Immigration documentation from Ellis Island's website?

Question

What sort of information do the ship manifest records (not one for the individual's records, but the one for the entire ship's roster) contain and how is it different from the US Census records?

I ran across a family member whose last name was spelled differently from when they came over to Ellis Island (which I know is probably common because of the different tongue dialects) and on the US Census, it shows their Residency status as Non-Resident Alien, but they are listed as Head of Household and all of this person's children are US Citizens.

My question is...Ellis Island has a copy of the original ship manifest of when my family member migrated to the US (for $30), so is the information contained any different from the US Census records? If so, how and is it worth purchasing?

Answer 1

I never heard of Ellis Island charging for that type of info. I got a copy of the manifest that I was looking for along with a picture of the ship that carried the person I was looking for. There was no charge. The info included where he was heading, what relatives where here, his occupation, age, etc.  Dont pay for this info.

Answer 2

If her age were wrong by a year or two it wouldn't be very unusual, but 15 years is excessive. It's more likely that Annie is not the right person.

Keep a copy the Ellis Island information, but also keep looking for someone whose information is closer to what you know. Get creative with alternate spellings for her surname. Look under Ratanic and Batoms, since the indexer may have misread the handwriting.

Search for other variations: all Ann/Anna/Anne's who were born around 1870 and immigrated after the assumed entry date. Don't include the surname and see what you get; add in a country and see how the list changes; etc.

If you still can't find her at Ellis Island you will have to widen your search to other port cities -- Baltimore, Philadelphia, even Quebec (immigrating by train into upstate New York or Detroit).

Answer 3

Hi, the information is quite different from a census record.

Normally, you'll see estimated birth date and birth location (sometimes the city and the county/region), and the names of the people who traveled with the person/family.  Many times, I've also seen a specific destination (complete with name and full address), whether they were going to stay with a relative, how many pieces of luggage the traveler(s) had, and how much money they had with them.  Also listed is often the man's/father's occupation.

If you'd like me to try to find it for you on Ancestry.com, please email me (through my profile) the names/ship/dates you have for the Ellis Island arrival.  If I find it there, I'll need an email address where I can reply with an attached image.

Are you using http://www.ellisisland.org/ ?  That's the official site.

edit-

The Anna Katanicza immigration record I'm seeing on Ancestry shows she was a housewife, and was traveling with two children (Mihaly, 15, farm laborer;  and Ferencz, 7).  Do those names sound at all familiar?  She was from Aesk, or maybe Arok, Hungary.  They were headed to Clairton, PA, to see her uncle.

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957

about Anna Katanicza

Name: Anna Katanicza

Arrival Date: 17 Mar 1913

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1877

Age: 36  

Gender: Female  

Port of Departure: Bremen  

Ethnicity/Race­/Nationality: slovakian  

Ship Name: George Washington  

Search Ship Database: View the George Washington in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database

Port of Arrival: New York, New York  

Nativity: Hungary  

Line: 14  

Microfilm Serial: T715  

Microfilm Roll: T715_2030  

Birth Location: Hungary  

Birth Location Other: aesk  

Page Number: 143

There is another Anna Katanicza who immigrated in 1907:

Hamburger Passagierlisten, 1850-1934 Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934

about Anna Katanicza

Name: Anna Katanicza

Departure Date: 4 Apr 1907

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1877  

Age Year: 30  

Gender: weiblich (Female)  

Family: Household members (Pish?  Aucheline? Sophia, a name that starts with a K that I can't read, and Belena)

Relationship: Mutter (Mother)  

RESIDENCE: Arote  

Ethnicity/Nationality: Ungarn (Hungarian)  

Ship Name: Barcelona  

Shipping Line: Hamburg-Amerika Linie (Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft)  

Ship Type: Dampfschiff  

Accommodation: Zwischendeck  

Ship Flag: Deutschland (Germany)  

Port of Departure: Hamburg  

Port of Arrival: New York  

    

Volume: 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 189  

Page: 789  



Please let me know if either of these look correct.

Answer 4

Since her brother was identified as Frank, I researched him.  He was a couple of years older than Barbara, so I looked for him in the 1910 Census.

1910 United States Federal Census about Frank Katanik

Name: Frank Katanik

Age in 1910:   5

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1905

Birthplace:   Austria

Relation to Head of House:   Son

Father's Name: Geo

Father's Birth Place: Austria

Mother's Name: Annie

Mother's Birth Place: Austria

Home in 1910: Clairton, Allegheny, Pennsylvania

Marital Status: Single

Race: White

Gender: Male

Year of Immigration: 1906

Household Members: Name Age

Geo Katanik    39

Annie Katanik    37

Frank Katanik    5

Annie Katanik    2

Elizabeth Katanik    3/12

...............NOTE: Barbara is listed as Elizabeth.

--------------------------------------...

Since this Census states that he and his parents, George and Annie immigrated in 1906 from Austria, I went searching that clue and found the manifest for Frank and Annie.  It states they are going to George in Pennsylvania.

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 about Ferencz Katanieza

Name: Ferencz Katanieza

Arrival Date: 21 Apr 1907

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1906

Age: 11 Months

Gender: Male

Port of Departure: Hamburg

Nationality: slovakian

Ship Name: Barcelona

Port of Arrival: New York, New York

Line: 29

Birth Location Other: arok

--------------------------------------...

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 about Anna Katanieza

Name: Anna Katanieza

Arrival Date: 21 Apr 1907

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1877

Age: 30

Gender: Female

Port of Departure: Hamburg

Nationality: slovakian

Ship Name: Barcelona

Port of Arrival: New York, New York

Line: 28

Birth Location Other: arok

--------------------------------------...

I haven’t found immigration records on George Katanic

Answer 5

My ancestry account is closed at the moment, however..

I BELIEVE (don't quote me here) that ancestry will have an IMAGE of the ship manifest.  I don't know if you are getting info through there or not.

Assuming it is there.. you (or someone) can right click on the image and save it.  This is more original that transcriptions, which can have errors.

Depending on cost of gas in your neighborhood.. you may be able to use ancestry.com at your local library for free.

Someone here can do a lookup on ancestry, if they have the name/date/location of immigration.

The records have different info since they are done for different reasons. If census shows children born after immigration, they are citizens.  The immigration manifest itself has info specific to the ship and what they required to be known. You want both. They may or may not overlap.

English teachers cringe to hear this.. spelling is not a requirement of genealogy.  What the census taker writes is WHAT HE thought was right.  Close your eyes and envision.. your ancestor is never the person making the record.  It is always a 3rd person.

POST the name, and see what someone can dig up for you.