Lisa Louise Cooke
Stephen Danko, PhD, PLCGS
Episode 31: Immigration & Naturalization Part 3
In episodes 28 and 30 I talked one on one with Stephen Danko about Immigration and Naturalization records. I hope you got some great ideas as to how to find them and have had a chance to try some of those strategies out. But the strategy doesn’t end when we finally locate the passenger list. No sir. In this episode we are going to get the magnifying glass out and take an even closer look at these information rich documents. I want to make sure that you’re getting everything you can out of them.
And I’m please to say that Stephen Danko has graciously agreed to let us listen in on some excerpts from a recent presentation he gave on the subject that focus in on the annotations that we may find on passenger lists, including references to special inquiry, Number sequences that reference the Naturalization process, and many more marks and notations that you may not have previously noticed, but that could indicate a deeper story of your ancestors immigration experience.
Related Links:
Transcript
As I said we covered a lot of information in the last two episodes, and there were some areas that we touched on that I would like to talk more about. Stephen mentioned in the interviews that we’ll often find annotations on the passenger lists, particularly the more recent ones, and that while they may look insignificant, they really do have meaning and can offer more information about our ancestors if we just probe a bit.
So let’s talk more about what these annotations might look like and what they mean. In a highlight from one of his presentations, Stephen talks about when he first noticed the passenger list annotations and how they evolved as the years went by.
Stephen discusses:
What let him to notice annotations on passenger lists
The amount of information found over the years
One of the common misconceptions about passenger lists is that they were not filled out at Ellis Island as many people believe, but rather they were completed at the port of departure. So my great grandparents lists were actually completed in Antwerp. But the annotations we find could have been made at a variety of different times.
Stephen talks more about how the records were created, the kinds of information they were recording, and how even though your ancestor is listed on a particular list it doesn’t mean they even made the trip. Or even more interesting, they could have been listed twice on the same manifest.
Stephen Discusses:
Annotations made throughout the immigration process.
Contract #
Head Tax #
Names entered at port of departure for people who may not have sailed.
Why a person might appear twice on a passenger list.
Next, we cover the wide range of annotations you might come across on a passenger list. Some of them had dire consequences for your ancestors, but all of them will offer you a clearer picture of their immigration experience.
Annotations:
X, D, or Held between columns 1 and 2 or in the name column - means held for special inquiry
SI = Special Inquiry
(Check at the end of the manifest for pages called Record of Detained Alien Passengers, and Records of Release of Aliens Held for Special Inquiry)
USB, US born, US Citizen may indicate a US Citizen returning to the U.S.
Notations after time of arrival
Re-entry permit
While so many of our ancestors made that journey from their homeland to America only once, it’s important to remember that they could have traveled back and forth to visit family, and those passenger lists are just as valuable as their original immigration. And if they hadn’t completed the naturalization process yet, then you may find an indication of that re-entry number or their citizenship status as Stephen mentioned.
As Stephen mentioned in our previous interview, depending on the timeframe, your ancestor may have had to request a certificate of arrival when applying for citizenship. And if you haven’t found their naturalization records yet, and are lucky enough to find a certificate of arrival annotations on their passenger list, then you are in luck, and will have a really good chance for tracking them down.
www.stevemorse.org - Utility for searching Ellis Island passenger lists.
Certificate of Arrival
Detaining an Immigrant
Meals
Board of Special Inquiry
Grounds for exclusion:
Alcoholic, anarchist, cripple. etc.
C/A = a request for a Certificate of Arrival was made when the person filed for Naturalization.
A number like 1X-151953 indicates a request for a certificate of arrival was made after 1926 to help with the naturalization process. The first number “1” is the naturalization district, if there is an “X” it means the person didn’t have to pay for the Certificate of Arrival and the numbers after the dash are the certificate of arrival number or the application number. The date of the certificate of arrival may appear after this number sequence. This along with the naturalization district number are great clues to locating the naturalization records.
“V/L” = a verification of landing was requested.
W/A = a warrant of arrest was issued.
404 or 405 is the Verification form number they would have used for sending information to the INS.
Numbers like 432731 / 435765 = the passenger was a permanent resident of the U.S. and was returning home with a re-entry permit.
Finally, it’s worth taking the time and looking through every page of the ship’s manifest for your ancestor’s voyage. You may find record of stops the ship made along the way, recording of friends or relatives, or even a second entry for your ancestor as Stephen mentioned in the case of changing class of ticket.
