Detroit Border Crossings .....

[Tracey]

When Ancestry had these records free to view i found what could be two of mine. Only trouble is they give no information . All it says on the top line is Refund px, then further along the date, Nov 10th 1919 then underneath her name. The other one i have which would be her sister is exactly the same.
Thats all there is. So is there anyway i can find out more if so where ? They arnt on any ships list as they were born in the U.S and were inbound to Scotland, presumably at this time.

Many thanks in advance

Tracey

[JustJean]

Hi Tracey

Not sure I'm following you.

You have two sisters both born in the US that are leaving to go to Scotland. They are crossing the border at Detroit so I'm assuming they are leaving the US and going in to Canada in order to sail from there? Or they've been in Canada even though being born in the US and are now returning to the US to set sail from there? What are you hoping to learn about them....where they were born? or where they were heading to in Scotland?



Best wishes
Jean

[paddyscar]

I'll join Jean, in saying I'm confused Tracey.

If it's land crossings for Canada-U.S. border see David's posts:
http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic. ... r+crossing

http://talkingshttp://talkingscot.com/f ... php?t=8685

If they were born in the U.S. and were returning there by ship, they would still be listed on the inbound manifest. http://www.ellisisland.org/search/passSearch

Frances

[Tracey]

Jean asked

What are you hoping to learn about them....where they were born? or where they were heading to in Scotland?

..as said in my post ..............

they were born in the U.S and were inbound to Scotland,

These sisters were born in different parts of the U.S.A. They arrived in Scotland c1920/21. From where they sailed or deviated on route is not known.
We are hoping to find out their true parantage.
The Border Crossings found are the closest to clues about them yet, and was hoping there was somewhere we could contact in Detroit or Canada (?) about the crossings before one of us starts looking through 2-3 ish years of (unindexed, if i am right) ) U.K In bound passenger lists at Kew
The only information the crossings contain for both of them
Refund px Nov 10th 1919
Name (which is included)

This is the crux of it. There are too many living relatives still to give too much away, not that the majority would mind but you never know.

[paddyscar]

OK Tracey, the bad news first. The Government of Canada did not keep records of people leaving the country; there are no passenger lists for departures from Canadian ports.source: http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealo ... 003-e.html

This page offers some hope, but unfortunately, the records are not digitized. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealo ... 005-e.html

1919-1924
From January 1919 to the end of 1924, individual forms (Form 30) were used to record immigrants entering Canada from or via the United States. This series also includes a few forms from later years.

1908-1918
The lists are arranged by border port and date of entry. If you do not know those details, you must search these unindexed lists port by port and month by month for the appropriate region.

If they crossed at Detroit, they would be listed in the Windsor entries.

Frances

[JustJean]

Hi Tracey

The way I've always understood it....is the ancestry database of immigration records are just that. Immigration in to the US. Whether it be a returning US citizen or a newly arrived alien. I don't think a mention in the Detriot Border Crossings includes people leaving the US. Just as Frances as shown...Canada would have been in charge of those records....not Detroit. So that is why I was confused. If your sisters were born in the US and were traveling to Scotland...why were they in Canada and coming in to the US to do so?

I might be very very wrong about the crossings rule but that's the way I've interpreted the database. The following is a direct quote from ancestry.....

Source Information:
Ancestry.com. Detroit Border Crossings and Passenger and Crew Lists, 1905-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data:

Detroit, Michigan. Card Manifests (Alphabetical) of Individuals Entering through the Port of Detroit, Michigan, 1906-1954. Micropublication M1478. RG085. 117 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.


Detroit, Michigan. Passenger and Alien Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at the Port of Detroit, Michigan, 1946-1957. Micropublication M1479. RG085. 23 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

About Detroit Border Crossings and Passenger and Crew Lists, 1905-1957
This database is an index to border crossings and passenger and crew lists of vessels arriving at Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan between 1905 and 1957. Information contained in this database includes: name, age, birth date, birthplace, gender, ethnicity/nationality, last residence, vessel or airline name, and dates of arrival and departure.

This database is an index to card manifests of aliens crossing from Canada and entering the U.S. through the port of Detroit, Michigan from 1905 to 1954. It also includes passenger and alien crew lists of vessels arriving at the port of Detroit, Michigan, from 1946 to 1957. In addition, the names found in the index are linked to actual images of the passenger lists, copied from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm M1478 and M1479.

A variety of Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) forms may have been used to record information about the passengers, crew members, or aliens. Different forms could be used depending on whether the individual was a passenger on a plane, passenger on a vessel, crew member, citizen, alien, etc. Forms may have simply changed over time as well. Due to the variety of forms, the amount of information available for an individual in this database will vary according to the form used and the questions asked on it. The type of information that is generally contained in this database though, includes:

Name
Age
Birth date
Birthplace
Gender
Ethnicity/nationality
Last residence
Vessel or airline name
Port of departure
Port of arrival
Date of arrival

Additional information about an individual may be recorded on the original document and may be obtained by viewing the corresponding image.
The card manifests are arranged alphabetically by surname and the passenger and crew lists are arranged chronologically by arrival date.

Best wishes
Jean

[Tracey]

Sorry for not responding sooner to thank you both - i am still mulling over it all. I did though in one of my more organised moments jot down the microfilm number of the entry M1478_72 although i cant find reference to it yet on the Canadian site.

If your sisters were born in the US and were traveling to Scotland...why were they in Canada and coming in to the US to do so?

..........Absolutely no idea Jean. They were babies at the time, one was age 3 the other age 1. The couple we were told were the parents i didnt find on the crossings. They had a brother born in 1919, he isnt on the crossing either. The search for his birth in the American state he was supposedly born in has proved hopeless. So who they travelled with is anyones guess but i didnt find anyone familiar when i was looking.
What i found may not them but to find these two names together on the same "crossing" makes me feel almost certain it is them.

Tracey