When submitting this type of order to the National Archives, the online site requires you to enter very specific information - or completion of the record order is not possible. In narrowing my search to one ancestor, I decided on Andrew Hamilton (my great, great, grandfather), Clerk of the Crown, Irvinestown, Ireland. This choice was due to the fact that my mother and I possess a set of family letters dated from 1818 - 1833 which encompassed the correspondence from Andrew to his son Allen - previously sent to the U.S. to obtain a livelihood. Conditions in Ireland at this time were a financial nightmare. To my National Archives search, I included the other children's names I believe immigrated with their father - Eliza, Thomas, and James (my great, great, grandfather). Andrew's wife Elizabeth Allen Hamilton, died the year before the family was immigrated to America.
Most of the information I possess for my research comes from the family letter collection written between the parents of the Hamilton family, and their son who they sent to America 14 years earlier. Since the time period is much earlier than the big Ellis Island rush of the very late 1800s, I had no idea if records even existed for this era.
I completed my online order, paid the $20.00 (this is standard for any document order at NA) and not so patiently, waited for the results. The usual NA order completion time is about 2 weeks. I checked the status of my order multiple times - it always said "servicing" which meant the research was underway. Knowing that at any point the status could change to "no results found" which can definitely happen, I was pretty hopeful, but not too hopeful that I would receive any found record copies.
Out of the blue, (3 weeks later) I received a large envelope from the National Archives. Inside were 3 documents - the research report (listing the microfilm # etc.) and a copy of the microfilm title page and a large copy of the actual ship passenger list. At first I was skeptical that this was even the record I was looking for - and the condition of the passenger list was poor. There were only about 12 of the 48 lines that were readable. I did notice right off, that the column showing passenger ages was completely intact. I took out a magnifying glass and started analyzing what I could read of the names...
MIRACULOUS. In the bottom left portion of the passenger list, (one of only two readable portions of the document)... THERE WERE ALL THE NAMES I WAS LOOKING FOR! The entire family! All of them! The corresponding ages in the neighboring column matched the ages from their birth records. What I felt upon reading these names his hard to describe. I screamed, I laughed, I called my mother. She screamed, she laughed, we screamed. Enough said.
Here is the info I obtained from this ONE search:
Name of Vessel: Brig Susannah
Port of Embarkations: Greenock
Date of Arrival: June 28, 1833 (coincides with dates in the letters)
Port of Entry: New York
Names and exact ages of ancestors at time of immigration.
When I searched the port of departure, I was surprised to find "Greenock" on the west coast of Scotland. This fact raised many questions. Having completed some research, I have now found that since Northern Ireland and the west coast of Scotland are only 13 miles apart in some areas, the Irish (who were starving) found ways to cross to Scotland and work the seasonal harvests. At this time, one of my theories is that our ancestors worked the harvest to receive passage money, probably received some money from son Allen in America as well, and immigrated through this plan. The family letters talk of Andrew and family seeking to immigrate as early as 1819. It took many years longer, however. The most obvious reason was probably money, and Andrew's wife was not well for years. See immigration document below! Line 38 is where my family names begin.
