Hello, Further to this discussion, in the mid-1800s, Michigan was the center of the timber industry. Later, this moved to northern Wisconsin. An immigrant could work for a year or so in the timber industry and get enough to buy a farm. This was "good news" and word spread. Also, rare and unusual minerals in the bay at Michigan were great for the production of chemicals and soon the chemical industry needed workers as well. Certainly word spread to those still in Germany about the availability of jobs in Michigan. It is understandable that emigration agents would capitalize on this and have "package deals" where one could pre-pay his voyage and receive ship and connecting transportation to Michigan all in one. Immigrants followed employment. In AMERICAN PASSENGER ARRIVAL RECORDS by Michael Tepper, he says Canadian steamship companies and railway lines encouraged many people bound for the U.S. to travel through Canada by offering them lower fares. One company, the Hansa Line, plying between Liverpool and Quebec and Montreal, took on passengers in Antwerp and Hamburg and offered passage to the U.S. through Canada via the Canadian Pacific Railway. Further, "it had been noted that approximately forty percent of all passengers arriving in Canada were actually bound for the U.S." by 1895. The U.S. and Canada established a system of joint inspection of immigrants coming overland from Canada after that. St. Albans, Vermont became the headquarters (after Montreal) for District 1 of the Immigration Service. Records documenting passengers arriving on vessels at Canadian ports and on trains crossing the frontier into the U.S. were microfilmed and are at the National Archives. Peak period for this immigration was 1895 to 1915, but there is a Soundex covering 1895-1924 in Series M 1461 and other series dealing with St. Albans are available as well. Regards, Karen B. Whitmer