Boston Immigration Records

Where does one find immigration records for ships that arrived in Boston
in the 1880 to 1910 time frame? Do you have to go to Boston to see the

Plymouth Rock...

They are found in many places - some have been published and some are on CD-ROM.
Start with the Passenger and Immigration Lists Index (PILI), which any library
with a decent history/genealogy room should have. If you can find your ancestor
in PILI it will tell you where the appropriate list can be found.

records?

ecunningham...

EJ in NJ: Part of your Boston time frame (1891-1943)is covered by
Ancestry available online or possibly your local reference library.
Otherwise, rent soundexes/index thru Mormon FHC and then review
appropriate films.
Of course, Boston/Waltham Archives is a nice place to visit also or
any NARA for that matter.
ecunningham@att.net

EJ in NJ

Ron...

This one helped me but I do not knows its coverage for Boston
Also Steve Morse's "Searching the Castle Garden Database in One Step"

Ron Martell...

I have discovered that there are some problems with the data at
castlegarden.org.

They have some records which do not agree with other sources.

So caution is advised and try to find at least partial confirmation
elsewhere for that data. e.g. - if castlegarden.org says a person
arrrived on a certain ship on a specific date then look for some other
confirmation that that specific ship did in fact arrive at the named
port on the date given.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada

Chris Watts...

That underlines the basics of ANY sensible research.
castlegarden.org is an index and may have errors in it for that reason.
The original data from which it was compiled may have errors in it - as may
any record source.
You should NEVER rely on a secondary source (especially an index or
transcript) and should ALWAYS check against (a) the original and (b) an
independent and different source.

Regretably very many people are not doing this and so their work is little
better than fiction.

Robert Heiling...

At your nearest Family History Center of the LDS Church and read the
microfilms. Do a Place Search on Boston (part of) Massachusetts at:
and click on Massachusetts, Suffolk, Bostom and you will see Emmigration
and immigration and such. Browse you way around there and you'll se what
you're looking for.