Step Three: Search Collections
Ship Passenger Lists
The Mormon Migration Database is not the usual passenger list held by National Archives. These are generated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and were kept by church leaders assigned to help their immigrants come to Utah.
Searching the index by name, for instance, pulls up every ship someone by that name is listed. Once the correct ancestor is located there are several valuable information fields:
1) the page of the original ship log is attached and can be viewed;
2) there is a list of all other passengers - maybe some of these were friends or family;
3) accounts of the voyage - can make for an interesting segment of any written history.
4) port of destination with dates of voyage.
Case Study:
Below is a picture of the log for Joseph Howell Evans, his wife Ruth, and their daughter Ann. The full page is available on the Mormon Migration site. For purposes of this case study the picture has cropped out all but the Evans family. The information lists names, ages, and often the address they came from. The above family was listed as being from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The Evans family are listed as ordinary passengers, had they come by church funds they would be listed as PEF instead of ordinary. His occupation - Smith. This indicates he is a blacksmith.
The Mormon Migration site lists "Liverpool to New Orleans on the Golconda (4 February 1854 - 18 March 1854) as the voyage post of departure, arrival, ship name, and dates of voyage.It is easy to find this same family in passenger lists generated at the port. One of the best sites to use is Ancestry.com to find these. Using original records provides clues to further information to collaborate records. Inserting images into a written history makes it more interesting.
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