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EMIGRATION | 
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Emigration
Immigration
(Click Here)
'Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free' The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore; Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to
me ...
"The New Colossus"
Emma Lazarus, 1883 |
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Welcome to America!
Without Emma Lazarus' poem, Liberty would be just another statue |
America is a nation of immigrants where more than 35
percent (closer to 4o%) of the population -- or 100
million Americans -- has at least one relative who passed
through Ellis Island - a tiny spot of land, part New
York's, part New Jersey's, from 1892 until 1954.
Of the 12 million people who arrived at Ellis Island between
1892 and 1954, only two percent were sent back.
"This marks an immigrant's first footstep in America, and
provides information leading back to Europe and forward into
America, stated Pet Zitko, spokeswoman for The Statue of
Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc."
"It must be
remembered that there were no rabbis in America in the
colonial and early period of American independence. Women
joined with men to start congregations. These Jews were
mostly Sephardic, but Jews began to leave Germany and
central Europe around 1820, and a small immigration
continued until the 1880s when pogroms and other
circumstances produced a rush of Jews from eastern Europe
and especially Russia."
"In the early 19th
century in Germany (before there was much of an
exodus to the USA from eastern Europe), groups of young
Jews from one town would band together, exchange
information, and eventually proceed as a group, on foot, for
the ports, often settling down together in the same town
when they arrived in the USA. These were probably the
original Fusegangers."
"By 1850 Western and Central Europe had an effective
railroad network. It had reached well into Russia by
the end of the century. There were up to four different
'classes' and prices; the 4th class with hard wooden benches
and no frills was for the working poor. I doubt very much
that it would have been commonly cheaper to walk long
distances than to ride by train, factoring in the cost of
shoe leather and food. Certainly it would have severely
limited how much of one's possession one could take into the
new world. There was also a good chance that one might get
robbed on the roads and lose the money for the
trans-Atlantic ticket."
"I suspect the term
Fussgaenger came into more general meaning among Jews to
perhaps mean emigrants in general (possibly limited to those
going as a group). In the late 19th century there were
passenger ships sailing out of the Baltic and
Black Sea ports; it would have made little sense for a
Jew to walk from the Pale to Bremen if he could take
a train (or, if necessary walk) to Koenigsberg or
Danzig and get on a ship there."
"We should
always remember that both hardships and pleasures tend to
grow in intensity as their history is remembered over the
years and handed down through the generations." From a
posting to JewishGen by Michael Bernet
mBernet@aol.com
"Most Jews emigrated to
North America in the 1880-1925 period. This means
that their transatlantic passage was on a steamship and
their inland travel by rail (rather than riverboat." There
is a CD: "Russians to America 1850-1896" available
from Avotaynu, which was created by the Balch Institute in
Philadelphia.
http://www.avotaynu.com/catalog.htm
"For many years, the shipping of emigrants to the U S and
other refuges was a very lucrative business for the shipping
companies. They therefore sent salesmen into those areas
from which people were fleeing to sell tickets. There were
several competing steamship lines and several different
ports from which they could sail. This competition was
frequently the reason why husbands would sometimes come via
one port and would bring his family a couple of years later
(after he had earned their passage money) via a different
port. In each case, the travelers would have to get to the
port. They frequently hired a cart and cart driver to get
them to the port. If it was a long distance sometimes the
rode by cart to the nearest railroad which carried them to
the port. They were carrying their possessions with them.
The trip was dangerous with many stories of thieves and
murders on the way." From a posting by Joe Fibel
"Around half of the immigrants to Chicago and the
Northern States entered the USA through Canada.
Quebec was the major port, used from May to October,
while Halifax and Saint John, NB were mainly
used from November until April. Trains, often special
immigrant trains, carried the passengers inland. Immigrants
arriving after 1895 should be recorded in the US St. Alban's
border entry records, which are indexed. If an immigrant is
found in these records, the name of the transatlantic ship
is usually noted, and the immigrant can be found on the
Canadian manifests, which are microfilmed but not
indexed." From a posting by Harry Dodsworth
af877@freenet.carleton.ca on JewishGen on
Further ... "many immigrants to the USA came through
Canada. The huge lists of ship passenger to Canada
exists today in the National archives in Ottawa. On
those lists the Canadian authority wrote down a note about a
passenger destination. The individuals without American visa
spent some months in Halifax or some other camps
before being transferred either by train or another ship to
the USA. The trains departed from Montreal to
Boston (info could be found in NARA), the ships
went from Halifax to St. Albans or Boston
(also Nara). To search in National archive in Ottawa,
you have to know the year of arrival. All information is on
microfilms (none is on the Internet." From a posting by
Irene Kudish on JewishGen
"After WW I, the US began the quota system
(i.e., only a set number of people from a country were
permitted to immigrate to the US). The US
consulate offices in co-ordination with the US INS
administered immigration. Each person emigrating to
the US under this program had to obtain a visa.
Unfortunately, most visa applications of the "early years"
under this program, were destroyed by the overseas consulate
offices (they just didn't have the room to store all that
paperwork, etc.). The traditional ship passenger
manifest records nevertheless are still available.
Immigrants after 1940 had additional requirements, like
alien registration forms which you can obtain from the INS
via a Freedom of Information Request." From a
posting by Laurence Krupnak
Every immigrant who arrived in America has an INS
(U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service) file on
him/her, regardless of immigration status; naturalized,
resident alien, illegal alien and so forth. Initially,
the status was that of an alien, and if you followed all the
steps to citizenship (not all did) you ended up as a
naturalized citizen. Same process is followed with
immigrants who arrive in the U.S. today. Within these
files you may find any of the following information:
a. Declaration of Intent (First Papers) b. Second Papers
c. Naturalization Papers (Third or Final Papers) d. 1940
Alien registration Report e. Annual Alien Reports f.
Other documents specific to an immigrant's case
The most valuable documents for a genealogical researcher
are the Declaration of Intent or the Alien Registration
Report.
The Declaration of Intent and the Petition for
Naturalization. These papers could have been filed at
either a county court of the US District Court (where filed
should be on the certificate). If filed at a county
court, then you will have to contact that court to see where
their archives are located. If filed at a US
District Court, then you should be able to get a copy via
NARA.
