Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've been doing some research on an English-born man who sailed from Liverpool, England, to New York in June 1912. At Ellis Island he gave his name as John Percy Eccleston; in England he'd been Archibald Norman John Percival Eccleston. What documentation would he have needed to enter the USA and what were the checks on immigrants like at Ellis Island? Did it depend on which country the prospective immigrant came from?
After his entry to the US I've lost track of him until his death in 1918 at Charleston Naval Base Hospital, SC, probably from illness; at that time he was in the Pioneer Corps.
I've been doing some research on an English-born man who sailed from Liverpool, England, to New York in June 1912. At Ellis Island he gave his name as John Percy Eccleston; in England he'd been Archibald Norman John Percival Eccleston. What documentation would he have needed to enter the USA and what were the checks on immigrants like at Ellis Island? Did it depend on which country the prospective immigrant came from?
After his entry to the US I've lost track of him until his death in 1918 at Charleston Naval Base Hospital, SC, probably from illness; at that time he was in the Pioneer Corps.
Surprisingly, not much. Prior to 1917 immigration was pretty much wide open. 1917 saw the beginning of restrictions placed. 1921 saw the establishment of an "emergency" quota system and 1924 saw the quota system come into full effect. After 1924 immigration was a "consular" matter meaning, people applied to come to the US at embassies and only once approved where they then allowed to enter.
Before that, prior to WW1, it was a much simpler affair. You paid for your passage to the US and were taken to a processing station. The most famous of these was Ellis Island. The captain and medical officer of the ship would present a manifest with all the passengers name and swore an oath to its accuracy. The ships manifest and the passengers ticket became the only documentation needed. Once off the boat, most immigrants spent around 3-5 hours being processed. This included a health screening and a series of 29 questions:
Quote:
What is your name?
How old are you?
Are you male or female?
Are you married or single?
What is your occupation?
Are you able to read and write?
What country are you from?
What is your race?
What is the name and address of a relative from your native country?
What is your final destination in America?
Who paid for your passage?
How much money do you have with you?
Have you been to America before?
Are you meeting a relative here in America? Who?
Have you been in a prison, almshouse, or institution for care of the insane?
Are you a polygamist? Are you an anarchist?
Are you coming to America for a job? Where will you work?
What is the condition of your health?
Are you deformed or crippled?
How tall are you?
What color are your eyes/hair?
Do you have any identifying marks? (scars, birthmarks, tattoos)
Where were you born? (list country and city)
Who was the first President of America?
What are the colors of our flag?
How many stripes are on our flag? How many stars?
What is the 4th of July?
What is the Constitution?
What are the three branches in our government?
Which President freed the slaves?
Can you name the 13 original Colonies?
Who signs bills into law?
Who is the current President of the United States?
What is America's national anthem called?
The interviewer would gauge the answers and then approve or disapprove entry into the US. In general, the main thing they were interested in was one's ability to support themselves and have a plan for what they would do. If you answered the questions reasonably and had $18-$25 in your pocket and claimed a trade, you would get in.
Overall only around 2% of people were rejected from entry. Those who were rejected tended to be those with criminal backgrounds, the mentally insane, people with no appreciable skill or money who were judged to quickly become a burden on the nation and those with chronic illness or deformity judged to not be able to support themselves.
Some people found themselves in limbo because they arrived sick with an obvious illness. They would be held in the infimary on Ellis Island for lengthy periods until they were shown to have no symptoms. A few thousand people died in the hospital on Ellis Island.
The last thing I would say is that it is largely a myth that people had their names changed at Ellis Island or other stations. In fact, the immigration officials took great pains to accurately record peoples names, even employing translators and transcribers that could speak and write dozens of languages. No one was ever forced to change their name, but obviously when processing millions of people, some mistakes are bound to be made with a missing letter here or there. Some people did request to have their name changed in order to get a new beginning and while some of that happened, it was far more common to have that change made at naturalization than at the arrival point. In the case of your Mr. Eccleston, perhaps he just wanted to go with a more streamlined and "American" version of his name?
Some people did request to have their name changed in order to get a new beginning and while some of that happened, it was far more common to have that change made at naturalization than at the arrival point. In the case of your Mr. Eccleston, perhaps he just wanted to go with a more streamlined and "American" version of his name?
I reckon that that would be what happened. His family in England knew him as 'Jack' so John was an obvious name to keep.
Some fascinating info there, NJGOAT, many thanks. I wish it was as easy to get US residency nowadays! I have a book by Patrick Leigh Fermor in which he describes travelling across Western Europe in the 1930s and he didn't need a passport. I wonder if it was the Red menace post-WW2 which brought about tighter border controls and more bureaucracy.
I've been doing some research on an English-born man who sailed from Liverpool, England, to New York in June 1912. At Ellis Island he gave his name as John Percy Eccleston; in England he'd been Archibald Norman John Percival Eccleston. What documentation would he have needed to enter the USA and what were the checks on immigrants like at Ellis Island? Did it depend on which country the prospective immigrant came from?
After his entry to the US I've lost track of him until his death in 1918 at Charleston Naval Base Hospital, SC, probably from illness; at that time he was in the Pioneer Corps.
He probably never used Archibald Norman in the UK, either, and maybe thought that "Percy" sounded more "American" than Percival -- or maybe he just hated the name Percival.
There is a large gray area regarding names. My grandfather arrived carrying documents that correctly spelled his name, and he could write his name. I cannot find his name in Ellis Island records. He immediately started in the USA using an Americanized spellling of his name. My mother's birth was never recorded but her brothers are listed under their American spellings, as are census entries. My grandfather went to court when he was in his 50s and legally changed his name to the American spelling, and I have that court document.
I believe it is law in the USA that there is legal recognition of any name by which one was commonly known, but I don't know if that ruling applied a century ago or not.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
