Your Roots in Historic Hungary
by Vic Berecz
2. Using
the Ellis Island Website – Part 1.
In the first article of this series, I wrote of the four basic pieces of data about your immigrant ancestors needed to get started with your search for your roots in historic Hungary. They are:
For some, finding this information may be easy … for others, it may be quite difficult. One free on-line resource that may be helpful in finding or confirming your basic data is the so-called Ellis Island Website found at Ellis Island Website the actual URL being www.ellisislandrecords.org This is the website of the Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. It contains records of all the ship arrivals at the Port of New York from 1892 to 1924 along with their passenger manifests. Remember, the great bulk of immigrants from historic Hungary first arrived in the US between 1897 and 1914.
Even if you don’t need this website to find your basic data, it’s an interesting and fun site to explore … and you may gain some very significant insights into your family history. The principal focus of this Part 1 is what the manifests look like, and what information they include. Part 2 will address the mechanics and problems of using the website. But, try the website right away … it’s not too difficult to learn on your own.
General Notes on Immigrant Ships. Immigrants from historic Hungary departed from ports all over Europe. Bremen, Antwerp, and Rotterdam are most common for pre-1910 immigrants from Hungary. Southampton, Cherbourg, Hamburg, Genoa, and Trieste also are found as embarkation points. For later immigrants, Fiume (the only seaport in Hungary) was by far the most common port of embarkation. All citizens of historic Hungary, no matter what their ethnicity, traveled with Hungarian passports. An example of a Hungarian passport is shown in my tutorial at Hungarian Family History Tutorial - Personal Document Examples.
Most ships had three classes, and were built specifically for the immigration routes. First Class (also called Saloon) passengers tended to be wealthy world travelers or business travelers. Second Class (also called Cabin) passengers were a variety of travelers of lesser means, and better-off immigrants (often females traveling alone). Third Class (usually called Steerage) passengers were the masses of immigrants who made the trip in cramped dormitory-like quarters in the bowels of the ship. By way of example, the SS Statendam, which was built in 1898 for the immigration trade, carried 200 1st class passengers, 175 2nd class passengers, and 2,000 steerage passengers.
Steerage passengers were processed through the
Ellis Island immigration center … most other passengers were ferried directly
to Manhattan. But, the website database
includes the manifests for all passengers.
The Beginnings of Ellis Island and Standardized Passenger Manifests. In 1890, the Federal Government took over responsibility for immigration from the states. Ellis Island in New York harbor was established as the principal immigration center in the U.S. Some immigrants from historic Hungary arrived in Philadelphia, but the great majority arrived in New York and so their arrival records are available on the Ellis Island Website.
1893-1903 Manifests. In 1893, Congress required a relatively standard manifest of passengers to be used by arriving ships. Figure 2-1 shows a page from the 1899 manifest of the SS Kensington which arrived from Antwerp on August 12. This example is the standard form, but many shipping companies printed their own forms and so slightly differing data is found on some manifests through 1903. These forms were used before the arrival of my grandparents in the US, so the example here shows the ancestors of a close friend. The SS Kensington example shows the Kardos family, on lines 5-8. They immigrated in 1899 to South Norwalk, CT.
1903-1907 Manifests. Congress mandated a standardized form for passenger manifests in 1903 that was to be used by all shipping lines. Figure 2-2 shows a 1905 manifest of the SS Statendam which arrived from Rotterdam on April 25. This example shows the arrival of Second Class (Cabin) passengers including my grandmother Eszter Nemes (#21) and her friend Mariska Löwinger (#20).
For a few months in late 1906 and early 1907 a Personal Description Addendum (PDA) was attached to the manifest form of 1903, and provided additional personal data for each immigrant in unnumbered columns. Figure 2-3 is a 1906 steerage manifest of the SS Chemnitz arriving from Bremen on December 1 with the PDA attached, and includes my grandfather, Viktor Berecz as #23.