"I've noticed that *many* of your family searches are
for *names* that we have here in Australia. Just
to let people know that, when conducting family
searches, they should not forget the possible
Australian connection of about 100,000 Jews.
Jews have been here for over 200 years.
Melbourne [Australia] has the largest Jewish
population of approx. 40,000 and has the second highest
settlement of Holocaust survivors in the world after
Israel. It has the only Holocaust Museum
set up by actual survivors, as well as a Jewish Museum.
Most of the post-war Jewish immigration to Melbourne
consisted of Polish Jews, with German Jews
settling pre-war. The Hungarian Jews
came after 1956 but most tended to settle in Sydney,
Australia [which also has a Jewish Museum].
Russian Jews followed while the South African
Jews have been the more recent immigrants. Other main
canters of Jewish settlement are Perth, Adelaide,
Brisbane and Canberra. All of these
cities have synagogues of various congregations, as well
as Jewish Burial societies which also house family
records e.g. Melbourne Chevra Kadisha
www.mck.org.au
Family searches can be
accessed via our phone books
www.whitepages.com.au
specifying which town e.g. Melbourne, as well as
the Australian Jewish News at
www.ajn.com.au
Various Jewish Community Councils are also a good source
of information, as well as the Victorian Government
Immigration Museum and the Dept. of Immigration,
Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs at
www.immi.gov.au
From a posting by
Adele Meren Melbourne, Australia |
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Ship manifests
post-1893 were made out by the shipping company's
before the immigrant embarked in Europe. Shipping
agents had a questionnaire to complete before
the passenger's name would be entered on the manifest. This
questionnaire was the information required by the U.S.
government.
Sometimes passage was booked several
months in advance of the actual trip. Sometimes passage was
booked in the States for a relative in Europe. Going
to information often changed between the ticket purchase
and the actual arrival, but the manifest was not revised.
While most male passengers were discharged on their own,
women and children were "detained" until someone met them or
an agent placed them on a train to their final destination.
You may note an "X" at the far left of the name on
the manifest. This means the person was detained. You
should then check the List of Detained Passengers to see who
actually met them/ who they were discharged to.
I
have seen "going to" information to be incorrect with
respect to relationships-- frequently they were just a
landsman who was already in America. In looking at passenger
lists, sometimes you will see several persons from an area,
apparently unrelated, all going to the same person. My
favorite from Rechitza District in the 1904-1907
period was "H. Oppenheim", on Grand Street. My suspicion was
a Landsmanshaft. One woman told me that her parents were
active in a Landsmanshaft and they would regularly have
someone meet the ship and total strangers would be put up
for a night or two until they could be placed.
JewishGen has a wonderful Info File written by Marian Smith,
the INS historian which explains the notations that may be
found on the manifest. The Info File is far more extensive
than her much earlier article in Avotaynu, and is a must
read for anyone trying to understand all the markings on a
manifest.
And please, immigrants did not change
the information on the manifest anymore than the inspector
changed their names at Ellis Island. It was all
written down in advance and merely checked off upon their
arrival. The manifests listed the same language groups
together, as required by the U.S. government, they were
lined up according to their manifest order and place in
lines with an appropriate interpreter. If a destination was
changed, it would only appear on the detained list. If a
name was changed, it was done by the immigrant or his
parents or siblings-- or suggested by a teacher or employer.
But that is another volume <grin>. (And are all the
stories you tell your grandchildren, the absolute, bare
truth???) This information was obtained from a
posting on the BelarusSIG by Gladys Friedman Paulin CGRS,
a cousin of mine on my mother's side of the family.
"I am constantly amazed by
the durability of the folk myth that "The names were
changed at Ellis Island". Anyone who has accessed the
EIDB, should realize that the ship's manifest (passenger
list) were compiled in Europe, according to the names
given and whatever travel documents were produced.
Several years ago, I took the U.S. Park Service tour at
Ellis Island, and the guide explained the procedure:
1 Immigrant ships anchored in N.Y. harbor were
boarded by immigration officials, first and second
class passengers were cleared, and put on a ferry to the
city.
2
Only steerage passengers were to go to Ellis Island.
Numbered tags were affixed to their clothing, and they
were ferried to the Island.
3 When they
were brought before an examiner, they were asked (many
times screamed at) their names. The official had all
their information before him, but he was looking for men
(generally) who were trying to enter the U.S. under a
false name.
4 After processing, they were
ferried to NYC.
It is my feeling that the names were changed shortly
after entering the U.S.. Perhaps an old timer (someone
who came 6 months before you did?) took you aside and
said that your name was too long, too Jewish, or
whatever, and to become Americanized sooner, you should
change it. In an era, when you were basically, what you
called yourself, it was an easy transition. To me, this
explanation makes as much sense, as anything else I've
heard, and perhaps the folk myth could be put to rest.
From a posting by Al Kaplan
If you find a passenger manifest that is of
interest to you but there is no "View Original Manifest"
button it is usually still possible to find the manifest
if it is after 1 January 1892. It appears that
many manifests but not all of them after that date have
been scanned and put on the
Ellisislandrecords.org web site but they have
not all been linked to the "text manifests".
http://www.geocities.com/alcalz/om.htm
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/EIDB/mm.htm |
To find the meanings to the 'X' and the other
numbers, go to "Manifest Markings - A Guide to
Interpreting Passenger List Annotations" at
http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/Manifests/
Click on "In the Left Margin ..."
"The NYC 1850-1891 manifest images exist ...they are indexed
..... and online too .... and easy to use!!! That's the good
news."
The bad news is that you must find a nearby
library with access to Ancestry's Immigration Records.
I have found two in the NY area -- Stamford Ct and the NY
Public Library at 42nd St; even the Georgia State libraries
have access. I'm sure there are more libraries with
access...why not ask your library if they have access?"
From a posting by Phyllis Kramer
"While I certainly agree that many ship manifests have
very botched names, you should also be aware that on
large ships that came to NYC in the early l900s,
every couple of pages the handwriting changed. This was
because people were at times grouped together by
language and ethnicity and an officer or a
representative from the steamship company would prepare
the manifest pages and be familiar with the language of
the those passengers. If this was not the
case, then much of the information that was put on the
pages would be incomprehensible. From a posting by
Diane Jacobs
Finding Missing Manifests in one Step - Stephen
P. Morse site
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/eidb/mm.htm
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/EIDB/
On March 3, I published an announcement from the
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
The announcement at
http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/03/nara-makes-some.html
describes the 5.2 million records of some passengers
who arrived during the last half of the 19th century
at the ports of Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans,
New York, and Philadelphia. These records
have now been placed online for the first time.
The records can be accessed through NARA’s online
Access to Archival Databases (AAD). The records
include the name of the ship, the port, and the
date. As several commenters pointed out after the
announcement was published, the process of finding
all that information is not intuitive, especially
the use of the Manifest File. Now Steve Morse of
"One-Step Genealogy" fame has created a trio of
One-Step tools to simplify the use of the NARA
databases. In describing the new tools, Steve
Morse wrote, "From the results that I present, it's
very obvious how to get the ship details.
Rather than displaying a number corresponding to the
manifest ID as they do, I instead display a link
that says "get ship". I also fixed up some
other rough spots that appear on their site, such as
the CLEAR button coming to the left of the SEARCH
button (what in the world were they thinking?)."
The tools are at the bottom of the OTHER
PORTS section of Steve Morse's "One-Step Portal
for On-Line Genealogy" at
http://stevemorse.org.
Posted by Dick Eastman on March 15, 2008
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/EIDB/ |
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It is important to remember that Ellis Island did not
open until January of 1892. Therefore,
searching for anyone before that date, came through Castle
Garden (aka Castle Clinton) C. 1855-1890, or the Barge
Office, c. 1890-1891 and 1897-1900. Also remember that
New York was not the only port used. Canada,
Baltimore, Philadelphia, Galveston, etc. were also
points of immigration on the east coast.
Manifests from small ships with only a few passengers
exist, with the entire manifest being a single page.
Employees on the ship are also named. In the case of
dates after Ellis Island closed, go to a National Archives
branch that has microfilms of the non-Ellis Island manifests
for N.Y.C. There are a number of finding aids there, and
with the help of the staff, the manifest can be located
fairly quickly. You can also call or write to the
National Archives branch in New York although fees will
apply. From a posting by Ira Leviton
"Index of 1890-1891 New York Immigrants from Austria,
Poland, and Galicia".
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/USA/1890ny.htm
Ancestry.Com - every-name index to passengers arriving
in the Port of New York prior to the creation of Ellis
Island is complete 1850-1891 except for
the years 1871-74. The fee-for-service index is at
http://content.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=List&dbid=7488&r=0
While searching New York records, many Birth records
are not as good as the Marriage records because people
didn't bother to register births. On the other hand, Death
records are much better since a death certificate could not
be issue unless proof of burial was provided. All of these
records are available at the New York City Archives
and indexes are available at the LDS libraries. You
can write to the New York City Archives and ask for a
search, if you can't visit the Archives in person.
Contrary to popular notion, not all Jewish immigrants to the
U.S. came through Ellis Island and settled in New York
or other cities along the Eastern Seaboard. Many of the more
adventurous sought their fortunes along the ever-shifting
frontier of the American West, which stretched from the
Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.
While the
first Jews arrived in the West with the early Spanish
expeditions of the 16th century, perhaps the true prototype
of the Jewish pioneer of the 19th century was Solomon Nunes
Carvalho who served as the official artist and photographer
in the Fremont expeditions that explored vast tracts of the
West, and then became one of the founding fathers of the Los
Angeles Jewish community.
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Hungarian Jewish immigrants , Adolph and Sam Frankel pose
for a photo in Cushing, Oklahoma, in 1915. Photo
courtesy of the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, Los
Angeles |
Many Jews left New York to settle in the Mid-West. Some took
the Erie Canal from Albany, the state capital,
situated on the Hudson, across New York state to Buffalo,
and then by boat across the Great Lakes. The Erie Canal,
begun in July, 1817, was opened in stages from 1819 through
1825 when it was completed. The first Welland Canal opened
four years after the Erie Canal. Both canals are still in
operation today. |
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I suggest that you start your research and follow the steps
outlined in 'Searching for an Immigrant's Origins:
Quick Reference', go to
http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/news/articles/1697.asp
Here is an incredible resource - Web Detective.
This commercial site offers many methods of finding people
and places and is well worth your time. Free search offer.
http://tmargulis.search8888.hop.clickbank.net
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BOOKS
Most books, CDs, etc. can be ordered through my link to
Amazon.com by clicking here > Jewish Genealogy
See also my 'Books'
page by
clicking here
for more books relating to
Genealogy |
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"Admiralty Court Records and Maritime Records" -
authored by Laura Szucs Pfeiffer
"Ellis Island Interviews, In their Own Words" - authored
by Peter Coan ISBN 0816035482 This book offers first hand
accounts of the immigration experience. Use my link to
Amazon.com to get your copy.
"The Golden Land: The Story of Jewish
Immigration to America" - authored by Rabbi Joseph
Telushkin and published by Crown Publishers/Harmony Books
"Guide to Genealogy Research in the National Archives" -
Rev. Ed. Washington, DC; National Archives Trust Fund Board
"Hidden Sources: Family History in Unlikely Places" -
authored by Laura Szucs Pfeiffer and available from
Ancestry.Com
"Jewish Immigrants of the Nazi Period in the U.S.A.: Guide
to the Oral History Collection of the Research Foundation
for Jewish Immigration" - authored by Herbert A. Strauss
Buy from Amazon.com
"Shores of Refuge A Hundred Years of Jewish Emigration"
- authored by Ronald Sanders and published by Henry Holt &
Co., New York in 1988. He describes Fusgeyers - men and
women traveling by foot, sometimes quite organized into
groups and putting on performances for their host community
as they made their way to coastal cities. ISBN 0-8050-0563-3
"Special Sorrows: The Diasporic Imagination of Irish,
Polish, and Jewish Immigrants in the United States" -
authored by Matthew Frye Jacobson - Buy from
Amazon.com
General Emigration Information
Admiralty Court Records - "It is a common misconception
that admiralty court records are limited to cases pertaining
to seamen and the vessels that traveled the high seas.
