Registers of Seamen’s Protection Certificates

No copies of original certificates are available—the originals were kept by the seamen to whom they were issued. This information is taken from registers (lists) kept by the customs districts.

To search, use the search boxes below each column. To sort, click or tap on the column heading.

Glossary and Explanations

• Surnames and first names were transcribed by our volunteers and employees exactly as they were written in the register. Thus abbreviations for first names remain. A question mark is included if there was any doubt about the letters. Because of this, conducting searches for exact names is not very practical.
• Age represents the age of the seaman at the time the protection certificate was applied for.
• Birthplace: City and state indicate the place of birth. State abbreviations have been normalized to represent modern day conventions. Where possible city, state and county names were spelled correctly even if misspelled in the Register. In instances where the spelling is either too illegible or mysterious, names have been entered as written.
• Complexion: Information is transcribed as entered in the original register. Complexion was not always noted, but when noted we have retained the historical terminology. It has also been noted that complexion was a subjective term. The same seaman could be variously listed as dark one year and black the next.
• Customs district indicates the location of the Custom House.
• Certificates were numbered consecutively by port. At certain times these numbers ran through several years, at other times the sequence started over each year.
• Date is the date the certificate was issued. Blanks indicate an absence of information in the register, or the inability of the transcriber to read the information.