In a message dated 7/6/2005 12:43:52 AM US Eastern Standard Time, JAFSwkr@aol.com writes: I thought I read that ships from Bremmensailed for certain companies guaranteeing employment? Could he have come in through Philadelphia for a job lined up in Johnstown? Hi Again Coming to the USA under a contract for guaranteed labor became illegal in ~1885 -- if the immigration inspectors suspected that someone arrived upon the basis of guaranteed employment, they would have been barred from entry, and deported immediately. Prior to this federal law however, USA business recruiters did scour central and southeastern Europe for laborers, and there were deals made for passage and employment. As always, it is important to keep the facts about immigration in their chronological order, because the circumstances changed dramatically in the timeframes ~1885 to ~1920, and depending on when someone immigrated, the requirements affecting them were different. It is highly likely that your great grandfather simply came in via a port of entry other than Ellis Island -- most likely Baltimore, maybe Philadelphia (or possibly another even). Or he could have entered at the Port of New York (the Castle Garden processing station) prior to the opening of Ellis Island in 1892. Remember, the Ellis Island records online are for ELLIS ISLAND only -- so they only show up in the online database from 1892 on. You can determine the feasibility of this based on other knowledge you have of your family circumstances -- like his age, marital status, etc. before 1892. As to arriving at other ports, to me, this is more likely. The Bremen to Baltimore run by the North German Lloyd shipline was the largest carrier of immigrants (and mail) from the late 1880s to the early 1900s. Many of my family used this route, until about 1908 when things shifted to Port of New York arrivals at Ellis Island. The port at which someone arrived depended on which shipping line they used, and which shipping line they used depended on which shipping company agent was operating in their local vicinity from whom they purchased they passage (ticket). NGL was most active in this regard, until Holland-America, and Hamburg-Amerika lines became more successfully competitive in selling tickets in the local villages from about 1900 on. The shipping lines advertised specials, and competed with one another on price and accommodations for travel packages. So where an immigrant left from, and where they arrived was solely dependent on which shipping line they used -- which was solely dependent on which agents were operating in their area. There are microfilms and name indexes for the ports of Baltimore and Philadelphia (as well as many others) which contain the immigrant passenger arrival records. All of these are listed in the genealogy pages of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) website. The films are available at local libraries, or they can be rented at any LDS family history center -- and I think maybe ancestry.com has at least started putting these into their immigration databases online. But you won't find a site comparable to the Ellis Island web records for the other ports. But, the information is still very accessible. There is also a wealth of information on the historical facts of immigration online -- Cyndislist alone has over 800 links on the subject. Reading some historical information, and how to research the immigrant passenger records, may assist your research efforts. Best regards Linda