While a court with admiralty powers regularly oversaw such
matters as seamen's wages, smuggling, piracy, prize (the
confiscation of enemy ships and their cargo during wartime),
shipwrecks, salvage, insurance, freight and passenger
contracts, bottomry (using a ship as collateral) and
contracts between merchants and mariners, it also had civil
and criminal jurisdiction overall persons having any
relation to maritime transactions, including shipbuilders
and dockworkers."
"Legal records pertaining to individuals who lived along the
shoreline of any navigable waterway of the United States,
including lakes, rivers and canals, are likely to be found
in admiralty courts. In addition to dockets and case
files, a researcher may find evidence such as ship
registers, licenses, crew lists, manifests, passenger lists,
seamen's contracts, logbooks, and other correspondence
carried by ships."
"Records from American admiralty courts, as well as some
English records obtained during the American revolution, can
be found in most branches of the National Archives.
Pre-colonial records can sometimes be found in England as
well" From a posting by Ancestry.Com
Affidavits for Visas - In the 1930s, Jews wishing to
immigrate to the US needed a Visa, obtainable from a nearby
US Consulate. In order for a Visa to be issued, assuming a
quota was met, one first had to have an Affidavit (s) from
US residents (citizens?) who would vouchsafe the individual
so that he/she would not become a financial burden on
society. Thus, relatives, friends and sometimes strangers
were beseeched for such Affidavits.
"Jim Bennett asked about State Dept records compiled
in Europe in the 1930s as people tried to obtain visas to
come to the US. On July 26, 1917, a joint order
between the State Dept and the Dept of Labor required that
all aliens wishing to immigrate, obtain visas from American
consular offices. Congress sanctioned this order 10 months
later. In the 1920s, legislation increasingly limited
quotas. By 1929, total immigration was held to 150,000
immigrants from Europe. Even family members and agricultural
workers who had previously had priority were no longer given
such priority.
Obtaining a quota number was,
therefore, extremely difficult but, still, many thousands of
people every day, sought permission to enter the US
at the nearest consular office. These consular post records
(Record Group 84) are in the Diplomatic Branch at the
National Archives in College Park, Maryland. To my
knowledge, they are not on microfilm and so must be
researched in person at that facility. What is in the
consular post records and how are they organized? They are
bound by consular post and year according to the topic which
was organized by a decimal system. Visa applications were,
therefore, filed together but general correspondence was
filed by date. The indexing system used might have worked
for the State Dept but it doesn't work well for any
outsiders. An index is badly needed so that people from around the world could simply write to the National Archives to
request copies of documents.
The Jewish Genealogy
Society of Greater Washington conducted a massive indexing
project for WWI era consular post records. An article about
them is in the latest issue of Avotaynu. All of the comments
pertain to later periods as well. JGSGW always meant to do
the records from the 1930s but such an effort takes large
numbers of volunteers willing to spend long hours at the
College Park facility. Such a team didn't materialize under
my recent two year tenure as research chair of JGSGW.
The other side of the picture is Record Group 59:
Protection of Interests of U.S. Citizens. The whole RG
consists of State Department correspondence. This material
includes letters from relatives in the US seeking
information about family in Europe or seeking assistance
with transmitting money, food, clothing, etc. As
communication broke down, these requests reflect the anxiety
and helplessness that existed. The whole record group is
essentially correspondence. Unfortunately, the daily log was
the only indexing system. If the relatives didn't write
English well, they often asked a local government official
or an attorney to write for them. The index shows the name
of the letter writer but not the names of any family members
mentioned in the correspondence. Useless, really. Together,
these State Dept materials are extremely valuable and mostly
untouched resources for Jewish genealogists.
Perhaps
one possibility is to mount a project to pay people to
create indices to these records, much as JRI involves paying
people in Poland to index records. This would take the
matter out of the hands of volunteers and get it done! In
fact, the Russian Consular Records that I wrote about a few
weeks ago, were indexed with funds raised from existing JGS
groups. I was the project coordinator on that effort. I
hired and supervised translatorsand the massive collection was indexed in a bit over a year. Any
thoughts on this idea? From a posting by Suzan Wynne
Alien Resident Registration - In 1940, in response to
threats of war, the US required every alien resident to
register at their local Post Office. Aliens filled out a two
page form, which was numbered and sent to the INS. Once the
Ar-2 form had been process, the AR-3, or Alien registration
Receipt Card (AR-3) was torn off and mailed to the
registered alien. The alien then carried the AR Card to show
compliance with the law.
The form contains
information including many names (the name used upon entry
to the US; Maiden Names; Nicknames; Aliases), Address, Date
of Birth, Place of Birth, Citizenship, Sex, Marital Status,
Race, Physical Description, Date, Port and Vessel/Carrier of
Last Arrival in the US, Class of Admission, Date of First
Arrival in the US, Number of Years in the US, Occupation and
Employment information, Membership Information (Clubs,
organizations, societies), Military Service (Country,
Branch, Dates), Declaration of Intention and Petition for
Naturalization Information, Number of Relatives living in
the US (Parents, Spouse, Children), Arrests and more!
How to get copies: early registrations (c. July
1940-April, 1944/A-numbers below 12,000,000) are on
microfilm in INS custody, searchable by name, date of birth
and place of birth. These records are subject to the
FOIA/Privacy Act. It takes around 6 months. Details can be
found at
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/aboutins/history/immrecs/areg.htm |
Under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA ), the INS
will not release the information unless you can (a) prove
they are deceased, or (b) have a notarized form from them,
releasing the information to you.
The INS will accept a statement from you saying they are
deceased if you can find their name in one of the Social
Security Death Indexes (SSDI) found at Ancestry.Com
RootsWeb.com or LDS.org, etc. and write that they are
deceased as proved by being located in the appropriate SSDI.
From a posting by Edmond Frost
frostedmond@hotmail.com |
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The INS web site is
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/ and contains a list of
all INS offices. You can download the necessary
forms. If the person that you want to obtain copies of
naturalization papers is deceased, you need to prove that
the person is deceased (e.g., with a death certificate).
