Passenger Ships' Lists, Pennsylvania by Donna Speer Ristenbatt NOTE: In the book Pennsylvania German Pioneers by Strassburger and Hinke, the following is written on page xxiv, which is of great interest. In addition to the captains' lists we have the lists of the signers of the oath of allegiance. On these lists we naturally expect to find the signatures of all the male adults on the ships. But here we meet with another disappointment. What we actually find, at least on the first seventy lists, are the names of all the male adults who were well on the day of signing and were able to appear at the Court House. If any of the male passengers were sick, they were not required to sign later. Beginning in August 1739, we find that the Clerk of Council signed the names of the absent passengers. But, in the earlier lists, there is often a serious discrepancy between the male adults that were on board and those that actually signed. Thus, for example, on the very first captain's lists there are 109 names, but only 51 persons actually appeared in the Court House and signed the oath. The others, who are reported as sick, "never came to be qualified." It should also be noted that the Captains' Lists do not exist for every ship. Many have been lost or destroyed. http://www.ristenbatt.com/genealogy/shipind.htm