Dear "Ladyscoop?" You have aroused my curiosity a bit. You said that your ancestor "probably" came from Bremen, and he/she "probably" arrived in Hobokan, etc. Is there some evidence of some sort that suggests this scenario? The reason I am asking is that although it is possible that your ancestor left from either Hamburg, Bremen, or Rotterdam, it seems more logical that he.she would have left from Antwerp. Take a look at a map pf the area. Note the southerly location of Slovakia. Now, if you were going to make the journey back then, which port would you head for :-) ? Many, many immigrants from Galicia, etc., did depart from all those ports mentioned, and many, MANY departed from Antwerp. One of the favorite lines would have been the Red Star line sailing from Antwerp. Then, in most cases, the landing points for the Antwerp departures were at New York City. There were, however, some in Boston and Philidephia. I am not aware of direct landings in Hobokan. But that doesn't mean there weren't any. I am not an expert :-) So, what does all of this mean? It means that he/she could have arrived in any of those places and departed from any of the ports mentioned (and even others). Keep an open mind UNLESS you do actually have some concrete evidence that the probabilities you mentioned are for sure. With all of that said, if you think the port of New York may be a possibility, you have a slight problem. Oh, it's not a big one, but it might make you an extra step. You see, there is a regular alphabetical index for arrivals from June 16, 1897 through June 30, 1902. If your ancestor arrived then, you should find them in there listed by their last name. If, on the other hand, they arrived after June 30th, there is a soundex for that. The name you mentioned codes as C623, so you would have to order the film for that soundex code. Then, when you get it, you would go to the correct code group of names, and then locate your ancestor alphabetically BY THE FIRST INITIAL OF HER GIVEN NAME. So, basically you'll have to decide on whether you want to get one or the other or both films. Me? I am impatient sometimes, so I'd probably get them both to avoid having to wait for the second film if the first one didn't yield any results. Complicating matters could be, of course, that someone recorded your ancestor's name phonetically instead of accurately, HOWEVER, and this is important . . . There is a big myth that immigrant's names were arbitrarily changed, spelled phonetically by insensitive or ignorant customs people, etc. NOT SO! In most cases the registering officer would be copying a name from another document. It is true that in some cases, honest mistakes were made, but that was not the norm. Sometimes I think people get passenger arrival records and census documents mixed up. In the case of the latter, there were many errrors. So, considering all of this, I really suspect that your ancestor's name is recorded properly. You also have the fact that there were other prople traveling with her. Their names, if you know them, will give you a good point to cross reference to confirm you have the right person. Also, I am assuming that you at least have a general idea as to the age of your ancestor. What you need to do at this point is get to the nearest LDS FHC and order in either the Index or the soundex (or both) that I mentioned. Then, you should be able to find them. Two other possibilities, although not necessarily as easy to pull off, are to hunt for naturalization records which would tell the arrival, etc., or the 1910 census which tells the year of immigration for the ancestor. Again, in either of these cases there can be errors, but they can offer valuable clues to the general time that your family arrived. In many cases, although not all, they are exactly right too. Me? I'd go for the index and soundex first. If that fails, then try the other avenues. Well, I have to get to bed. Old guy, you know :-) I hope this will give you some ideas and be helpful. Have a nice week. Regards, Charles ctucker@wzrd.com