David (brenerda@aol.com) posted: >> What is the typical way the immigrants from England, who arrived in New York City, would get from NYC to Point Levis, Quebec. Specifically, John Hopkins Harlow and family arrived on the WEST POINT 29 Mar 1851. No later than 26 Aug 1852, they are in Levis. They had no reason to linger in New York. I think they went directly to Canada. Would they have boarded another ship? Would they have travelled up via New York State by land? Would the WEST POINT [have] continued on to Quebec? >> I would be interested to know more about John Hopkins Harlow. In my experience, only military officers and wealthy merchants travelled from England to Quebec by the New York packets. Quebec City was not a usual destination for immigrants and I find it odd that one would go there via New York. I disagree with Sue Swiggum's suggestion that they might have travelled to Quebec by the Erie Canal and then down the St. Lawrence. Here is an extract of an advertisement (Montreal Gazette, April 2 1851) Winter Arrangements between MONTREAL, BOSTON, NEW YORK. VERMONT CANADA and VERMONT CENTRAL RAILROAD Opened from West Alburgh to New York and Boston. Passengers for NEW YORK, BOSTON and BRITISH STEAMERS, will LEAVE MONTREAL DAILY, at 8 o'clock A.M., by Stage, and connect at West Alburgh, (opposite Rouse's Point), with the VERMONT CANADA and VERMONT CENTRAL RAILROAD, and arrive at St. Albans at 7 o'clock P.M. to lodge; leave ST. ALBANS at 6.30 A.M., next morning and arrive at BOSTON at 7 P.M., or at NEW YORK the following morning at 5 A.M. Passengers will find this the quickest and most comfortable route to either of the above places, as there is but 48 miles of Staging. N.B. the BRITISH MAIL, from and to Montreal via New York and Boston, passes over this route. The mention of this being the quickest route suggests others, and indeed the Rutland and Burlington Railroad had an advertisement for their route. This involved a Stage to Plattsburg (N.Y.), a ferry to Burlington, and then rail to Boston and New York. The railroad apologized for previous problems caused by another railroad (probably the above Vermont roads which were riddled with fraud) and in another note said that their Lake Champlain steamers had reached Plattsburg and in another day or two were expected to reach St. John's (Que; now St. Jean-de-Richelieu) which was connected to Montreal by rail. So while it is not possible to give an exact route, I think it quite likely that the Harlow family were able to travel from New York to Montreal by one of the above Champlain valley routes. Note that in the 1850s railroads were expanding and the same route might not have been available earlier, or might have been replaced later. Indeed the history of the Vermont and Canada Railroad (Canadian National Railways, Vol 1, G. R. Stevens) states that the line to Alburgh was only opened in June 1851, which does not agree with the above advertisement. -- Harry Dodsworth Ottawa Ontario Canada af877@freenet.carleton.ca ----------------------------------------------------------------