Transit through New York was apparently quite common. I have a great uncle who 'disappeared' in his teens and seemed untraceable until I responded to an advertisement placed by my second cousin in Alberta, Canada. She was also tracing the history of her grandfather, who had changed his 'known by' surname on entering Montreal, Canada via New York. His true name was entered on his death certificate and gravestone and that was how she was able to trace his passage from Liverpool to New York and identify his London origin. Brian Flack