Ruth,

Others may be able to fill in some gaps in my knowledge, but here's what
I know:

The St. Albans records are actually records >from all entry points in the
eastern U.S. St. Albans, itself, is in Vermont and was usually used as
an entry for people arriving at Montreal. If you look at a border-area
map, you will see why.

The St. Albans entry list on which you found the family should tell you
which port was the actual entry place for them. My grandfather, for
example, is listed as arriving at St. John, NB and lists the date of his
arrival (in March, 1900). I can't recall now whether the name of the
ship was there, too, but it may have been.

You can look at the actually ship manifests at the Canadian Archives
website if you have the date and the name of the ship. They are not
indexed by passenger name.

As I understand it, a ticket could be purchased which would include a
train fare to the final destination. I think the manifest listing which
ended up on the St. Albans list was actually taken at the train's
departure so that it could be presented at the border.

Hope it helps.

Joy Weaver
E. Islip, NY


"Ruth Kornbluth wrote:

Hello,
I finally found my grandmother's manifest after searching for about 5
years.
She was >from Baranaviche in Belarus (Minsk). She arrived via Canada
and St. Albans
on Jan 5, 1903
They were headed for NYC to be with her husband, David Poczipoff.
I would like to know what the procedure would have been for persons
entering
thru Canada. Was St. Albans a port city? How did the new arrivals
get to NYC? Was it by train >from Canada?
Thanking anyone who might make this clearer to me."

Ruth Kornbluth
Hollywood, FL