Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty are enduring symbols of our ancestor's arrival in the United States. From 1892 to 1924, millions of immigrants entered through the Ellis Island Immigration Station. But what of our ancestors who arrived through the Port of New York before Ellis Island was established? 

Before Ellis Island, immigrants arrived at Castle Garden which was originally an old fort that was purchased by the government and converted into an immigrant station in 1855.

On August 1^st, 2005, the Battery Conservancy launched a database index to New York arrivals at Castle Garden and its predecessor immigrant stations at www.castlegarden.org. The years covered are 1820 to 1892, and it is estimated that names of 10 million immigrants will be in the database. Currently, 80 percent of them are in the list.

I set out to see how the index works. The John Dunne family arrived on August 15, 1864, on the ship Chancellor. They shared 49 days in steerage with over 700 other Irish immigrants.

There are several options for searching. You can enter the name and select a date range, or you can enter a last name and a ship. I entered the surname Dunne and the ship Chancellor. A dozen names appeared in an attractive table showing the first and last name, occupation, age, sex, arrival date, country of origin, and the ship. John Dunne, his wife Johanna, and their children Michael, Thomas, David, Honnora, Maria, and Hannah were all included. 

I tried the index again, this time querying it for my Grandpa Stariha who arrived in 1884. Nothing was found for the surname. I've seen the passenger list and know that the name is clearly spelled, so I'm not sure why he is not in the Castle Garden index. Maybe he is one of the 20 percent who are not yet included in the list.

At present, there is nothing more that you can do with the index, but that is OK. The index is a remarkable finding aid for our ancestors who arrived in New York in the previously unindexed years.

There are several ways to get a copy of the passenger lists. One is to obtain a copy of the microfilm through the Family History Centers.  Another is to use Ancestry.com, a "for-fee" site. They have scanned images of a number of the passenger lists. Joe Beine, on his "Finding Passenger Lists & Immigration Records 1820-1940s," website, http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/passengers.html lists a number of CDs, too. 

 

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Connie Lenzen, CG

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