Historical records

[Juan Carlos]

I would like to know where I can find public records, if any of steamships that came from Spain to DR between 1850 - 1900s.

[PICHARDO]

Originally Posted by Juan Carlos

I would like to know where I can find public records, if any of steamships that came from Spain to DR between 1850 - 1900s.

You need the ports of calling those ships made the visit to first of all.
The list of ships that fall within that time frame are many...

Each port city keeps historical records in several different depositories.

You need to effectively reduce the area to look for and the results will aid in your quest somewhat. Ships calling the ports were not recorded as per use of engine/sails per se, but the name and dimension of the vessels.

You can crosscheck the names of the vessels with the names of steamships of that time to match possible positives to that end.

[Juan Carlos]

Thank you for the feedback PICHARDO. I may be going about this in the wrong direction. I am trying to look up historical data on my family's first arrival from Spain. My grandfather was born in 1904 I was told that his father came from Spain with two other brothers. So I assume that my great grandfather must have arrived by steamship around 1870-80??? What would be the best way to narrow my search?

[margaret]

Have you tried this site? Or contacting some of the people who do research all the time?

Dominican Republic Caribbean Gen Web

Picardo is right you need to know Port of entry. I was trying to find something when you first posted. (Yes... I need to get a life.) It seems that all passenger lists from Espana to Las Indias were no longer kept in the archives after 1850. After 1850, the shipping companies maintained lists of passengers. And then the Ports of Entry might or probabbly would have the records. I found that fact on a Cubagenweb site. I suspect it would apply to your ancestor. I would try to find someone who has already done a lot of research into their own family and they can point in the right dirrection. If you want to PM me with your grandfather's name, I could see if I could find something using Ancestry.com. But it's limited in value for immigrants to las Indias, in my opinion.