Immigration to New England
"Champion of the Seas," East Boston. about 1854. Southworth and Hawes, American, 19th century. Southworth & Hawes - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. http://www.mfa.org/collections - Public domain.
Portuguese immigration started parallel on the East and West coast, New England became the focal point for Azores population migration to the United States. Some immigrants settled in the area and others moved on to California. The main occupations found between the Portuguese communities in New England were: Fishermen, Whalers, Farmers, and Textile workers.
Immigration started in the early 1800 with individuals coming from the Azores archipelago. Followed by Cape Verde in 1850. Madeira island immigration started later, in 1870.
Image source: http://www.culturacores.azores.gov.pt/pb/Memorias.aspx
Although Massachusetts had the greatest concentration of Azores population in New England, Rhode Island and Connecticut had significant populations as well. In certain communities in southern New England, especially Bristol County, Massachusetts, Portuguese would be the dominant ethnic group.
The towns of New Bedford and Fall River became the major centers of Portuguese population. In fact, New Bedford was known as "the Portuguese Capital of the United States" because of its host of Portuguese.
The first Portuguese settled in Provincetown, which is located on Cape Cod, in 1853. Gloucester had its first Portuguese settler in 1845. They were attracted to the fisheries.
Textile MillsWhen whaling was on the decline, investors began putting their resources into textile mills. Former whaling crews now turned to the mills for employment. The first textile mill was built in New Bedford in 1848, and by 1900, it had 14 mills. In 1920, at the height of the industry, there were 63 mills.6 The industry expanded to Fall River, and by 1900, it would have 80 mills expanding to 111 mills by1923. Azoreans could be found working at mills in Lowell, Taunton, and Pawtucket.7by Robert L. SantosCalifornia State University, Stanislaus Librarian/Archivist
Below you will find a few websites with immigration records for New England.
National Archives
List of Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1891--1957
Massachusetts State website
Researching the archives
Passenger lists
FamilySearch website
Massachusetts, Boston passenger lists, 1820-1891
Index and images of Boston Passenger Lists for 1820 through 1891. There is a nine-year gap between March 31, 1874 and April, 1883. NARA publication M277: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Boston, Massachusetts, 1820-1891.
For searching all other Boston Passenger Lists on the FamilySearch.org catalog go to:
Wiki
Claire T. Carney University Library
Portuguese-American Digital Newspaper Collections
Guide on how to find birth, marriage and death of Portuguese-American newspaper
New Bedford Whaling Museum
