A very informative book that is not just a guide to Ellis Island records, but can also serve as a guide to immigration records in general. You will definitely want to have this book as a handy reference to immigration records of all sorts. It will help you discover where to find these records both on and off the internet and evaluate their usefulness and limitations.

Chapter 1 - Starting Your Ellis Island Search
The Ellis Island Internet database opened in April 2001 and there have been millions of successful searches. It is estimated that roughly 40% of Americans today have at least one ancestor who was processed through the port of Ellis Island. More than 20 million passengers have come through this port. Keep in mind that besides immigrants, a portion of these people were travelers returning from a visit to their native country.

This first chapter includes tips on how to successfully find your immigrant ancestor on ship's Passenger Lists. Ms. Carmack details 3 things that you will need to know about your ancestor to make your search successful.

1 - The name of your ancestor, preferably the name they used in their native country
2 - The birth year or approximate age of your ancestor at the time of the list
3 - The approximate date that your ancestor arrived at the port

Ms. Carmack then gives tips on how you can locate these items of necessary information from other available records, such as Petitions for Naturalization, Declarations of Intentions, Alien Registrations, Naturalization Stub Books, Visas, and Passports. She provides important descriptions of many of these Naturalization Records. She also cites the laws that defined citizenship in the United States and the time periods they were in effect. For instance she cites that "Since the first federal naturalization law of 1790, children ... enjoyed derivative citizenship when the father became naturalized" (13).

Chapter 2 - Passenger Lists 101
I highlighted many useful tips in this chapter about passenger lists which are also called ship's manifests. Ms Carmack begins by stating: "The federal government did not begin keeping a record of passenger arrivals until 1820 ... Pre-1820 passenger lists were created by state or local authorities ..." (19). From 1820 to about 1891 Passenger lists were called Customs Lists. From 1891 to 1954 Passenger lists were called Immigration Passenger Lists. This book gives websites and instructions on obtaining microfilm of electronic images of many of these lists.

The "Chronology of American Immigration Policy" is an important feature of this chapter and can be a significant help in determining the possibility that your ancestor might be listed in a passenger or immigration record. Reasons for deportation are also discussed in this chapter.

Chapter 3 - Using the Ellis Island Database
For this chapter, Ms. Carmack warns that "As this book was headed into production, the Ellis Island Website was adding more search capabilities" (29). Consequently, when reading this chapter you should be aware that the functionality described for the Ellis Island Website may not be the same in the book as it exists today on the website. However there are many tips and hints about the quirks of the database that can aid a researcher in their search, for instance, "Be aware that sometimes the pages of the manifest were uploaded online in reverse order" (30). The book also recommends you read the articles "Tips for Searching Ellis Island Records" and "View Tips on Preparing for a Search" on the Ellis Island website.

Chapter 4 - Back to Microfilm Basics
Just as the chapter title suggests, this chapter contains directions on how to search passenger lists using the old medium of microfilm.

Chapter 5 - My Ancestor Isn't There - What Now?
You'll find some very useful information in this chapter, for instance, Ms Carmack points you to the webpage where you can find a complete list of ports of US entry. They are listed by state or district. She also gives many suggestions about census records that can help you to discover you ancestor's immigration status and birthplace.

Chapter 6 - Before Ellis Island: Castle Garden
This chapter details the availability of the Castle Garden passenger lists, also called customs lists. This would include immigration years from 1820-1891. Though they may not contain as much information about your ancestor as passenger lists, they still contain important vital details like name, sex, age, occupation, and nationality (72).

Chapter 7 - The Immigrant Experience
The Timeline of Ellis Island History which covers 1661 to 1990 and the other details and stories of this chapter will help you get a feel for why your ancestor may have immigrated. It also details what your ancestors sacrificed and what they were willing to endure to immigrate to the US.

Chapter 8 - Ellis Island Medical Records
Searching the medical records brings the realization that some people arrived here ill and there were those who died before actually entering the US. Perhaps one of these was your ancestor.

Chapter 9 - Finding Information on Your Ancestor's Ship
You can actually purchase a picture of the ship on which your ancestor arrived. Or, you can view it online and print it out yourself from the Ellis Island website.

Chapter 10 - Leaving an Ellis Island Legacy
In this chapter, Ms Carmack suggests that you record your ancestor's immigration experience if you know it, and that you might want to "visit the Ellis Island Museum to access hundreds of taped oral history interviews with immigrants and staff" (118). These appendices provide handy forms for recording immigration records and also detailed historical information about how and why the records were created, microfilmed, or destroyed.

Appendix A - The Creation and destruction of Ellis Island Immigration Manifests Part 1
Appendix B - The Creation and destruction of Ellis Island Immigration Manifests Part 2
Appendix C - Immigration and Passenger List Forms

If found this book to be most valuable as a reference to researching immigration records generally. There were many helpful hints and tips on finding my ancestors both online and off. Ms Carmack also provides numerous web links to immigration data. At the end of some chapters. she provides "End Note" references which site the book, CD, or article she used to write the chapter. Guide To Finding Your Ellis Island Ancestors by Sharon D. Carmack is a great book to have in your genealogy reference library.

Article written by Cindy Carman