The cursive is a bit hard to read. First word is definitely ‘Polish”, but the second word could start with an “L” or “S”, have an “A” or “O” in the middle, and end with an “E”, “C”, or “S”.
Before I share my findings, let’s go over the meaning of this column and the form. This particular “Record of Detained Aliens” was for immigrants to the U.S. who arrived to New York on the U.S.S. Batavia and were held at the port for various reasons. They may have been waiting for a relative or spouse to pick them up, or they telegraphed someone to send them money if they arrived with not enough – so they could afford a railroad ticket or other transportation. You’ll also notice some on this record were discharged to immigrant care homes, like the United Hebrew Charities. I’m pretty sure that’s what we’re dealing with here in our example, a care home for Polish immigrants. Perhaps “Loc” for location or “Soc” for society?
I browsed all the pages of this record with the same handwriting, and found an example with an address:
#Reader #Question #Polish #Soe #detained #aliens #list #Start #Researching #Genealogy
