Hello - As known, if a passenger dies at sea during the early periods of immigration, as a matter of reason and logic, the body was buried at sea. With no means available to preserve the body, decomposition started immediately. After 3 days or so the remains were then considered a health hazard. In certain circumstances, with the approval of the ships Captain, the body was kept onboard if landfall was reached in 3 days or less, then it was buried in the earth with religious rites as appropriate. All genealogical references today, to my knowledge, states by one form of verbiage or the other, that "passenger deaths are sometimes recorded in the ships manifest". I don't think this line of reasoning is accurate and I don't think the "Wise People" of genealogy put enough emphasis on this accuracy. http://library.uwb.edu/guides/USimmigration/1855_Passenger_Law.html is an extract page with a link to the actual US Law passed in 1855 where among other points, the ships Captain was held personally responsible for the Health, Welfare and Moral of each and every passenger. The law demanded a headcount and accounting. The ship's manifest refers to the list of cargo carried by a ship. The term "ship's manifest" and "passenger manifest" are often confused, but there are differences. The passenger manifest or passenger list is a record of passengers traveling aboard ship, while the ship's manifest refers specifically to cargo. The two records were often kept together by the ship's captain, but they were often kept separate as well, along with other trip manifests important to the Captain. The ship's manifest typically includes the name and type of ship, the type of goods being carried, and the names of the shipper and receiver. The ship's manifest may also be referred to as "cargo manifest," or in the case of slave ships the "slave manifest." Slaves were considered property and were referred to as cargo, rather than passengers. The name of the slave owner or agent might also be included. 1855 was the year that New York Cities "Castle Garden" (Immigrant Processing Station) activated, and they, like other Processing Stations then and to come, adhered to the law. A ship entering New York harbor starting in 1855 couldn't even dock. They were escorted to holding areas, made to anchor, and guarded. No one could debark until such time as the ships Captain was cleared through the equivalent of "Customs" today, whereby all passengers were individually debriefed and matched against the passenger manifest for accountability. The same for the ships manifest and the Doctors manifest if the Company paid a Doctor for his services during the voyage. The list manifest and specifics of any Deaths Onboard during the voyage will be reflected in some form, somewhere in the written manifest records. In my opinion, if there are no passenger deaths listed, then the odds strongly favor there being none. Tomasz