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information
will have to be submitted. Here is information about
INS FOIA requests and the form that has to be submitted:
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/aboutins/foia/index.htm
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/aboutins/foia/request.htm
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/g-639.htm
INS Microfilm Reel# List - this website has a load of
good information and instructions on securing INS records
for genealogical purposes. Website lists Information
on: Ship Passenger Manifests, Land Border Arrival records,
Visa Files 1924-1944, Alien Registration records
http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/Immrecs/ImmRec.htm
New York Naturalization
http://www.jgsny.org/kingsintro2.htm
for Brooklyn naturalizations. The records are kept in
the Kings County Clerk's Office. The National Archives
houses Southern District of NY records of naturalization but
not all districts in NY or all courts.
"Joan Parker
housemom@att.net wrote... I understand I can
send/pay for copies [of naturalizations] from NARA on Varick
Street in NY. Does anyone know if FOIA gets their unreadable
copies from NARA in NY."
"The BCIS (formerly
INS) makes copies from its own microfilm. The National
Archives-Northeast Region on Varick Street in New York holds
the original naturalizations created in NYC's two federal
courts (Southern and Eastern Districts) and can make better
copies." Money-saving tip: Italian Genealogy Group
website
www.italiangen.org where many of us are using the
Southern District naturalization index, says to send NARA
$10 per name when requesting copies of naturalization
records. In fact, NARA policy is to copy up to three
person's records for $10 (maximum 20 pages total). From
a posting by Renee Stern Steinig
rsteinig@suffolk.lib.ny.us
The Italian Genealogical Group created an online index
to naturalization which took place at the U.S. District
Court - Southern District in Manhattan from 1926 to 1949.
http://www.italiangen.org/databaselist.stm
The indexed records are in the custody of the National
Archives-Northeast Region, 201 Varick St., New York, NY
10014
www.archives.gov/facilities/ny/new_york_city.html
"Ilya Zeldes wrote "2x-148658 1/28/43" is a
handwritten notation on a passenger record. It means that a
Certificate of Arrival was sent to the Naturalization
District #2 on January 28, 1943. According to information
available, the District #2 was the INS Naturalization Office
in New York, NY. Its boundary and Jurisdiction were in the
Southern NY. May someone please tell me where this office
was and where it is now (the street address)? I mean, where
should I write to and ask for records?"
................. "Having just gone thru
the process of trying to find someone using a similar
notation, it is not as easy as would be hoped The cert of
arrival number is NOT something that is indexed anywhere. I
just means that the petition for naturalization was applied
for in the Southern District of NY (hence the #2-) but as
the people at the US naturalization office in Manhattan told
me (that's were the original records for that district are
held), the person may never have completed the process, or
gone to another district to get naturalized. May even been
naturalized at a city court not federal!. The federal
records are on the
http://italiangen.org
site and indexed by name. You need to try to find the person
by name and a date after the 1/28/1943 date on the notation.
You may want to check the site for the other NY districts to
see if they filed there. Once you get the Petition number
from the site, you can follow the directions for getting
a copy. (by the way, the actual original file contains the
cert of arrival form with the number you have already so you
can verify it is the right person)" From a posting
by Jeff Barnett
Online Searchable Naturalization Indexes & Records
naturalization.html
"I was at the National Archives-Northeast Division (NYC)
today and discovered that all the Southern District of New
York naturalization petitions filed between the years 1897
and 1944 are now on microfilm (M1972). These incorporate
Volume No. 64, Page 1 to Petition No. 436400. They are
currently microfilming all the records for the Eastern
District of New York. This means that they will no longer be
retrieving those big books stored in the back room with the
original naturalization records, at least for the ones I
just mentioned that have already been microfilmed. One can
now locate, e.g. a person's Petition for Naturalization
number on
www.italiangen.org, ,
go to NARA (perhaps at
conference time), and make your own copies (thirty cents per
page, avg. three pages per person) and obtain, when
available, the applicant's Declaration of Intention,
Certificate of Approval, and Petition for Naturalization in
one fell swoop. Alternatively, one can send the document
number (s) to NARA, and they will photocopy the documents
for you at ten dollars per record and send it your way. The
microfilm rolls mentioned are all the way in the back row of
cabinets, on top against the wall, with the green labels.
There is a loose-leaf binder in the bookcase at the back of
the microfilm reading room that tells you the microfilm reel
number that corresponds to the document number, as well as
computers hooked up to the Internet or other databases where
you can look up the petition document number if you haven't
previously done so." From a posting by Steve Lasky
|
Maritime Records - Throughout history, the seas, lakes
and rivers have played a dominant role in the movement of
commodities and people and have provided a livelihood for
millions. A wealth of research material is available
for those seeking to learn more about seafaring ancestors.
Some materials provide names and addresses of individuals;
some include biographical details and help in placing an
ancestor in a given time in history."
"Maritime sources which may focus on specific ports or
waterways, or on fishing, whaling or naval activities, can
be difficult to locate. A researcher must know the
full name of the person and which records are most likely to
hold information on him or her. Published guides such
as "great lakes Maritime History: Bibliography and Sources
of Information" (Charles E. Feltner and Jeri Baron Feltner,
Dearborn, Mich.: Seajay Publishing, 1982) can be helpful, as
can periodical indexes, such as PERSI
http://www.ancestry.com/persi
for
information on using this periodical index as a research
tool)."
"Large maritime collections are located in maritime museums,
some university libraries and the National Archives and its
field branches. Among the records that can be found in
the Archives' collections are licensing documents from
maritime and riparian ports, Seamen's Protection Certificate
Applications with birth and naturalization information,
records of the Coast Guard, records of the Bureau of
Customs, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and records
of the federal admiralty courts. The National Archives -
Northeast Region in New York also holds a collection of
records for the period 1835 through 1882 from the Seaman's
retreat, a refuge for sick and impoverished sailors, which
in many cases include the sailor's name, country of origin,
and the name of the vessel on which he arrived." From a
posting by Ancestry.Com
A Guide to Maritime History on the Internet
http://books.google.com/books?q=A+Guide+to+Maritime+History+on+the+Internet&ots=
KFUMzOUQlE&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=legacy
| |
Certificate of Arrival
- an excellent article on this subject is contained in the
Spring 1996 issue of Avotaynu, entitled "Interpreting U.S.
