There is something ironic about the fact that having finally begun blogging about the multi-generational "American" families I research, I am presently focusing on my Carpatho-Rusyn ancestry. Which very naturally brings me to Madness Monday.
My
recent baptismal record finds prompted some questions from my father regarding immigration records. I have found multiple records for the members of his family who travelled back and forth from Europe to U.S., found the single immigration records for his parents, uncle and aunts who stayed in the U.S., found them all except for his aunt Sue, Suzanna Pereksta (left). Buoyed by my recent success I decided to try once more.
I went back to Ancestry.com and Steve Morse's brilliant
One Step search pages. I was able to narrow the search date to 1911 since both the 1920 census and family records gave this as her arrival year. Using every wildcard I could think of I finally found her as "Susie Perexta" in the Hamburg Passenger Lists leaving Feb. 1, 1911 on the
Accrington. Eureka! All I needed to do was find the manifest for the
Accrington arriving in the States and work through it until I found her. Several hours and pointless searches later I finally read through the entire Hamburg List record and realized the
Accrington didn't go to the United States in February, 1911. It went to England. I am frequently my own worst enemy.
Take two (actually take three on this project) involved far broader wildcard searches. In the end she appeared in the Ancestry.com
Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1945 database - arriving in Philadelphia from Liverpool on Feb. 22, 1911 aboard the
Haverford, indexed as "Luria Peresla" heading to her brother in Berwick, PA. Far be it from me to criticize the indexers, but really - Luria? Fortunately Ancestry.com allows annotations.
So she's been "found" and I can now prove, conclusively, that the aunt my father grew up seeing every week of his childhood (if not more often), the aunt who housed my grandmother when she arrived in the United States, the aunt whose name I share, actually came to America. There's a bit of madness for you!
