Hello Jude, Yes, ships many times picked up passengers at Bremen and then traveled down the North Sea to pick up more at Antwerp Belgium. Your ship manifest should state how they came - if they stopped at both ports, or even Le Havre. That is written on the first page of the manifest. You next mention Swiss Cantons. Zurich is both a canton and a city - do you know which they came from?? Aarau is a city in the canton of Aargau...do you know where they actually came from?? You can write to the capitals of the cantons and they may be able to send you some info - for a fee of course. It cost me $50 to get infor from Glarus, the canton where my grgrandfather came from. Then you mention that they may have left from Basel. Yes, they could have walked, taken horse and wagon, or even a train if available, to Basel from their homes...they are not far away. Yes, they could have left from Bremen, coming from the Shelde River, or from Antwerp, Belgium coming from the Weser River, after initially traveling the Rhine River from Basel. Many ships stopped at both ports. Or they could have taken the train. Yes, the American Railroad Officials paid agents to encourage Europeans to emigrate to America, telling them of the lands available right next to the rr, so the farmers could not only move easly to the inner Americas, but could also ship products back and forth on the trains. In Germany, the agents would buy the farmers' homes, pay the bills, buy the tickets, and put the balance of the money in an account at the port, where it would be waiting for the emigrant when he got there. A very safe procedure for the farmer and initiated by a Jewish man who developed Hamburg for safety. I can't remember this man's name (maybe another lister can) but he said that "he became most wealthy from the poorest of emigrants, because he could get many on his ships in small spaces." As far as information concerning the agents and the role that the city Basel played, you could write there, and maybe they would know. Of course, it may be that all the information is in German, which would make it difficult...it may even be that all of the people in the records dept only speak German...I am not familiar with the area at all. (My family went by train to Le Havre in the NW, but far south of Bremen and Hamburg.) And lastly, I am a firm believer in Googling! My searches there is where I have learned most of my history of this area. The lighted screen is easier for me to read than a book would be, and the information is minutes away. Google your cantons, find an address, and that's a good start, if you are done here in America. Hope this helps, Nellie, a 68-yr-old root digger _http://www.militaryindexes.com/worldwartwo/_ (http://www.militaryindexes.com/worldwartwo/) WWII index - free for today _http://www.militaryindexes.com/worldwarone/_ (http://www.militaryindexes.com/worldwarone/) WWI - free until 25 Nov 2005