While searching for the 1901 Canadian Census Record for John Rawding and his family, I came across several other records for this family.  In particular, I noticed that some of the family members traveled back and forth between Canada and the United States and left behind the records of those journeys. Many records of alien [...]

When Stefania Chmielewska arrived in New York, she was detained, rather than immediately admitted to the United States.  Various notations, such as an “X”, “D”, or “held” between columns 1 and 2, or in the name column on the passenger manifest, indicate that a passenger was detained.  The manifest may also include other notations to indicate [...]

In her Naturalization Papers, Great Aunt Stephania couldn’t remember the ship on which she emigrated to the United States, although she stated that she arrived at New York from Bremen on September 16, 1901.  Two ships did arrive at New York from Bremen on September 16, 1901:  the SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and the [...]

After coming to a decision about how to define Original Source, Derivative Source, Primary Information, Secondary Information, Exact Image, and Original Record, it’s time to decide how some of the records I’ve collected on my Great Aunt Mary stack up. Birth and Baptismal Record Marianna’s Birth and Baptismal Record is an Exact Image of an Original [...]

Great Aunt Mary’s birthdate is either January 12, 1884 or March 12, 1887, depending on whether one consults the documents generated prior to her immigration or the documents generated after her arrival in the United States. One nagging question, however, is:  are the birth/baptismal certificate, the Hamburg Emigration List, and the Ellis Island Passenger Arrival List [...]

I have been trying to learn when my Great Aunt Mary was born.  I have examined a number of sources and have learned the following: Marianna’s Birth and Baptismal Record, a Church Record from Poland, shows that her birth date was January 12, 1884 Marjanna’s Hamburg Passenger Record, shows that she was 25 years old in 1909, [...]