Mml45@aol.com wrote: > >Can > someone explain why, if you can guess, I didn't find my MELKUS > families in this book.. One family of MELKUS I know left Antwerp > to NY on July 1883 and yet I couldn't even find that family > when I knew that much... > I downloaded some time ago a copy of an article by Prof. Dr. Antonius Holtzmann which was originally published in The Palatine Immingrant 22(1997)2, 80-87 which is quite critical of the GtA. He mntions that Germans who were American citizens returning to the USA are not included and this may be your case. Holtzmann also cites several other omissions of towns and people who were German. Also the manifest may not have said Germany or Bavaria so they would not have been counted. Also if the ship stopped at another port after leaving antwerp and arriving in NY it may not have been considered. However almost any compilation of records is subject to mistakes and omissions. >And my great-grandfather was in America > in the 1880 census with a wife and 7 year old child born in America so > I was guessing he might have arrived before the marriage so that > would put his arrival sometime between 1860-1870.. > Have you found your ggf in the 1870 Census? If not it is likely he arrived after 1870. > Well my husband > and I looked through all 64 books and we found 2 other Melkus > folks but not any of my family. > (MELKUS is an unusual name so when you find it you feel lucky) > Did you look at any spelling similar to MELKUS: Milkus, Melcus, Malkus? I found my wife Stilp ancestors in GtA but the name was spelled Stilb which is how it is spelled today in Heltersberg, the Pfalz. > I have a copy of the passage for the Karl MELKUS that left > Kaiserslautern and went to Antwerp, Belgium dated 25 July 1883. It > was for Karl, > Margaretha Diehl Melkus and children: Karl age 6, Wilhelm age 3 and Berta > age 14 months. This paper says: " Deuthsche Reich. Königreich Bayern. > No. 245 des Register. Reise-Pass. Karl MELKUS was born in Otterberg, > Germany in 1850." Is it possible that he was not a German citizen? > There were no "German citizens" in those years. Germany was a confederation of smaller states. They would have been citizens of the Kingdom of Bavaria(Bayern). > I have a birth certificate for my Great-grandfather Franz MELKUS born > Nov. 17, 1840 in Otterberg Germany. In fact all of his brothers and > sisters were born in Otterberg as I have found each on at the LDS > library on microfilm... Does any one have guesses of these MELKUS > brothers and sisters not being citizens of Germany, as I was assuming? > I do not know where Otterberg is nor do you say but I assume it is in the Pfalz. As above they were citizens and subjects of the Kingdom of Bavaria. But what significance do you attach to their being citizens of Germany? How do Franz and Karl connect? Is Franz in the 1900 Census and when does it say he came to the USA? Have you found his naturalization record? If another look at GtA comes up with nothing now is the time to go to the passenger arrival lists at NARA. There are a lot but you can find ships coming from Antwerp as there is a list of ships arriving with the port of departure. bob gillis