I had previously searched for John Jwanauski’s passenger manifest at the Ellis Island Records site and at Stephen Morse’s site without success . I also couldn’t find his name by scrolling through all the pages of the manifest one-by-one . Finally, I searched the Record of Aliens Held for Special Inquiry and the Record of Detained Aliens which followed the passenger manifests . There, in the Record of Detained Aliens, I found a Jonas Iwanauskis . Why couldn’t I find the record when I searched every page of the manifest?
The Record of Detained Aliens states that Jonas Iwanauskis was on the manifest as a member of group 3, Number 24 . This means that Jonas Iwanauskis is on list 3, line 24 of the manifests for alien passengers . I started at the beginning of the manifest and scrolled past the lists of US Citizens and the lists of Second-Cabin Aliens to reach the lists of Alien Passengers in Steerage . There, on list 3, line 24, was Jonas . Apparently, the reason I didn’t recognize the name the first time is that I was looking for John Jwanauski . The name on the manifest appears to be Jonas Franauskis, since the “Jw” at the start of the name looks a lot like “Fr” . But, that’s OK, I’ve found the manifest now.
Page 1 of the Passenger Manifest for Jonas Jwanauskis – 1912
  
Page 2 of the Passenger Manifest for Jonas Jwanauskis – 1912
Click on the link for a PDF copies of the Passenger Manifest for Jonas Jwanauskis 1912 . The manifest states that:
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Jonas Jwanauskis departed from Bremen on December 3, 1912 on the S.S. Grosser Kurfurst and arrived in New York on December 15, 1912
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Jonas is listed on List 3 of the alien passengers in steerage, line 24
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Jonas was a single male, 17 years old
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His occupation was farm lab [farm laborer]
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Jonas could read and write
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He was a Lithuanian of Russian nationality and his last permanent residence was Poporcie, Russia
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The nearest relative in the country he left was his mother [?] Jwanauskis in Poporcie, Kovno
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His destination was Scitico, Conn.
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It’s not clear whether or not he held a ticket to his final destination
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His passage was paid by his brother-in-law and he had no cash
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He had not previously been in the United States
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He was planning to join his brother-in-law, Paul [Dovoicis], Box 16, Scitico, Conn.
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His health was good and he was not a cripple
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He was 5 feet, 1 inch tall, with fair complexion, blond hair, and blue eyes
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He had no marks of identification
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He was born in Poporcie
My best guess at Jonas’ place of birth and residence is Poporcie, Russia, now known as Paparciai, Kauno, Lithuania . This village is not far from Kovno, Russia, now known as Kaunas, Kauno, Lithuania.
Jonas stated that he was traveling to Scitico, Connecticut, which is not far from Springfield, Massachusetts . Springfield was his destination when he was discharged from the U.S. Army at the end of World War I . The Record of Detained Aliens, however, stated that Jonas’ brother-in-law lived in Harrisville, Connecticut, not Scitico.
The fact that Jonas had no cash with him explains why he was detained . He had to wait at Ellis Island until his brother-in-law sent money so he could finish his journey.
Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko
