All Aboard!

I have found Passenger manifests for several family members. I started taking a look at these to discover what other information they may – like hidden in annotations and even on other pages of these lists.

If you already have found the passenger manifest for your immigrant ancestor, take another look at the manifest and look for annotations. Two types of annotations were made. The first type was made PRIOR TO or at the time of arrival and includes:

Numbers in the left margin (typically 2 to 7 digits), especially on lists of ships that sailed from England. This number is the contract ticket number and may be helpful in finding the individual in the British “Outbound Lists”.

Rarely, a solitary number to the left of the passenger’s name will indicate a Head Tax receipt number.

“Not Shipped”, “NOB” (Not On Board), “Did Not Sail”, or “Cancelled”, often with the entire line crossed out indicate that, for some reason, the passenger listed did not sail with the ship.

Sometimes an entire line is crossed out, not because the passenger was not on board, but because they are officially listed on another page of the manifest.

An “X”, “D”, or “Held” at the left of the manifest, between columns 1 and 2 or in the name column, means that the passenger was temporarily detained or held for a Board of Special Inquiry and the name may have been recorded with further information in a list at the end of the manifest.

The notation “S.I.” or “B.S.I.” at the left side of the manifest before the name means that the passenger was held for a Board of Special Inquiry hearing and the name may have been recorded with further information in a list at the end of the manifest.

The notation “USB” or “US Born” or “USC” (US Citizen) may have been made to indicate that the record is for a returning citizen of the United States.

The letter “C” followed by a string of numbers (C-######), indicating the Naturalization certificate number, may have been made on the records of returning citizens.

The second type of annotation was made after arrival and includes:

Numbers similar to “435/621” with no date is the New York file number which indicates an early verification/record check. The actual file no longer exists.

Numbers similar to “432731/435765” indicate that the passenger was a permanent resident of the United States returning with a Re-entry Permit.

Numbers similar to “1X-151593” indicate that the arrival of the immigrant was verified prior to naturalization and typically indicates that the verification was made after 1926. The first number indicates the naturalization district, the “X”, if present, indicates that no fee was required for the Certificate of Arrival, and the second part of the number is the Certificate of Arrival number or the Application number.

The date of the Certificate of Arrival or the date of Application may follow the Certificate of Arrival number or Application number.

“C/A” indicates a request for a “Certificate of Arrival” was made in connection with the filing of papers for Naturalization purposes.

“V/L” indicates a “Verification of landing” was made.

“W/A” indicates that a Warrant of Arrest was made.

“404” or “405” is the Verification Form used to reply to a request for Passenger Manifest information to the INS.

If only the name is crossed out with a line or a series of X’s and another name was written in, the name was officially amended.

A PASSENGER MANIFEST can also show a number of these annotations, including “S.I.” showing that one family was sent to a Board of Special Inquiry, an “X” showing that the family was detained, and a listing of numbers indicating that Certificates of Arrival were issued for some of the passengers, including perhaps some family members.

To find additional information such as the “Record of Detained Alien Passengers” or the “Record of Release of Aliens Held for Special Inquiry”, repeatedly click on the arrow to move to the next frame of the film (on the Ellis Island Records site) or scroll through the microfilm to the end. You’ll need to be careful with the Ellis Island site, however, since many of the records are recorded in reverse order, and the “forward” arrow may actually take you backward through the pages in the manifest.













https://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/