In a press release this week, Genealogical Publishing Company, the world’s largest publisher of immigration records in book form, has partnered with FamilyLink.com, Inc, to make their databases available on http://WorldVitalRecords.com.

Genealogical Publishing Company has 2,000 titles featuring content from early Colonial America to the Civil War. Some of these titles include Donald Lines Jacobus’ Families of Ancient New Haven, a three-volume work that covers every family in pre-Revolutionary New Haven, Connecticut, and Robert Barnes’s British Roots of Maryland Families, which establishes the origins of hundreds of pre-eighteenth-century Maryland families.

“While many of our books contain genealogical source records, a considerable number contain lineage records and other linked material. These titles combined include about 15 million people. The descendants of these 15 million people number in the hundreds of millions today. Our partnership with FamilyLink will enable many, many Americans to go back and trace their family to some of these early immigrants,” said Barry Chodak, President of Genealogical.com, Inc., parent of Genealogical Publishing Company.

More than 600 databases from Genealogical Publishing Company will be launched periodically over the next few months at WorldVitalRecords.com.

Labels: immigration, New England, online resources

While we've all heard the term "Scotch-Irish" or "Scots-Irish," we may not know exactly what it means or to whom it refers. In her article, "Who are the Scotch-Irish," Melissa Slate revisits the history of the Northern Ireland and explains events prompting immigrations to the U. S. in the early 1700s.

Labels: immigration, Irish genealogy, Scotland

When researching your family, especially in the United States, you will eventually come across an immigrant ancestor. Learning more about that ancestor before they came to America can present many challenges. In her article, "Origins of Immigrant Ancestors," Karan Pittman provides some general information on researching immigrant ancestors, with an emphasis on records and resources for England.

Labels: England, general research, immigration

Very significant for those with Mexico heritage, Ancestry.com announced in a press release yesterday, its Mexico Border Crossings Collection, the "first and only" online collection of border crossing records for individuals who crossed the U.S. - Mexico border between 1903 and 1957. This new collection, which includes more than 3.5 million names, is the latest addition to Ancestry.com's Immigration Records Collection, which also includes the largest online collection of U.S. ship passenger list records featuring more than 100 million names from 1820 to 1960. These border crossing records primarily document early 20th-century Mexican immigration to the United States. During the first 30 years of the 1900s, more than 1 million Mexicans immigrated to the United States as a result of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, job opportunities during WWI and U.S. agricultural advances.

Labels: immigration, Mexico, online resources

Ancestry.com has also announced, to honor the 100th anniversaries of the largest year and single day of immigration through Ellis Island, it is offering free access to the only complete online set of Ellis Island passenger arrival records (1892-1957) from April 12 to April 30. In addition, Ancestry.com is inviting users to relive the remarkable journeys of their gateway ancestors at the click of a mouse at http://www.ellisislandexperience.com/ -- an interactive, multimedia tour of this national landmark. More than 11,500 immigrants passed through America's "Golden Door" on April 17, 1907, the single-day record. In total, some 1 million immigrants would come through the island in 1907 alone, making it the busiest year in Ellis Island's 60 years of operation.

Labels: immigration, online resources

Great news and one more place to check -- online -- for those who have not yet found their immigrant ancestor in U. S. passenger lists. In a recent press release, Ancestry.com announced announced the release of a new Canadian records collection, offering 4 million names of individuals who crossed the U.S.-Canadian border between 1895 and 1956. These historical records are the latest addition to Ancestry.com's Immigration Records Collection, which also includes more than 100 million names from the largest online collection of U.S. passenger lists, spanning 1820 to 1960.

An often-overlooked, but major U.S. immigration channel, the U.S.-Canadian border typically offered easier entrance to the United States than sea ports such as Ellis Island. This new collection includes immigrants who first sailed to or settled in Canada before continuing to the United States as well as U.S. and Canadian citizens crossing the border. Among the busiest ports of entry on both sides of the border were Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Detroit, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto.The border crossings also contain a surprising number of nationalities with Russians, Italians and Chinese among the most common nationalities of people crossing the U.S.-Canadian border.

While you do pay to access the records, you can search the records without charge. To learn more about the collection, see Border Crossings: From Canada to U. S., 1895-1956.

Labels: Canada, immigration, United States