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Archiver > GER-VOLGA > 2002-07 > 1026361614


From: "Greg and Connie Armstrong" <>
Subject: [GV] Searching Ellis Island arrivals
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2002 21:26:54 -0700


I want to share a "success story".

When the Ellis Island Web site (address below) was first announced, I read that not all manifests for all ships had been transcribed as yet, and therefore we shouldn't worry if we couldn't find our ancestor at that time. I've been checking periodically ever since for my Grandmother Katharina Keller, without any success. I had even played with the "other" Ellis Island website (address below) and still I couldn't find her. I knew when she arrived in New York, and even the name of the ship, but something was wrong, somewhere.

I decided to sit down and try every possibility I could think of, using the Stephen P. Morse website which enables users to enter various combinations of information, therefore maximizing the possibility of a "hit". When I tried using only the initial K for her first name and using only the initial K for her last name along with the ship name, i found her! All the information was just exactly as my Grandmother had stated on her Declaration of Intent to become a Citizen, except that her last name had been spelled Ketler, instead of Keller! When I looked at the actual manifest, the name had been written very clearly, and so it must have been a clerical error. I had previously tried several spelling variations, but never Ketler!

My thanks to Stephen Morse for his efforts! I would not have found my Grandmother otherwise. I hope that my story will inspire others to try again!

Does anyone know if there is someone at the Ellis Island site who wants to be notified when errors are found?

Connie Geringer Armstrong
Fresno, CA


Both addresses:
ellisislandrecords.org
http://home.pacbell.net/spmorse.ellis/ellis.html

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