Transcript Border Crossings

US/Canada Immigration and Emigration:
Border Crossing Records
by Beverley A. & Kenneth W. Rees
Don’t Worry, Be Happy!
Don’t worry about taking notes quickly. We
will be posting the Power Point presentations
for all of our lectures on our Web site.
Ancestor Find
www.familyhistree.com
Border Entry from
the US into Canada

Many immigrants to Canada came from the
United States or sailed from Europe to
American ports on their way to Canada.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, people
were able to move freely across the border
from the United States into Canada and vice
versa. [prior to April 1908]
Prior to April 1908
So. . . . . .if you have ancestors who
came to Canada from the United
States prior to 1908 you are simply out
of luck.
No border crossing records exist!!!
Cross-Border Traffic
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Limited and encouraged by the dominant
mode of transportation for the time and place
Rivers and lakes.
Roads and trails.
Railroads (from about 1849)
Highways (motor road)
A Few Typical Routes into Canada
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From San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle
up the coast through Blaine and into the
lower mainland of British Columbia
Via ship or boat into Victoria, British
Columbia.
From central Oregon and Washington into
the Okanagan region of British Columbia
A Few Typical Routes into Canada
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Through Montana into Alberta and
Saskatchewan (the cowboy trail)
Through the Dakotas into Saskatchewan and
Manitoba (common for Scandinavians and
others)
Via Minnesota, Michigan, and New York into
Ontario
A Few Typical Routes into Canada

From the northeastern States into Quebec
and New Brunswick.
Roads Run Both Ways!
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These routes were also used as Canadians
moved into the United States.
Migration to/from Canada (or the United
States) was constant. Families could and did
move repeatedly from one country to the
other.
Much of this migration was motivated by
simple economics, although other reasons
existed.
Border Entry from
the US into Canada
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If you have ancestors who came into Canada
from the United States prior to 1908 you are
simply out of luck. No border crossing records
exist.
Not all immigrants crossing the border were
registered.
Some crossed when the ports were closed or
where no port existed.
Canadian Genealogy Centre
Terminology and Abbreviations
Bibliography
Border Entry from
the US into Canada

Many families were not registered because one
or both parents had been born in Canada or
previously resided there, and they were
considered Returning Canadians rather than
immigrants.

The Government of Canada did not keep
records of people leaving the country.
Library and Archives Canada
Research:

Border entry lists (RG 76) were the official record
of immigration.

There are no immigrant applications or files.
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These records contain genealogical information
about each immigrant such as age, country of
birth, last place of residence, occupation and
destination in Canada.
Border Entry Lists
North Portal, SK September 1913
Immigration List
Kingsgate, BC, May 31st, 1925
1908 – 1918:
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Lists are arranged by border port and date of
entry.

If you do not know those details, you must
search these un-indexed lists port by port and
month by month for the appropriate region.
Library & Archives Canada
1908 – 1918 Microfilm Numbers
January 1919 to the end of 1924:

The Department of Immigration and
Colonization required that Individual Forms
(Form 30, RG 76 C5b) be used to record
immigrants entering Canada from or via the
United States.

This series also includes a few forms from
later years.
Form 30, RG 76 C5b
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From January 1, 1919 to December 31, 1924, the Department of
Immigration and Colonization required that individual forms (Form
30, RG 76 C5b) be completed and submitted to the immigration
officers at border ports, instead of the large sheet border-entry lists
previously in use. A form was submitted for each immigrant or
family, including some returning Canadians.
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The use of Form 30 was discontinued as of January 1, 1925. From
that date, the use of large sheet lists was reinstated, although some
Form 30 records dated after 1924 appear in this series, in particular
for January, February and March of 1925.
Form 30 Details
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Port and Date of Entry, Race, Name, Citizenship,
Age, Religion, Occupation, Last Permanent
Address, Birthplace, and Destination.
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In some cases, the names of accompanying
dependents were included with the head of
household, not on separate forms.
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Note: Most Form 30s were microfilmed with the
backside first, followed by the front.
Form 30A Microfilm Reel Numbers
Form 30
1925 to 1935:
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The use of border entry lists was reinstated in 1925.
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For each month, the records for all ports are filed
together.
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These records contain more details, such as place of
birth, name and address of the relative, friend or
employer to whom they were destined; and name and
address of the nearest relative in the country from
whence they came.
1925 to 1935 . . . . .
Immigration Records 1925 - 1935
Border Entries letter “C”
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Searchable database for surnames
beginning with “C”
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Other surnames, staff will do a search in the
indexes if sufficient identifying details are
given including year of entry.
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January to March 1925 are not indexed
Border Entries . . . . .
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Individual Form 30s are available for January
to March 1925 in addition to border entry lists
by port.
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They are not indexed
The National Archives of Canada
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Individual Form 30 records are available for
those months in addition to the border entry
lists by port.
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Records after 1935 are in the custody of
Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Search for Your Person
Search Results
Record of Border Entry Lists
Obtaining Copies of Records
Copies of pages can be obtained from the
Photoduplication Unit. Click here to find out
how. Note that requests for copies must
include complete references: Record Group
76, name of ship, port and date of arrival,
name of immigrant, volume number, page
number, microfilm reel number.
Research in Other Institutions
Border Ports
In 1895, the United States established
border ports along the Canada-United
States border and began recording
arrivals from Canada.
Border Crossing Records
Now Online!!

