Immigration to the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s...

Question

I found some information on the Ellis Island website that showed some names of people (about 15 people, many of whom seem to be related) that I believe to be distant relatives on my father's side of the family and I want to see if I can trace any of it.

Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, how long did it take for a ship to sail from someplace such as Rotterdam, Havre or other European ports to get to the US port of Ellis Island in NY?

I'm sure that, without modern conveniences that cruise ships have in modern times, it must have taken weeks, if not months, but does anyone have any sort of definite or documented proof or records of their relatives' migration to the US from countries such as Italy, Hungary, etc.?

Answer 1

My father's parents sailed from Italy to New York around 1900.  I have tried, but no success finding any record of their admittance at Ellis Island. I have tried everything imaginable to no avail?

Answer 2

I can't say enough about www.ancestry.com. I would suggest you try a 14 day free trial and search as much as you can.

You should find these manifests here, plus any census records which will tell where these people were born.  You can match up or eliminate those that you found on the Ellis Island site.

Good luck!

Answer 3

My ancestor traveled from Naples to Ellis Island in 1920 and, according to the date of departure (found on a separate website) and the date of arrival (found on Ellis Island's website), the passage took approximately 12 days.

Answer 4

I don't think Ellis Island was in use in the late 1800s to early 1900s, i think a lot of the ships were coming into Maryland and New York,  look up Ellis Island and see when  it opened to Shipping traffic. I also had polish relatives coming over in 1892 and they didn't come to Ellis Island.

Answer 5

It depends on the ship. Some of the larger ones could cross from Southampton to NY in 10-12 days, depending on weather. Smaller ships and sailing vessels could take anywhere from 20-35 days. Hamburg usually had its ships make 2 stops (LeHavre or Rotterdam and Southampton), so it was common for that trip to take 30 days.

Answer 6

It depends on where the ship departed from, where it was going, the type of ship, and the weather conditions during the crossing.

My paternal grandmother left England on 7 July 1923 and arrived in Halifax NS on 16 July 1923, a trip of 9 days.  She was very ill for most of the trip.