Geneology question (collect, great, NYC, Philadelphia)

[MICoastieMom]

My son is interested in learning more about his paternal side of the family. We can trace both of my parent's families back for 7 or 8 generations, but know almost nothing about my husband's family. We are having difficulty for several reasons. My MIL, who is deceased, was born an only child near Johnstown, PA, where all the records were lost in the flood. We do understand there is woman there who is reconstructing geneological records from cemetary and church records. Haven't had a chance to locate her yet. My FIL has Alzheimer's so some days he is more helpful than others. We know he came with his parents sometime in 1923, but do not know the point of departure or the name of the boat. However, we do have a picture of another boat that traveled with theirs. My question is whether or not there is some sort of ship registry that we could trace to find a point of departure. I assume that this ship is no longer in service. Any suggestions? Appreciate any assistence.

[PA2UK]

Ancestry.com has passenger lists. I found my 17 year old great grandfather listed on the ship "America" leaving from Palermo, Sicily in Dec 1912 and arriving in Philadelphia in Jan 1913.

[gardener34]

What about census records? I believe the 1930 census records are now available. See if you can access through heritagequest.com in your public library.

[nascarnancy]

The National Archives has a wealth of information. Here is their site.

Start Your Genealogy Research

Have you searched your FIL's records? Does he have any family birth/death certificates etc? My grandmother kept a scrap book and it had some great newspaper clippings which included death notices etc.

[ECG]

Originally Posted by MICoastieMom

My son is interested in learning more about his paternal side of the family. We can trace both of my parent's families back for 7 or 8 generations, but know almost nothing about my husband's family. We are having difficulty for several reasons. My MIL, who is deceased, was born an only child near Johnstown, PA, where all the records were lost in the flood. We do understand there is woman there who is reconstructing geneological records from cemetary and church records. Haven't had a chance to locate her yet. My FIL has Alzheimer's so some days he is more helpful than others. We know he came with his parents sometime in 1923, but do not know the point of departure or the name of the boat. However, we do have a picture of another boat that traveled with theirs. My question is whether or not there is some sort of ship registry that we could trace to find a point of departure. I assume that this ship is no longer in service. Any suggestions? Appreciate any assistence.

Try this wesite:

Ellis Island - www.ellisisland.org ellisisland

[PA2UK]

Originally Posted by ECG1951

Try this wesite:

Ellis Island - www.ellisisland.org ellisisland

Not all immigrants arrived at Ellis Island. Like I said, I found my great grandfather on the passenger list of a ship arriving in Philadelphia, not NYC. My mom searched Ellis Island for years looking for records of him and never found him - I got on ancestry.com and found him in almost immediately.

[capecodcathy]

You may also want to try New England Historical and Genealogical Society (NEHGSdotorg). Despite the name, they collect records from all over and put them online for members. I had to let my membership lapse but I found many mid-Atlantic records for friends. May be worth a month-to-month membership if they still allow it.