American Records Records available for research in this country include passenger arrival records maintained by the National Archives and newspapers. Microfilmed copies of those records can be accessed through the National Archives. Newspapers are an interesting and often overlooked resource that can be used when researching immigrant ancestors. Information that can be found in a newspaper may include the arrival date, perhaps the time or arrival, and the pier where the ship was docked. Weather reports found in newspapers are a minor piece of information that adds interesting detail when writing a family history.
Advertisements placed in the newspaper by steamship companies add even more.
Those entries may list the schedule of arrivals and departures, the cost of passage, and the locations where tickets were purchased. Genealogists looking for shipping information in newspapers in this country need to realize steamship lines placed advertisements in ethnic newspapers as well. In fact, in some instances the only place where this kind of data can be found may be in an ethnic newspaper. In some instances they even disclose the town. Genealogists whose ancestors came from England during the same time period can appreciate the value of that data.