1907-1914 Manifests. In 1907 Congress revised the immigration law requiring the personal description information as well one major new piece of additional information on the manifest. The new form, which is two pages, was used from mid-1907. With the onset of World War I in the summer of 1914, all immigration from Hungary was effectively stopped until the war’s end. Figure 2-4 shows a 2nd class manifest of the 1910 arrival from Bremen of the SS Kronprincessen Cecilie on October 5. My Berecz grandparents had both been in the U.S. for a few years, as you saw from the previous examples. Both returned to Hungary during the winter of 1908-09 for differing personal reasons. They never met in the US, rather they met aboard their returning ship. There was a quick courtship in Hungary, they married in Inota in September 1909, and their honeymoon trip was a return to New York immediately after the wedding. So you will find their arrival as #4 and #5 on this example manifest.
General Comments on Manifests. The manifest forms were pre-printed for the various classes of passengers aboard ship, since steerage passengers were treated differently than cabin passengers by the US immigration officials. The name of the ship, the date of sailing, and the date of arrival were hand-written at the top of each page.
Virtually all pre-WWI manifests are hand-written, usually by the ship’s purser who may or may not have spoken the language of the immigrants. Therefore, legibility and misunderstandings are a very common problem, especially for those immigrants who were themselves illiterate. The manifests were usually signed by both the captain and the ship’s doctor. Each page of the standard manifests is numbered from “1” – but some early manifests on shipping company forms were numbered otherwise. The two pages of the 1907 form are each numbered identically to ensure data for two individuals is not confused.
You will see many annotations made upon arrival. These often obliterate information previously recorded by the purser. Check it out carefully, something useful may be under those notes.
Summary Table of Manifest
Data by Column.
|
Data
Item |
1893
Form |
1903
Form |
1906-7
w/ PDA |
1907
Form |
See
Note(s) |
|
Number
on List |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 &
13 |
|
|
Name in
Full |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
a |
|
Age
(Years & Months) |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
b |
|
Sex (M
or F) |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
|
|
Married
or Single |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
|
|
Calling
or Occupation |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
c |
|
Able to
(Read & Write) |
7 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
|
|
Nationality |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
d |
|
Race or
People |
|
9 |
9 |
9 |
d |
|
Port of
Entry to US |
9 |
|
|
|
|
|
Last
Permanent Residence |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
e |
|
Nearest
Relative at Home |
|
|
|
11 |
f |
|
Final
Destination in US |
11 |
11 |
11 |
12 |
g |
|
Ticket
to Destination? |
12 |
12 |
12 |
14 |
g |
|
Who
paid passage? |
13 |
13 |
13 |
15 |
g |
|
Carrying
how much money? |
14 |
14 |
14 |
16 |
g |
|
Ever
before in US? If so when? |
15 |
15 |
15 |
17 |
g |
|
Who are
you joining? |
16 |
16 |
16 |
18 |
g |
|
Have
you been in prison, etc? |
17 |
17 |
17 |
19 |
h |
|
Are you
a polygamist? |
18 |
18 |
18 |
20 |
h |
|
Are you
an anarchist? |
|
19 |
19 |
21 |
h |
|
Are you
on a work contract? |
19 |
20 |
20 |
22 |
h |
|
Condition
of Health |
20 |
21 |
21 |
23 |
i |
|
Deformed
or Crippled? |
21 |
22 |
22 |
24 |
i |
|
Height
(Feet & Inches) |
|
|
yes |
25 |
j |
|
Complexion |
|
|
yes |
26 |
j |
|
Color
of (Hair & Eyes) |
|
|
yes |
27 |
j |
|
Marks
of Identification |
|
|
yes |
28 |
j |
|
Place
of Birth |
|
|
yes |
29 |
k |
Notes on Manifest Data Items.
a. Name in Full. The 1907 form specifies Family Name and Given Name. The earlier forms did not and so were subject to misinterpretation. For example, a problem waiting to happen is a Bridgeport, CT immigrant named István Pál whose family I recently assisted.
