TheShipsList-L Archives

From: "Beverly Zanon" <>
Subject: MORE ON CASTLE GARDEN BY FAM TREE MKR
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2005 09:32:54 -0500

NOT-SO-SECRET GARDEN

Used to be, if you wanted to find ancestors who immigrated
through Castle Garden--New York's primary emigrant landing
depot from 1855 to 1890--you had to crank through reels of
unindexed microfilm or buy a subscription to Ancestry.com
( http://www.ancestry.com). Now you can go to
http://castlegarden.org and search a free online database of
New York passenger lists from 1830 through 1913.

The Battery Conservancy (http://www.thebattery.org), an
organization to restore Manhattan's Battery Park, launched the 10
million-name database Monday. Besides Castle Garden
immigrants, says Conservancy program associate David
Bromwich, it includes passengers who were dropped off at the
Battery before Castle Garden opened and 2,000 Ellis Island
immigrants who aren't in the database at http://www.ellisisland.org.
(Ellis Island opened in 1892.) CastleGarden.org transcription
project leader Ira Glazier expects to add 2 million more immigrants
to the site's compilation.

CastleGarden.org's free Quick Search lets you look for a first and
last name and arrival date range. You can narrow your results
by choosing a place of origin, occupation and ship. The search
returns only exact matches, so you'll need to try spelling variations
on your ancestor's name. If you're not sure of the first name, leave
that field blank to see everyone with the surname you're looking
for. Results show name, occupation, age, sex, arrival and ship's
name.

Webmasters hope to enhance the database with Soundex
searching--which would catch similar-sounding surnames-- and
images of the original passenger lists.

For $45, you can submit an Advanced Search request, which lets
you select variables for sex, age, ship, port of departure, country of
origin, occupation and destination--without specifying a name.
Although the site recommends this search for scholars and
genealogists, the Quick Search will do in most cases. If you're
prepared to pay, it might be a better value to buy a $79.95
subscription to Ancestry.com's US Immigration Collection, which
includes images from microfilm of the original passenger
manifests.

Follow the site's Timeline link for a trip through Castle Garden's
illustrious history starting as a military fort called the Southwest
Battery. It was reincarnated as a prestigious performing arts venue,
the immigrant processing station and an aquarium before being
designated a national monument bearing its 1817 name, Castle
Clinton. For more ways to find Castle Garden passengers, see the
August 2005 Family Tree Magazine.

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• MORE ON CASTLE GARDEN BY FAM TREE MKR by "Beverly Zanon" <>