Me again! The info from Bill Sanders is really interesting. I read somehwere that the bay was so shallow that the ships actually anchored on a sand bar. The disembarking passengers had to wait for water taxis esentially to get to shore. Many people finally just waded or swam in to the beach if they didn't have small children or a lot of belongings. Indianola first began to see shipping traffic around 1844. It was destroyed in 1875 by a hurricane and rebuilt. The storm of 1886 was horrific and the town didn't recover. A Texas history book I have describes Galveston and Matagorda as among the most serviceable ports of the mid to late 1800's. >From: Winifred Howard <mchoward@hotmail.com> >Reply-To: TXGALVES-L@rootsweb.com >To: TXGALVES-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: Re: [TXGALVES-L] Meyer or Myers >Date: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 21:35:55 PDT > >Hi Judith, > >Shelly is correct about Ellis Island. In the 1880's they may have stopped >in New York, but there is the possibility that there are no records. >Castle >Garden (State of New York facility) did keep some records, but Ellis Island >begin keeping records closer to 1900. ( I don't have the exact date handy, >but I could find out). There is a great book on Indianola. There is >nothing there anymore except a monument to the lives lost there during the >hurricane that destroyed the town. I have some pictures of the monument if >youd like to have one and a couple of the coastline and the bay. It is >pretty desolate. The people from Panna Maria have kept their history very >much alive. Are you looking for any other info besides the ship? There >are >a lot of church histories at Clayton Library here in Houston and sometimes >they are loaded with info you wouldn't expect to find. I am assuming that >your ancestors were Catholic. I can check for you to see what I can find, >but it will be next week before I get to the library. Just let me know. > >Regards, > >Winnie > >>From: "Judith M. Slate" <slate@pilot.msu.edu> >>Reply-To: TXGALVES-L@rootsweb.com >>To: TXGALVES-L@rootsweb.com >>Subject: Re: [TXGALVES-L] Meyer or Myers >>Date: Tue, 06 Jul 1999 13:43:07 -0500 >> >>Bertha: >> >>My relatives, Albert and Mary (Biela) Kopecki, came over on a ship that >>landed at Indianola instead of Galveston. It probably started out at >>Breman, Germany. Did ships stop at Ellis Island before they came to >>Galveston then went to Indianola ... or did they come straight from >>Germany >>to Indianola? The first group of Polish settlers came to Galveston in >>1854 >>(November probably); the group my great grandparents came in landed in the >>1880s. They then settled in Panna Maria, Texas. >>Judy Slate >> >>At 12:37 PM 7/6/99 -0400, you wrote: >> >I did check "SHIPS PASSENGER LISTS PORT OF GALVESTON, TEXAS 1846-1871 >> >Did not find a listing for a VINCENT MEYERS/MEYER >> >Bertha Ellen >> > >>Judith M. Slate >>Co-ordinating Secretary >> >>Department of Geography >>Michigan State University >>315 Natural Science >>East Lansing MI 48824-1115 >>517 355-4649 x 102 >> >> >> > > >_______________________________________________________________ >Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com > _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com