Immigration Manifest Annotations, and authored by Marian L.
Smith. A certificate of arrival is an after-the-fact
document generated by the INS based on information on the
manifests.
Contrary to common assumption, the
Certificate of Arrival was not issued at the time of
arrival. It was issued after the Declaration of Intention
was filed, confirming that the potential citizen had indeed
arrived when he or she stated, and had been in the U.S. more
than the minimum years required. It means that a clerk
looked at the Declaration of intention, and used that
information to find the original passenger manifest. The
manifest was reviewed and they verified the individual and
confirmed the information presented was correct. (This is
also why sometimes people find Certificate of arrival
numbers written on a passenger manifest.
The
Certificate of Arrival was filed with the Declaration
and the ensuing Petition of Naturalization. It wasn't luck -
it was bureaucracy. The previous information was
submitted by Hilary Henkin to JewishGen Digest 1/19/01
Counselor Records Database - U.S. Dept of State,
Jerusalem, Jaffa and Haifa Consular Post Records
Database includes more than 9,000 entries, and was compiled
from U.S. National Archives RG 84 (Record Group) Foreign
Service Post Records of the U.S. Department of State for
Consular Posts: Jerusalem (1857-1935), Jaffa
(1867-1917), and Haifa (1872-1917)
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/group84.htm
LDS Passenger Manifests
- 'A Guide to Using the Passenger Lists at Your Local
Family History Center"
http://www.arduini.net/tools/ldsmanif.htm
"Through the microfilms of the surviving lists. The
microfilms are at the National Archives and the Regional
Branches of the National Archives have those films relevant
to the areas they serve, and sometimes others as well. Other
genealogical libraries and archives may have some of them.
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has copies of
all the microfilms, and you can access them through the
thousands of Family History Centers operated with volunteer
labor by the Mormons. There is certainly at least one in the
Ann Arbor area.
Unfortunately, there are no indexes
for the New York Passenger list from 1847 to 1897, but the
lists for the other ports are indexed in one way or
another." From a posting by Peter Zavon Penfield,
NY
In searching passenger lists for the NY arrival port for the
years 1879 and 1880, a total of 17 films, these lists are
not indexed. It takes about 1 hour per film to go
through each one.
Finding Original Passenger Manifests without a "View
Original Manifest" button
http://www.geocities.com/alcalz/om.htm
You can also access them through the Family History
Centers, which borrow copies from the Family History
Library in Salt Lake City. There are many more
Family History Centers than there are Regional
Branches of the National Archives, and there are FHCs in
countries other than the US. So for many people the FHC is
more convenient than the National Archives, even though
using an FHC is slower because of the need to order films
and to use them only within the Centers.
"Passenger lists 1865 to 1922 - These lists are
arranged by port and date of arrival. In order for you
to undertake a meaningful search in the un-indexed lists, it
is necessary to know the exact month, year and port of
arrival. The name of the ship and the last port of
sailing are also helpful." From a posting by
Laurence Krupnak
Passenger Manifests - the New York Public Library has
passenger manifests up to and including 1910. It is more
pleasant to do research at the NYPL then at NARA.
If you find a passenger manifest that is of interest to you,
but there is no "View Original Manifest" button, it is
usually still possible to find the manifest if it is after
June 16, 1897. It appears that many manifests but not
all of them, after that date, have been scanned and put on
the Ellisislandrecords.org web site, but they have not all
been linked to the "text manifests".
http://www.geocities.com/alcalz/om.htm
Finding Passenger Lists 1820 to the 1940s arrivals at US
ports from Europe by Joe Beine, German Roots Webmaster
What Passenger Lists are on-line? Internet Sources for
Transcribed Passenger Records & Indexes by Joe Beine
http://sydaby.eget.net/swe/emi_ref.htm
http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/passengers.html
Finding Passenger Records in the Family History Library
Catalog - a guide to finding passenger lists and their
indexes on microfilm
http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/passrecs.html
Free access to
two passenger list databases is available at the
following web-site
http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ancestry/free.shtml
New York Passenger Lists 1851-1891 & 1935-1938
including Castle Garden passenger lists
Boston
Massachusetts Passenger Lists, 1820 - 1943
Passenger Lists that are on-line - at the German Roots:
German Genealogy Resources, there is a link entitled "What
Passenger Lists are Online which offers descriptions and
links to other sites that include lists of immigration to
Australia, New Zealand, Canada, various U.S. States,
Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Holland,
Norway and Portugal
http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/ On the main
page, click on 'Emigration and Immigration' on the right
hand side of the page.
Schifscarte - (ship card) it is in columnar form
with a number on the top right corner. At the heading
appears the name of the shipping company; port; name of
vessel; and emigration date. In respective columns appear
(in translation from German) Surname, Personal Name, Age,
Marital Status, Former Residence, Town or Province,
Occupation. Below seems to be a declaration of the amount of
American dollars carried by the passenger. Also, the day and
date of arrival appear written in English and Yiddish . On
the back is what appears to be regulations (numbered 1-15)
concluding with Bremen and a date stamped on it.
Posted on JewishGen by Avrohom Krauss (with some
modification by the webmaster).
U.S. Passenger Arrival Lists
- FHL microfilm numbers New York: 1897-1909, 1910-1919,
1920-1929 and 1930 to 1942
http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/PassLists/NewYork1897.html
Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, NY -
1897-1842, June 16, 1897 to December 21, 1942 National
Archives Microfilm Publication T715 - 8.892 microfilms
Click on the underlined hyperlink
Primer on Emigration, Immigration
This guide helps clear up the confusion about leaving the
Old Country and arriving in the New World
Each arriving ship had at least a few passengers who were
detained for one reason or another (no money; inspector
couldn't confirm the passenger's sponsor, etc.). Some
passengers were held for 'Special Inquiry' (SI)
for the more serious cases. Detaining could be simply
because the passenger was processed late in the day and
there were no more trains leaving for the passenger's
destination. There is a separate list for SIs.
Many inexperienced people researching their family
emigration, don't look for these SI reports (they are at the
end of the ship manifest). These reports often contain
additional useful information.
