Finding Mennonite Family Arrivals by Ship
By Ron Issak
With the rapid expansion of the internet and its wealth of genealogical
information many projects are initiated and often the links between them
can be lost, or for the novice, they are difficult to find and navigate
through. The following is a compilation of the
current internet locations for ships lists containing Mennonite names.
Use of these lists presumes that you are familiar with basic
internet navigation and search functions.
These lists will be most useful to those that know: a) year, arrival
date and port of entry to Canada and on which boat they arrived b) the
year of arrival only (This can take time but is well worth the effort).
If you don't know the year, or ship name or port of arrival but it was
after 1923 the Mennonite Board of Colonization records may help. (next
article in this series).
Internet links tend to change over time but the following are the active
sites at this time:
Master Immigration and Ships list Odessa library.
There are numerous sites on the Odessa Digital library.
http://www.odessa3.org/collections/ships/
Mennonite Passenger List 1872-1904 to the USA
http://www.odessa3.org/collections/ships/link/mships.txt
for details on the ships get ship number from above
site and then go to
http://www.odessa3.org/collections/ships/link/mindiv.txt
Quebec Mennonite Passenger Lists: 1874-1880
with Names Compared to the Hamburg Passenger Lists
and Families Cross Referenced to Church Registers
http://www.mmhs.org/canada/quebec/passenger.html
Mennonite Immigrants on Quebec Passenger Lists: 1881-1896*
http://www.mmhs.org/canada/18811896.htm
Mennonite Immigrants to Canada Departing from Hamburg, Germany:
1890-1898
http://www.mmhs.org/canada/hamburg.htm
Mennonite Ship Passengers Arriving in Canada: 1900-1914 Includes
Quebec Ship Arrivals 1900-1909
Halifax Ship Arrivals 1900-1914
St. John Ship Arrivals 1900-1909
St. John Ship Arrivals 1910-1914
http://www.mmhs.org/canada/post_1900_canada_migrations_sorted.htm
1915 - 1918 not yet posted on the internet
1919 - 1924 Immigrants to Canada
From 1919 through 1924 Canada had what was called
an Immigration Form 30.
In order to take advantage of this you need to determine
which microfilm to
order by searching for family name and then family
members.
http://www.genealogy.gc.ca/10/100804_e.html
1925 - 1935 Immigrants to Canada
All arrivals via Pier 21 in Halifax are now listed
in a searchable database via the
Canadian National Archives.
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/020118_e.html
click on 'search the database'
The process is quite simple and by changing the given names you
can identify family groups. In the following example we searched for Peter
Voth who arrived in 1926 with family. The search showed 2 possibilities,
one being a child. By clicking on the 'square' to the left of the 29 year
old Peter Voth a 3rd screen appears which gives more details including
the ships name, date of arrival and the microfilm number for the record.
What can you expect to find ?
The internet sites with passenger lists vary in format and content but
the basic data is provided such as name, age occupation
together with date of arrival, ship name and destination. The following
is a typical example.
| Name |
Pass.
No. |
Age |
Sex |
Mar. |
Occ. |
Destination |
Ship |
Port
Dep. |
Port
Arr. |
Arrival Date |
| Wall, A |
345 |
37 |
M |
N |
Lab |
|
Montreal |
L |
Q |
30 May 1881 |
| Klassen, Peter |
2323 |
|
M |
Y |
Lab |
Gretna MB |
Parisian |
L |
Q |
1 Nov 1890 |
| Klassen, Margaretha |
2324 |
|
F |
Y |
Wife |
Gretna MB |
Parisian |
L |
Q |
1 Nov 1890 |
| Klassen, Peter |
2325 |
|
M |
|
Ch? |
Gretna MB |
Parisian |
L |
Q |
1 Nov 1890 |
| Klassen, Catherine |
2326 |
|
F |
|
Ch? |
Gretna MB |
Parisian |
L |
Q |
1 Nov 1890 |
The ordering and searching of microfilm can be a lengthy task but in
family history research very little seems to go quickly. Here are my results
from researching both Form 30A's and the 1926-1935 microfilm records. The
following is taken from a draft our family's story and shows the record
for my grandfather Cornelius Jacob Isaak who arrived in Canada in 1924.
"A form (30A) was required for each passenger. Shown below is the form
(#461) for Cornelius Isaak, age 37, a married male with wife Lydia. He
is a German speaking Mennonite, from the Ukraine, who intends to settle
and continue the occupation of farmer. … The back of the form shows they
are under special contract arrangements arranged by the Central Administration
of Dutch Descendents in the Ukraine.
Each applicant was required to sign the documents and in the case of
younger children it appears that parents signed for them.
While it is difficult to see this form does show that the destination
in Canada was Rosthern, Saskatchewan. The documents were obtained from
microfilm ordered from the National Archives of Canada."
From Ships records for 1925-1935 the Canadian Government Return or ships
immigration registry can provide a wealth of
information. Headings include the usual of name, age, country and place
of birth on the left side together with whether a cash or
credit passenger and occupation. The right hand side asks for destination
in Canada, name and address of nearest relative in
country from which you came, passport information such as number, place
and date of issue, how much money they arrived with and how they are traveling
inland (i.e. which railway). The information varies from family to family
but generally was worth the search.
For information on ordering microfilm from the National Archives of
Canada follow this link.
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/02/020207_e.html
I can be reached at teched@direct.ca for comments or questions. R.I.