[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] help searching ship manifests

[Barbara Cooper]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the reply.  I had resigned myself to just going through all the 
lists and have looked at many already but just hoped for some tips to narrow 
it down.  The family I am looking for first went to the Neche area of North 
Dakota so they are not in the 1901 census though I did check the Gretna area 
just to be sure. I got the year of arrival from my Great Grandfathers 
homestead file. His brother-in-law made one of the sworn statements in 
support of his claim.  In it he said he'd known him 1891-1901 in Russia, 
1901-1904 in North Dakota and from 1904 on at his homestead.  That was in 
1910 so hopefully he had the years right.  I have checked all the Odessa 
lists without finding them and have searched Ellis Island as well in case 
they came through there.  I understand it was cheaper to travel to Canada so 
am concentrating on those lists.  To narrow the search on Archivianet I 
wondered if choosing a port of departure might help.  Was one of them more 
popular with German/Russian immigrants than others?  I know I may end up 
looking at all of them sooner or later but it sometimes helps to break 
things down in to more manageable groupings so as not to feel overwhelmed. 
I have started with the Quebec arrivals from Liverpool and am about halfway 
through them then I'll continue from there if I have no luck.  Thank you 
again and as always I am thrilled with the help I recieve from this group.

Barbara

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Obee" <daveobee at shaw.ca>
To: "Barbara Cooper" <bdaelick at hotmail.com>
Cc: "SGGEE mail list" <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 1:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] help searching ship manifests


> Jerry Frank has suggested the indexes that are already available. If the 
> family does not appear there, then at this point you will need to do the 
> page-by-page work. If it's any consolation, most of us have had to do 
> that.
>
> If you can wait a bit, more comprehensive indexes are in the works and 
> might be online in a year or so. That might speed things somewhat. If they 
> came through England, be sure to watch ancestorsonboard.com, which covers 
> outbound passengers from 1890 through 1899 but will soon be expanded to 
> include later years.
>
> If you can't wait, does the family appear in the 1901 census? If not, you 
> can assume that they came after the census was taken. Also note that the 
> 1900-1914 index on the Odessa site is for Halifax. If they do not appear 
> in that index, then look at the records from Quebec, which was a busier 
> port, in the summer at least. The idea is to aim for the records that are 
> most likely to help you.
>
> Beyond that, of course, it's amazing how often people gave the wrong year 
> when asked when they arrived. Be warned.
>
> Dave Obee
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Barbara Cooper <bdaelick at hotmail.com>
> Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 9:49 am
> Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] help searching ship manifests
>
>> Hello all!
>>
>> As I sit here scrolling through ships manifests on the Canada
>> archives site I wonder if someone might be able to offer me some
>> advice for narrowing down my search?  I have deduced that the
>> family I am looking for arrived in 1901 but that still leaves lots
>> and lots of ships to look through if don't know which port they
>> arrived at.  I also wonder just how badly the manifests can be
>> wrong?  I have come across family groups that include some of the
>> right names and close ages but then something in there will be way
>> off.  Like a married woman listed with what would be her maiden
>> name under the correct parents names but without her husband or her
>> children (I hope that makes sense).  Any guidance would be
>> appreciated or going through all these lists will take forever.
>>
>> Barbara Cooper
>>
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>