1. The Lost Ledger: Evidence Ellis Island Kept Its Own Arrival Records

    I have always heard that no records were created at Ellis Island, that the only records used were the passenger lists created by the ship company, and that Ellis Island officials merely inspected immigrants and marked the manifests. In my recent research, in preparation for a presentation, I uncovered multiple sources suggesting that this statement was not entirely true.

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  2. The Stowaway

    Karl Kowallis arrived in NYC from Germany in 1893. Over 100 years later, in 1995, his daughter told the story of Karl being a stowaway. Her story was documented as follows: “Lacking sufficient money for passage, Karl managed to board the ship and stow away undetected. After some time at sea, either a crew member apprehended him, or he turned himself in to the captain. Whichever reason it was, the captain gave Karl the opportunity to work off his fare doing work on board ship.”

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