On May 14, 1853 the ship AMERICA arrived in NY carrying a William ELLIOTT with supposed family members; Lucy ELLIOTT, 18, Margaret, 15 and Charles, 20. All 4 Elliott's declared their home as Ireland. William isn't accompanied by a wife so he may have been widowed. However, nothing on the ship list confirms them to be a father-children family unit. I'm simply supposing. Not knowing their Irish county of origin has made it impossible to find any information about them, if indeed William is father to the 3 young people in his company. And not having a name for William's supposed first wife, probable mother to these 3 adult children with him, complicates my search even further. Coincidentally, on an earlier passenger page, I discovered a Joseph ELLIOTT, age 27, who gives his home country as England....perhaps a scribe's error. I don't know if there is a connection between these separate ELLIOTT entries. I've discovered that this ELLIOTT family unit spent a couple years in New York before traveling west to Iowa. While living in NY William had married a Jane B. (BURGESS- married or maiden name?) a young woman of 28, an 1839 immigrant from Ireland. After their move to Iowa I have been able to locate these Elliott's in the 1856, 1860, 1880, & 1900 Iowa Census and follow some of them and their growing families. Lucinda ELLIOTT was married to Christopher BETTS/BETZ in 1859, by a Presbyterian minister in Iowa. They were my great grandparents. Where did she live before leaving Ireland? Thank you for checking your records for connections to my Irish ELLIOTT family. Sincerely, Billie Betts Leclerc bjleclerc@sbcglobal