Time period covered is 1895 – 1956

Became available on Ancestry.com on March 28, 2007

First and only on-line collection of over 4 million names of individuals
who crossed the US-Canadian borders.

The US-Canadian border typically offered easier entrance to the
United States than seaports such as Ellis Island.

This collection also includes more than 100 million names from the
largest online collection of US passenger lists, spanning 1820 – 1960.
Everyone has their own
unique family story!

Not all our immigrant ancestors came to
America on board a ship.

This collection represents a significant
opportunity for people whose ancestors had
Canadian roots or entered the country via
Canada to trace their footsteps back in time.
Border Crossing Entries
Ancestry.com transcribed the names in the collection from more than 1
million documents, some containing passport type photos of immigrants.
The records were culled from more than 100 land-ports of entry from
Washington to Maine.
Among the busiest ports of entry on both sides of the border were
Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Detroit. Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto.
The Border Crossing also contain a surprising number of nationalities
with Russians, Italians, and Chinese among the most common
nationalities of people crossing the US – Canadian border.
Canada – US Border Crossings
Search for Thomas Palecek
Search Results
Thomas (June 1914)
Thomas (July 1914)
Rest of the family?
Vlasta - Flora?
Border Crossings
Rooseveltown, NY
Border Crossings
Richfield 1904
Border Crossings
Portal, North Dakota
Border Crossings
Montreal, Quebec 1903
Border Crossings
Naco, Arizona
Border Crossings
Michigan
Border Crossings
Honolulu, Hawaii
Border Crossings
Calex, California
Border Crossings
Boston 1904
Ellis Island, New York
Ellis Island:
Gateway to America
The American Family Immigration History Centre
allows visitors to the Centre and its website to
explore the extraordinary collection of records of
the more than 25 million passengers and
members of ships’ crews who entered the United
States through Ellis Island and the Port of New
York between 1892 and 1924.
www.ellisisland.org
VISA
Border Crossing Card
Border Entry from Canada into the US:
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At first there were no border crossing
inspectors.
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Soon, the US government ordered certain
requirements for US entry because they noticed
certain trends.
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Immigrants figured out they could “bypass” the
US inspectors by entering Canada and then
crossing the border into the US.
St. Alban’s Lists
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Canada agreed in 1894 to assist the US in requesting
documentation.
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Originally, the INS records were filed in the Montreal
INS office.
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When the INS moved its office to St. Alban’s, Vermont,
the records were moved there too.
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Hence, they became known as the St. Alban’s Lists.
St. Alban’s Lists
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St. Alban’s Lists, are in the custody of the
National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) in the United States.
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A soundex-format index is available.
Descriptions of Records
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A description of the records and a list of NARA
microfilm reel numbers are provided on the
following NARA web page.
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US Records of Immigration Across the US
Canadian Border, 1895-1954 (St. Albans Lists)
www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2000/fall/us-canadaimmigration-records-1html
Descriptions of Records
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Lists of immigrants who crossed the border from
Canada into the US between 1895 and 1954.
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Collectively known as St. Alban’s, Vermont district
records, they also contain records of immigrants
crossing over into Washington, Montana, Michigan,
New York, North Dakota, and Minnesota.
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After 1917, records for anyone entering WEST of the
Montana/North Dakota State line were filed in Seattle,
Washington.
Descriptions of Records
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The original records no longer exist. The soundex idex
was transcribed in the 1930s.
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Steamships crossing the border were to keep a
passenger manifest form.
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Railways were to carry only those immigrants who were
legally admitted to the US to US destinations. The US
inspectors, stationed along the borders, collected the
manifests.
Divided into 4 groups:
• Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Alban’s, VT, District
through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895 – 1954, 639
rolls.
• Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Albans, VT District
through Canadian Pacific Ports, 1929 – 1949, 25 rolls.
• Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through the St.
Alban’s, VT District, 1895 – 1924, 401 rolls.
• Soundex Index to Entries into the St. Alban’s, VT District through
Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1924 – 1952, 98 rolls.
Manifests & Soundex Indexes
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Manifests are indexed by the year and the month,
then alphabetically by port.
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The soundex indexes those on the manifests by
soundex surname. They give the admission date
and port of entry.
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If you don’t know the exact date or port, you can first
look them up in the soundex, then use that
information to find them in the manifest.
Border Crossing Manifest
Border Crossing ID Card
St. Alban’s Lists Publications:
•
•
•
Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Alban’s, VT, District
through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895 – 1954 [NARA
microfilm #M1464] Note: Most immigrants from Europe will be
found in this record.
Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Alban’s, VT, District
through Canadian Pacific Ports, 1929 – 1949 [NARA microfilm
#M1465]
Soundex Indexes are divided chronologically – one before and
one after 1924 [NARA microfilm # M1461 and M1463]
NARA
The US National Archives and Records Administration

Has microfilm publications relating to Canadian
Admissions and Border Crossings for Alaska, Maine,
Michigan, New York and small ports in Vermont.

Various holdings include Alphabetical Indexes, Arrival
Lists, Alphabetical Manifest Cards, Passenger and Alien
Crew Lists of Vessels, Soundex Card Manifests of Alien
and Citizen Arrivals, and Alphabetical Index to Canadian
Border Entries through small ports in Vermont.
Beverley A. & Kenneth W. Rees
15 Heritage Point West
Lethbridge, AB T1K 7B7
Phone: 403.328-9366
Email: [email protected]