When the Ellis Island Foundation prepared what is now known as the
Ellis Island Database (EIDB), they used the microfilms held by the
National Archives. But, depending on the years of immigration, you
might be able to find additional information if you too go to the
original microfilms yourself. This is especially true right now
while we wait to learn if we will be able to view all the original
manifest pages again via Stephen Morse's or (now) Avotaynu's search
site on the web.

After about 1900 or so, manifests contained two additional sections
at their ends: "Detained Aliens"; and "Aliens Held for Special
Inquiry". In the "Detained Aliens" section, many people were listed
again if the person they were to join in the U.S. had not yet appeared
at Ellis Island to pick them up. (This was especially true for
immigrant women and children.) Most often, this would be the same
person that had been listed on the manifest as the person they were
joining, but not always. In some cases, I've found that the person
who picked them up was different, thus giving a lead to an additonal
family member or friend. Also, the most current address would be given
by the person picking them up and this was often different than what
had appeared on the manifest. This might be of use if you're
interested in going further and finding/confirming them all in a
census or city directory.

The "Aliens Held for Special Inquiry" section details legal proceedings
on anyone whose admission the the U.S. was in question. This could go
either way: "admitted" or "deported". Again, this could be of
importance in any ancestor search.

Howie Relles
Dr. Howard M. Relles
Sarasota, FL; rellesh@yahoo.com
See: http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/1890ny.htm
and: http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/inddbs/4844.htm
and: http://istg.rootsweb.com/austria_poland_galicia1889.html