This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/DYB.2ACE/1482.1 Message Board Post: Hello Ruthie, What was their ethnicity? Prior to the end of WW I, 1918, was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and inc. all or part of the modern countries of Aust., Hung, Poland, Ukraine, Czech, Slovak, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Romania, Bosnia and Yugoslavia and had 12 official languages. Also their is no ethnic group called Austrian. However US Census records were not very specific and Austria could have meant anyplace in that old Empire, regardless of whether it was under the Austrian Crown or the Hungarian Crown. For instance my GGPs came from Croatia (which has been a country since about 923!) but was under the Hungarian Crown but the US census stated they came from Austria. By establishing ethnicity you can narrow down the place they came from in A-H Empire if not to a single area at least a few areas. Also depending on the ethinicty Paul could have been Pawel, Pal, Pavle, Pavao, etc. And SEMOSH could have been simos', semos', semocz,etc. Or perhaps the name was shortened in the US? However Ellis Island records should show the original sp. of the surname, as it was in Europe. Names were not changed at Ellis Island, but were changed often times after they established themselves in the US. Ellis Island search really found nothing based on sp you gave and a few variations. But most likely they are recorded at Ellis Is, but under what name?! http://home.pacbell.net/spmorse/ellis/ellis.html Robert Jerin