EMIGRATION DATA  NOTES 


TOWN NAMES - this is the primary search term for this project. Jewishgen has several options that can help:

Jewishgen Communities Database (JCD)  gives town name equivalents plus  their location details and population estimates.   As potential records are found with similar town names they can be validated on JCD. If the town is not in Russia, Poland, or Lithuania they are likely not correct. In some cases imprecise manifest handwriting or a language problem created the similar name.  Jewishgen Gazetteer can also help determine if this is a town.

Jewishgen Yizkor Book Project  There are two Yizkor books for Suwalk that have chapters on Raczki.  Their usage for the town will be very helpfull.  In this case the Yiddish version of Ratzk (and one sound alike - Ratsk) produced more Jewish ship records than any other option.


DATA SOURCES:

EllisIsland.org
  • search by name required
  • free user account recommended
  • manifest and passenger records are viewable online. 
  • high quality prints available for purchase (great presents).
  • SteveMorse.org one-step tools add additional search options including town and ethnicity 

CastleGarden.org  
  •    no source documents available
  •    passenger extract available with another click; more info in later years 
  •    no user acount needed; donations accepted
  •    wild card asterisk allowed
  •    additonal search options via SteveMorse.org
  •    website unavailable at times
Ancestry.com  
  • Search on town of residence and/or birth 
  • select U.S. Immigration Collection   [Immigration & Travel] 
  • fast access to the source records
  • excellent image quality and photo viewer
  • can download documents.
  • paid subscription required; also available at libraries and LDS Family Centers

Familysearch.org 
  •  search historical records by town name and time period
  •  you may get 5 to 10 million "hits" and most of the early results will  include a variety of vital record extracts: border crossings, naturalizations, draft registrations, NY ship arrivals, etc.
  •  Many of the hits such as US vital records will show 2 or more surnames and 3 or more given names. This makes it much easier to determine race/ethnicity based on very common Jewish names and  names that are very rarely Jewish.   Passports and border crossings will also appear with similar options.
  • The record viewers and ability to download and are excellent

last update 7/19/17