The National Archives (NARA) film series T621 has a
Soundex index for the period of 1902 through 1943 for New
York. In addition, there is a NARA film series, T519,
that is a name index for 1897 through 1902. The latter
index is useful as one might find names there not present or
not transcribed correctly at the Ellis Island site (which
covers immigration from 1892 through 1924). From a
posting by Joel Weintraub
LPC
- Likely Public Charge. The Immigration
Inspector, if he felt that the arriving passenger had either
a mental or physical condition which would likely prevent
the immigrant from finding employment in the U.S. would list
the detained passenger as such.
Emigration Routes - Some immigrants around 1917
emigrated via the "eastern" route. They went across
Siberia through China to Japan and from
Yokahama to Seattle.
Finding your Immigrant Ancestor - Info on Passenger &
Immigration Lists
www.rader.org/how_to.htm
Fusgeyers - usually referring to Romanian Jews
who walked for hundreds of miles to Hamburg.
They usually walked in groups, sometimes whole families
walked together.
"A Guide to Interpreting Passenger List Annotations"
is located at
http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/manifests/
This InfoFile was created by Marian Smith, Historian
for the INS. It is a comprehensive InfoFile (more like
a full website) that explains the many annotations that can
be found on a passenger manifest, as well as provides
graphical examples of the annotations described. |
How did
they get to the Midwest from New York?
From the Hudson River, they sailed up the Erie (not the
Welland) Canal, then via the Detroit Creek and Lake St.
Claire into Lake Huron and from there to Lake Michigan and
Chicago. Others continued through the Soo Canal to
Duluth, and then headed south through Minneapolis/St.
Paul.
The above information related to German Jews in the
mid-century. The routes changed later in the century
as the network of railroads was constructed, offering faster
and more comfortable access to the American heartland.
Some Ukrainian Jews disembarked in Nova Scotia
and made their way across Canada to Winnipeg.
Some Jewish settlers in Minnesota had come from
Winnipeg. From a posting by Michael Bernet on
JewishGen |
|
Migration Research - Research by the Institute of
Migration
http://sydaby.eget.net/swe/ref_emi.htm
Since 1906, arriving aliens were divided into two
classes:
1.) immigrants, or those who intended to
settle in the U.S. or
2.) non-immigrants, or
aliens who declared an intention not to settle in the
U.S., and all aliens returning to resume domiciles
formerly acquired in the U.S.
Non-immigrants
were alien residents of the U.S. returning from a
temporary visit abroad, or non-resident aliens admitted
to the U.S. for a temporary period, such as tourists,
students, foreign government officials, those engaged in
business, people representing international
organizations, the spouses and unmarried children of all
these individuals, and agricultural laborers from the
West Indies |
|
Philadelphia Naturalization Records - for information on
obtaining records for Philadelphia
http://www.phila.gov/phils/Docs/Inventor/natinstr.htm
Naturalization
U.S. Residency Requirements before becoming naturalized.
Be aware that the rules for citizenship changed over the
years and you may find unusual circumstances. Check the
Immigration and Naturalization site, specifically the "Overview
of INS History," "This Month in Immigration History,"
as well as "History, Genealogy and Education" sites.
Anyone could be naturalized after they had been in the US
for 6 years. Some people who did not know what ships they
had arrive on, waited until the law was changed to say that
you did not need to know the actual passenger manifest, but
could be naturalized if you could prove that you had been in
the US for at least six years. This took place around 1922
or 1924.
http://uscis.gov
Declarations of Intent and Naturalizations for New York
County 1907-1924. It is on one of the more popular
genealogy sites and it is available to those with a paid
subscription. The Declarations of intent seems to be lacking
in important information - the dates on the individuals were
missing. The Naturalization database is a lot more helpful.
This same site also has Naturalizations for Minnesota.
"Emperor of Germany" - "This standard phrase was taken
from his travel document or passport where it said in full
"Untertan des Kaisers Deutschland" .. i.e. a subject, as
used in a feudal sense [a more modern German word is
Staatsburger, i.e. citizen of a country] of the Emperor of
Germany. The phrase was abbreviated by the immigration
official to "Emperor of Germany". There was an exact time
span in which this phrase could have been in use
[1871-1918].
The Prussians were victorious in
the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Following this, the
separate kingdoms of Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Baden and
Hesse joined the North German Alliance. The latter had
been founded by Bismarck in 1866 and included Prussia
and 17 northern German states. The foundation
of the German Empire [Deutsches Reich] was declared in 1870
and King William I of Prussia as proclaimed German Emperor
in Versailles in 1871. After the defeat of Germany in WWI,
the Emperor abdicated on 28 November, 1918 - Abdication
Proclamation of Wilhelm II: I herewith renounce for all time
claims to the throne of Prussia and to the German Imperial
throne connected therewith.
I have also seen the German phrase on documents such as
Russian passports [related to the Russian Czar] and in
connection with other princely rulers in much earlier
references.
(Nathan Bock's) immigration
in 1876 falls within the early years of the creation of the
German Empire and hence the phrase is correct in the
historical context given above. From a
posting by Celia Male [UK]
Information on women and Naturalization
http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/natural.html
Italian Naturalization Web Site - This database contains
the naturalization records that were issued between 1906 and
1949 by the Southern District Court, which includes
Manhattan and the Bronx. It contains over 500,000 records.
http://italiangenealogy.tardio.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=
viewforum&f=4
New York City: Anyone could be naturalized after they
had been in the country for 6 years. Some people who did not
know what ships they had arrived on, waited until the law
was changed to say that you did not need to know the actual
passenger manifest, but could be naturalized if you could
prove that you had been in the US for at least six years.
This took place around 1922 or 1924. If they did not
naturalize at the Federal Court in New York City, they you
can write to the local court for each borough of the City of
New York. Posted by Diane Jacobs
kingart@ix.netcom.com
www.nara.gov National Archives 201 Varick
Street New York, NY
Naturalization Indexes - to get information, the
JewishGen FAQ suggests that you go to the NARA office that's
nearest where your ancestor lived - rather than contacting
the Washington, DC office. It states that the wait through
Washington can be up to a year to receive your requested
information, however, it most likely will be a lot less time
using an alternate office. The National Office states that
the first two hours of research time and the first 100 pages
of reproduction are free.
