predominate religion
Protestants still had to submit Births, Marriages and Deaths or other
important Life events to the Catholic Church to be recognized as an
official and recognized recording of the event.
• Wars and Mandatory Military Conscription
i.
ii.
Demands of Government changed over time.
7 years active duty and up to 10 years of Reserve status before marriage.
• Recurring Epidemics
i.
ii.
iii.
Small Pox
Cholera
Tuberculosis
Czech / Slovak Settlements in Wisconsin
• According to the 1860 US Census, Wisconsin had 7,060 Czech Settlers.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
Czechs who moved to Wisconsin had primarily an agricultural background.
The climate, though severe with long winters, was similar to home.
The soil was adaptable to the raising crops with which they were familiar.
The Czech Wisconsin weekly “Slavie” promoted the virtues of Wisconsin.
• Wisconsin Czech Destination Points:
i.
Milwaukee, Racine, Caledonia, Manitowoc and Kewaunee along the lake.
•
•
•
ii.
iii.
First Czech Language Newspapers in the U.S. were published in Milwaukee & Racine.
First Czech Language Schools came into existence.
Oldest Czech organizations of “Slovanska and TJ Sokol existed here.
La Crosse and Prairie du Chien along the Mississippi River.
Watertown – attracted German Catholic emigres from the Lanskron /
Lanskroun Region
•
Google Search: Ed Langer – Czechs in Watertown, Wi for detailed information on this
group.
Primary Ports of Embarkation to America
• Hamburg Germany
i. Used by 90% of emigrants from Eastern Europe.
ii. Passenger Records in Hamburg:
•
•
•
•
Direct Passage lists – Hamburg to American Ports
Indirect Passage lists – Hamburg to England or Other
Destinations
Hamburg Police Registers of city residents
Passports Issued
• Bremen Germany
i.
Primarily used by Czechs from Western Bohemia
•
ii.
Easier to reach by train than Hamburg
Passenger Records from Bremen:
•
•
•
•
All lists from 1875 to 1908 were destroyed due to
lack of space in their archives.
All other lists with the exception of 3017 passenger
lists created between 1920 – 1939 were lost in World
War II.
Transferred to Moscow at end of WWII, returned to
Bremen Chamber of Commerce between 1987-1990
E-mail Inquiries can be made to: [email protected]
• Other Ports:
I.
I.
I.
I.
Le Havre, France
Only Ships crew lists known to exist
Antwerp, Belgium
Indexes Exist beginning 1840 ( FamilySearch.org )
Stettin, Germany
Some passenger lists available under record group
Pommersches Polizeiprasidium
(Pommern Police Headquarters) covering years
1869-1892. (FamilySearch.org )
Rotterdam, Holland
Passenger Lists from 1900-1940 on microfilm.
Hamburg List – July 7, 1876
Steamship Uranus departing for Hull England
New York Passenger List – July 17, 1876
Steamship Bothnia sailing from Liverpool England
Steamship Bothnia
U. S. Ports of Arrival
Recordings and Regulations
After 1820
• Federal Government began to regulate immigration.
• Official lists of Passengers were required.
• Some Cities, States, Ports and Shipping Lines began
to keep their own arrival records.
• Passenger Lists before 1880 rarely list place of Origin.
• Children who were often not recorded on earlier lists
were now included in the arrival lists.
• No official lists were kept until the late 1800s for
border crossings from Canada & Mexico.
Castle Garden was in operation from August 1, 1855, to April 18, 1890.
It was originally built as a fort called the Southwest Battery,
designed to defend the New York habour during the War of 1812 with England.
Ellis Island Immigrant Depot January 1, 1892 - 1924
Caught fire on June 14, 1897 / Rebuild completed Dec. 16, 1900
Searching for an Ancestor
in Passenger Lists
ENGLISH
Given Names
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Andrew
Carl - Charles
Ernest
Frank
Frederick
Agnes
Bernice
Elizabeth
Faith
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
CZECH Given Names
Ondřej
Karel
Arnošt
František
Bedřich
Anežka
Bronislava
Alžběta
Věra
Searching for an Ancestor
in Passenger Lists
Czech
Surnames
English
Surnames
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bishop
Carpenter
Cartwright
Cross
Fisher
King
Taylor
Weaver
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Biskup
Tesar
Kolar
Križ
Rybar
Krall
Krejčí
Kadlec
Sample Passenger Lists
Andreas Family
July 15, 1850
Bremen to New York
Nemec Family
April 19, 1875
Bremen to New York
Vaclav & Marie Jonas
October 29, 1899
Bremen to New York
Josef Macek
November 19, 1922
Hamburg to New York
http://www.stevemorse.org/
Sampling of Database Searchs
PŘEJI VÁM HODNĚ ÚSPĚCHŮ