b. Age. Typically, the months field was only used for infants, for example see the Kardos baby (#8 in the SS Kensington manifest). This means that the age-in-years given here only provides an approximation of the year of birth. Also remember that some immigrants “fudged” their age for various reasons (too young to travel alone, avoiding the military draft in Hungary, didn’t want husband to know how old she really is, etc).
c. Calling or Occupation. People with skills often specified how they were employed in Hungary. But, many unskilled immigrants simply listed the type of job they hoped to get in the US – often laborer for men and servant for women.
d. Nationality and Ethnicity. For citizens of historic Hungary, nationality should always be listed as Hungary. But, occasionally you will see Hungarian immigrants listed as Austrian (especially on British and French ships) due to confusion about status in the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy. The Race or People column listed the ethnicity with which people identified themselves … typically Magyar, Slovak, German, Croatian, etc. There was a limited list of ethnicities that could be used. For example, Wend was not included so my other grandmother listed Slovak – an easy answer for many Slavic people. Religion was not listed on any manifest forms, but Hebrew was a permitted ethnicity. Therefore Jews are identifiable … though note in the SS Statendam example that my Hungarian Reformed grandmother was listed as Hebrew, probably because she was with a Jewish friend and the purser didn’t inquire with both girls.
e. Last Permanent Residence. On earlier manifests, this is your only clue to the immigrant’s birthplace … but remember there is no certainty it is (or is even near) their birthplace. Usually, only the town name is given, not the county (megye in Hungarian). But, there are relatively few town names that existed in multiple counties. Note in the SS Kronprincessen Cecilie example that my grandparents gave their last permanent residence as New York and that their entries were stamped Non-Immigrant Alien. This is typical for people who previously lived in the US.
f. Nearest Relative in country from whence you came. This (in addition to the PDA data) is the major change made in the 1907 form, and it can be very important. Usually the relationship, name and address are all specified. For instance, in the SS Kronprincessen Cecilie example, my grandfather gave the name and address of his father as his closest relative in Hungary (which is evidence that my great-grandfather was still living in 1909); my grandmother simply indicated the same person as her father-in-law, and therefore we learn nothing additional about her family. But, there can be implicit knowledge gained – probably if a mother is listed as the closest relative, the father is deceased (or living in the US). Occasionally, you find someone (perhaps a spouse or sibling) who you didn’t even know existed.
g. Where are you going? and can you get there? From an immigration service perspective, these six columns all relate to these two basic questions. From a family history perspective, where the immigrant is going, and who they are joining often confirm that you have the correct person, and perhaps identifies a relative in the US that you were unaware of. Plus, it’s always interesting to see how little money our ancestors ventured across the sea with.
h. Questions to which everyone answers NO. These four questions will always have an emphatic no for an answer. Simply stated, if you were in prison, a poor house, an insane asylum, are a polygamist or anarchist, or are coming to the US as an indentured laborer you almost certainly won’t be admitted.
i. Health and deformities. Most people listed their health as good, and listed no deformities. Occasionally you see a note from the ship’s doctor (as with the SS Chemnitz example), or that a person has a missing finger or some other minor deformity. But, even these notes are rare.
j. Personal Description. From our perspective, this information may be of interest, but is not important to family history research. Sometimes visible scars are listed in the Marks of Identification column, and I have seen pock-marked face listed … which may be indicative of a smallpox survivor.
k. Place of Birth. This, of course, may be the most important piece of data you find in a post-1906 manifest, because it is often the most difficult of the four basic data items needed for successful research. Good Luck!
Summary. In general, post-1907 ship’s manifests give the most information about immigrants, and can be critical to establishing a good starting point for your research into vital data in Hungarian church records. There are additional examples that may be of interest in the Ship’s Manifests section of my tutorial at Tutorial: Ship's Manifests … also note that the first five articles in this series will be a basic introduction. I’d like to tailor subsequent articles to reader’s interests. Therefore, your feedback would be appreciated. Write me at Vic@Berecz.us
Next: Using the Ellis Island Website – Part 2.
