[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Passports or Identity Papers

[Gary Warner]

Virginia,

I cannot speak with certainty about the ships records for 1903, but I 
can say that in 1906 in Boston that every person in my mother's 
family was listed, including the 2 year old kids.   So, unless your 
husband's father intentionally used a different surname than his own, 
he should be there, assuming that the record exists.

In the 1906 record I note above, I looked for years without finding 
it, and then one day I looked for a cousin and not only found the 
cousin, but my grandmother and her parents and one great grandparent 
as well- they all arrived together.    In my case, I was looking for 
the name Sihlis or Sihle, both of which are in the family 
bible.   The ship record listed them as Silis.    I suspect that your 
lack of success is similar.    You just have not yet been inventive 
enough in the spelling of the name!   My wife looked high and low for 
one of her Watson surnames in the census data- she finally found it 
extracted as Wotton.

In your case, you seem to know the date and place of arrival.   If I 
were you, I would not trust that someone correctly extracted the 
surname you seek.    Since you now have the time, you should consider 
looking at the original ship records in their entirely.    You can do 
that in Ancestry, and probably on other sites by scrolling through 
all of the pages for a given place and time, one page at a time.

Gary

At 11:49 AM 11/22/06, GVLESS at aol.com wrote:
>This note may be the end of my quest for my husband's father's immigration
>records - or maybe not.  Just got an e-mail from my husband's brother  (still
>living) who said he recalls a cousin of theirs mentioned once that 
>he  thought
>that "Uncle Fred" came over with a family group.  Could it be  possible then
>that there would be no way of discovering "Fred's" record if  listed with a
>family??  For a 19-yr. old to travel in those days maybe it  would 
>have been the
>thing to do to hook up with some family, especially if he  did not have a
>passport or identity paper.......
>But that family name - who knows that now!
>
>I do know that Fred Less arrived in the late spring that 1903 year in
>Alpena, Michigan according to a story told by his brother long 
>ago.  So it  would be
>possible he was on the ship Batavia that sailed in May from Hamburg,
>arriving NY June 8.  But if with a family group???
>his name may be most difficult to find on a ship's manifest list.
>
>Well, even tho I do not have to prepare for our Thanksgiving tomorrow I am
>enjoying  this computer contact with you all.  My small family will 
>be  with me
>at my new home in a retirement facility eating turkey of course.   This is a
>new role for me enjoying a lifestyle that is so different.  And 
>-  having time
>to do research, I hope.  Thank you all for your comments.
>Have loved hearing from you.    I promised my husband just  before he died in
>2003 that I would do more research on the Less name - so here  I am finally
>with the time to do it.
>
>Virginia Less
>
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