I would also like to add that I have read excerpts from diaries belonging to people that made the journey, and that the burials at sea, depending on the voyage, could be a daily occurance. Often the immigrants were already sick, but showing no sure symptoms at the time of boarding. Others caught their sickness while on voyage and weren't healthy enough to fend it off, and sometimes even the healthiest died during the voyage....Children lacked an immune system, and many elderly had a weakened immune system....making them easy targets for disease. KarenP -- > > Wonderful question. I have children who were on the ships' list but > didn't survive the trip. A 15 year old and later, a 2 year old. > > I read this online: > Quote: > The body of a passenger who died onboard a sailing vessel bound for the > United States was normally "committed to the deep." A respectful though > brief > service would be intoned, followed by immediate burial at sea. Therefore, > it is possible to find an inscribed gravestone for a family member who > died at sea in a cemetery of the > port of entry. > Unquote >