Daily AncestorCustoms passenger list
A customs passenger list is an arrival list filed with the port's customs collector under an 1819 law, the main federal ship list from 1820 to about 1891.
The ship's master swore to the list and handed it to the collector of customs, who sent copies to the Secretary of State. It gives each passenger's name, age, sex, occupation, country and intended country of residence, and deaths on the voyage.
Forms used from 1882 split cabin passengers from the rest and add a destination. For New York, customs lists survive for years whose immigration records burned in the 1897 Ellis Island fire.
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Daily Ancestor. "Customs passenger list." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/immigration/customs-passenger-list. Last checked 2026-10-03.