New York, U.S., Emigrant Savings Bank Records, 1850-1883

The Emigrant Savings Bank was established in 1850 by members of the Irish Emigrant Society. The bank ended up serving thousands of Irish immigrants who fled to America following the infamous Potato Famine. The bank kept many volumes of records including an Index Book; a Test Book; a Transfer, Signature, and Test Book; and a Deposit-Account Ledger. This database is an index to these records providing the given name and surname of the depositor, their account number, account date, and year and place of birth, if given. In addition, each indexed individual is linked to the image on which they appear where more information may be available. While the majority of the emigrants found in this collection will be Irish, you may occasionally find emigrants of other nationalities as well.

Index Book: The bank kept an index of all individuals recorded in their volumes. This book will usually provide the name of the depositor, the date of the record, and the individual's account number. This book will also refer you to a Test Book or a Transfer, Signature, and Test Book.

Test Books: The Test Books cover the years 1850-68 and contain a variety of details about the depositor and his family. Information that may be found in this set of records includes the date of the record, the name of the depositor, his account number, occupation, residence, and other remarks, which could include names of other family members, immigration information, or birth or residence information in Ireland.

Transfer, Signature, and Test Books: These books existed from 1850-83 and were used primarily for recording changes made to an individual's account information. Examples of such a change could be a new signature, a change in address, or a change in the account holder. Information that may be found in this set of records includes the signature of the account holder, the date of the record, the account number, the individual's residence, occupation, year born, birthplace, and family relations.

Deposit-Account Ledger: These records are arranged by account number and contain an account history for each individual, recording typical transactions such as deposits and withdrawals.