There are exceptions to the rule that an immigrant must be a
"legal resident" of the US for at least 6 years before
he/she becomes eligible to apply for citizenship. Immigrants
who fall in certain categories (i.e. those who are married
to US citizens) may apply after only a 3 year residency.
Naturalization Records - information by Susanne Saether
on naturalization records
http://www.infoukes.com/genealogy/primer/naturalization.html
Train Travel Costs - "Howard Relles asked: <Could
anyone suggest what it might have cost to travel by train
from L'wow (Lemberg) to Warsaw around 1890?"
Unfortunately, I do not have a relevant Baedeker but there
is a useful reference on JewishGen:
http://www.jewishgen.org/Ukraine/Volhynia/links/Baedekers.htm
The first paragraph is a bit confusing as it talks about a
trip to Odessa from Brest, but I think I have
extracted the correct data. I believe it also gives us data
on about a 1914 train trip from Warsaw to Kiev
- just over twice the distance to Lemberg [Lvov].
Express trains from Warsaw to Kiev: via
Kazatin in 17 1/2 hrs. (fares 22rb.65, 15rb 5 cop;
seat-ticket 1 rb.80 cop.); via Sarni in 15 1/2 hrs
(fares 21 rb 50, 14 rb 30 cop; seat-ticket 1 rb.80 cop;
sleeping-car 5 rb.90, 4 rb. 15 cop). This seems rather slow!
The distance is about 420 miles as the crow flies but if you
look at a map for Sarni route, it meanders and is
stated to be 491 miles.
Hence, the cost for this
journey was about 7-11 dollars as we are told that in 1914 1
ruble = US 50cents. In 1890, assuming minimum fare rises and
no inflation, on a pro rata basis, the meandering journey
from Warsaw to Lemberg [abt 220 miles as
the crow flies] might have cost about 4-5 dollars.
So take 20 dollars and you will be covered for a return
journey and a stay in a hotel plus a meal or two! In
relation to a weekly wage in 1890 - this was probably a
fortune. Read this rather interesting article re comparing
prices, then and now, and you will see that in the UK,
a farm laborer earned under 2 pounds/week [4 dollars] in
1914:
http://tinyurl.com/fshut
So the return trip
from Warsaw to Lemberg would have been
equivalent to two weeks wages - equivalent wages in
Galicia may have been even lower. That puts the fare
into perspective. From a posting by Celia Male
celiamale@yahoo.com
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Between 1855 and 1922, wives and children
became citizens when the husband/father did
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Ports of Emmigration 
There is a wonderful (and little-known) list showing
arrivals to Florida, Georgia, Alabama,
and South Carolina, for 1890-1924. Allen
County Public Library has it (Fort Wayne, Indiana USA;
219-421-1200;
http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/ On these
microfilms, I found 5 different crossings for my ALHADEF
family. All of this material is on a collection
of under 10 microfilms. Daniel Kazez | |
|
Australia New South Wales
Manifests for "assisted immigrants" indexed for the period
1839-1896. Free. Various port records available.
http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/publications/
immigration/introduction.htm
Victoria - Manifests for "unassisted" immigrants indexed
for the period 1852-1899. Free.
http://www.vic.gov.au/prov/UNASSISTED1.asp
Belgium
Antwerp - the pre-WWI lists were destroyed in WW II
Canada
(See also my Canadian Page by
Clicking Here
Searches of the National Archives of Canada from 1925
to 1935 starting with the letter C, can be searched by going
to
http://www.archives.ca/exec/naweb.dll?fs&02020204&e&top&0
or you can send an inquiry to their Genealogy Unit and they
will search the indexes on your behalf.
The Canadian Archives has both passenger arrival lists
and immigration cards for each immigrant. NARA has
some indexes of crossings from Canada to Detroit.
Manifests indexed for all ports for the years 1925-1935.
Free.
http://www.archives.ca/02/02011802_e.html
Canadian Border Passenger List Microfilms - U.S.
National Archives (NARA) microfilms of U. S. Passenger
Arrival Manifests are available through the LDS Family
History Centers
http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/PassLists/
Copenhagen
Manifests indexed for the period of 1869-1908.
Archives has records through 1940, but it is unclear whether
all will be indexed on-line. Free.
http://www.emiarch.dk/home
France
Cherbourg - | |
"X" at far left, before or in name column =
Subject was temporarily detained, see list of detained
aliens at end of manifest. | 
|
"S.I." or "B.S.I." at far left, before name = Subject
was held for Board of Special Inquiry hearing, see list
of aliens held for Special Inquiry at end of manifest. | 
|
"USB" = US-Born, sometimes found on records of returning
citizens | 
|
"USC" =
United States Citizen, sometimes found on records of
returning citizens | |
C-###### =
Naturalization certificate number, sometimes found on
records of returning |
|
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|
Annotations made after arrival |
Meaning | 
|
"435/621" (or numbers in similar form) with no date
given = NY file number (file does not survive).
Indicates early verification/record check. | |
"432731/435765" (or similar format) =
Subject was a permanent resident, returning from a visit
abroad with a Reentry Permit. | 
|
Number in Occupation column (ex: 11-54678 or 2-x-237694)
=
Verification for naturalization purposes, usually after
1926. First number is naturalization district number,
second is either application number or the Certificate
of Arrival number. An "x" dividing the number indicates
no fee was required for the Certificate of Arrival.
Indicates activity in response to filing of a
Declaration of Intention or Petition for Naturalization. | 
|
"C/A or c/a" = Certificate of Arrival." Indicates
activity in response to filing of a Declaration of
Intention or Petition for Naturalization. | 
|
"404" or "505" =
Verification form used to transmit manifest information
to requesting INS office, thus indicating a
verification/record check. | |
Name (only) crossed out with line, or completely x'd
out, with another name written in =
name officially amended - additional records may survive | |
"W/A or w/a" =
Warrant of arrest, additional records may survive |
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Ellis Island Database
JewishGen® and The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island
Foundation, Inc. have announced a working relationship to
provide enhanced search capabilities for the Ellis Island
Database.
Dr. Stephen Morse, with the assistance from
Michael Tobias and Erik S. Steinmetz, will serve as a
valuable aid to the thousands of individuals researching
their families who came through the Port of new York and
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