Paraphrased from John Colletta's 'They Came in Ships'- The 1882 law required that immigrants not become public charges; in 1893 the form changed and column 14 asked if they had more than $30, or if less, how much. (Your fellow came in just before that.) The minimum acceptable amount was $20 and they were not to be admitted if they had less. So although there was nothing in writing on the lists until 1893, the question was asked and your relative apparently didn't have the $20 needed and thus ran into trouble. The captain was trying to help out. Colletta said it was widely known in Europe that $20 was needed and very often that is all people declared, altho they had more sewn into their coat linings, etc. Liane ----- Original Message ----- From: <Kathysean@aol.com> To: <philly-roots@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 3:59 AM Subject: Re: [Phly-Rts] Immigrant being detained > Liane > > I checked the passenger list for him in 1891 and besides the name, sex and > country he was born, it only had what section of the ship he paid for. It > also listed his occupation and his destination which he said he was going > to > Boston, but got off in Philadelphia. There wasn't anything else written > down. > > Kathy > > > > ************************************** AOL now offers free email to > everyone. > Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com. > > > ********* > Visit the threaded archives of this list: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/PHILLY-ROOTS > ********* > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > PHILLY-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message