A transcript of #genchat conversations on the Fediverse - 9 September 2023

Coffee in hand, #genchat on Mastodon is about to begin as we chat about immigration by sea! Let's do this! @genchat@a.gup.pe

ICEBREAKER #genchat If your ancestor immigrated by sea, do you know the name of the ship they arrived on? @genchat@a.gup.pe

ICEB #genchat I have the names of a few ships, but most significant is my great-grandfather arriving via the Nieuw Amsterdam on April 17, 1907, Ellis Island's busiest day! @genchat@a.gup.pe

#genchat @genchat@a.gup.pe Here is a photo of the Nieuw Amsterdam in 1905:

Q1 #genchat When did passenger lists/manifests start to be kept? @genchat@a.gup.pe

A1 #genchat Short answers: US mandated 1820; Canada approximately 1865; Australia 1924 @genchat@a.gup.pe

Q2 #genchat Where are some good places to find passenger lists? @genchat@a.gup.pe

As much as I would like to hang out with all of you on #genchat today, I must step away to switch computers and get set up for the Scottish Indexes session starting soon. Enjoy the topic!

A2 #genchat @genchat@a.gup.pe Some answers from last night:
Diane - First up, know your time periods. Go through the guides, e.g. at Library & Archives Canada. Have a look at some books too - Destination Canada by Dave Obee 2010 for more modern. And published lists and info like Lucille Campey's books - good for pre 1865. Even if no lists, learn about the ships, travel, conditions, etc.
Kevin - Ancestry is reasonably detailed on the immigration side. FindMyPast on the emigration side for the UK. http://ellisisland.org
is really good for NY arrivals (and free).
Me - http://olivetreegenealogy.com/immigration/

Another great tip from last night was to check immigration museums. Even if they don't have passenger lists, you'll at least get a good feel for the immigration experience.
And by the way, Ellis Island museum covers many ports! #genchat @genchat@a.gup.pe

#genchat @genchat@a.gup.pe Don't forget the links & tools on Steve Morse's website: https://stevemorse.org/

Q3 #genchat What purposes do passenger lists serve? @genchat@a.gup.pe

A3 #genchat

For us it tells us where, when, and how family immigrated.

A2 #genchat for passenger lists to South Australia Passenger Lists 1845-1940 https://www.archives.sa.gov.au/finding-information/discover-our-collection/migration-and-crew/passenger-lists-1845-1940 after that National Archives Australia

a3 #genchat

So the people in charge had counts to stop people sneaking on the boat free.

generally keep track of people.

A3 #genchat @genchat@a.gup.pe A few answers from last night:
Jan - Passenger lists give a record of arrival dates (needed later if immigrants petition to naturalize). Immigration lists (post 1898) also recorded whether the immigrant paid the head tax. Over time the number of questions grew. You can see what the government was concerned about by reading the questions in the manifest header. https://jewishgen.org/infofiles/manifests/
Me - I know in the US, many manifests list where the person was going to & how much $ they had with them. I suppose to make sure that we were not taking on the indigent (despite "give me your poor")
I remember a talk on Ellis Island, saying the lists assisted in organizing the people coming off the ships to get registered. 1 page per registration line, or something similar.
Kevin - Provides the Port of Embarkation with a record of who departed; the ship line with a means of accounting for passengers; the port of arrival with a list to check to make sure those showing up are able to comply with requirements, visitor or permanent resident.

Q4 #genchat What kinds of information is included on a passenger list? @genchat@a.gup.pe

@genchat@lor.sh @genchat@a.gup.pe Enjoyed chatting this morning - need to take off. Starting my trip to Fort Wayne today. Looking forward to reading more from the chat at the hotel tonight

#Genchat

A4 #genchat not just country of origin but county too and ages of passengers

A4 #genchat @genchat@a.gup.pe From last night:
Michelle - I've seen some that give names, family relationships, where they lived, religion, occupation. Others are a bit less detailed.
Chris - Where they are from. Hopefully they list a contact and the exact town your person is from. Sometimes they give you the exact address of where they are going and you can cross reference it with a US census. That's how I found out my grandfather and his mom were going .
Kevin - most detailed records include name, sex, age, marital status, last residence (and someone who knows you there), language spoken, occupation, where you're going and if someone knows you there. Older records are simply names, or name and age.

Q5 #genchat Is there anything that can used in lieu of a passenger list? @genchat@a.gup.pe

#genchat
This is the immigrating relative I wanted to remember today. He travelled alone from England to New York to live and work with relatives. He was there for the 1850 census and appears in immigration records.

Such a courageous move in such a short life.

Elijah Webb.

From Wolverhampton.

A5 #genchat @genchat@a.gup.pe Don't forget newspapers (a big favorite!), and home sources like diaries. There also may be company records if they brought workers over.

Q6 #genchat How were immigrants processed once they arrived? @genchat@a.gup.pe

A6 #genchat @genchat@a.gup.pe And I'll repeat here what I said last night: just for the record regarding immigrant processing: THEIR NAMES WERE NOT CHANGED AT ELLIS ISLAND!

A6 #genchat @genchat@a.gup.pe Another good resource from Jan last night about the immigrant experience: https://www.ggarchives.com/Immigration/index.html

Well it's the end of the #genchat hour (though it can continue of course!). Be sure to join us on Sept 23 for our Open Mic, which has the theme of Occupations! See you then! @genchat@a.gup.pe

P.S. Also, please give @AncestryHour a follow. They haven't set a time for #AncestryHour on Mastodon yet, but it'll be good to build up their follower base in the meantime. #genchat @genchat@a.gup.pe

I’ve just realised that I missed #GenChat this afternoon - sorry! My only excuse is that I was engrossed in some research, and managed to push back one line from 3x great-grandparents to a 5x great-grandfather.