The Manifest
Mysteries of the Manifest
On page 232 (by the Ellis Island Foundation's web site’s numbering), entry 23, I found a person going to South Bend and to meet a Screiner (sic). But I couldn't make out the last name, although the first was clearly Pal. At this point, take a look at the manifest image. If your browser doesn't permit it to be displayed at full resolution--much larger than your screen--save the file and open it in a JPG file viewer. You should easily be able to see the handwriting.
Look at the columns at top. More than just name is collected. These items are recorded:
- Name
- Age
- Sex
- Married or Single
- Occupation
- Able to read and write
- Nationality
- Last residence
- Seaport for landing in the US
- Final destination in the US
- Have ticket to final destination
- By whom the ticket was paid
- Whether in possession of money; if less than $30, how much
- Whether going to join a relative and if so name and address
- Ever in prison or almshouse
- Whether a polygamist
- Whether under contract to work in the US
- Condition of health
- Whether deformed or crippled
A second page of the manifest asks:
- Color
- Nativity, country and province
- Mother tongue
- Subject of what country
- Religion
Here is page two of the manifest for Paul Schreiner
Not every question has an answer. The people at the Ellis Island Foundation only interpret a few of the fields. Here is the screen for Paul Schreiner (Pal Szopner):
There is more information on the manifest to challenge your ability to discern obscure handwriting. Here is how I interpret the data on the manifest as evidence that this is the entry for Paul Schreiner:
- His last residence is listed as Nagy Ecs, and this appears in other documents.
- The age is consistent with the known birth date of 1877.
- He is going to South Bend.
- He cites a Screiner as a relative he is joining in South Bend (I don’t know who this is).
- The ship’s name seems to agree with the Hungarian diary text, assuming some spelling variations. The ship is German, and the German “Waldersee” would be pronounced starting with a V sound.
- The ship’s arrival and departure dates are consistent with the diary dates.
Let's take a look at the information in other documents from my cousins.
