How to do a "Binary Search": Applying Computer Science Algorithms to Genealogy Research

6 January 2024 by Sherri Mastrangelo

Let’s take the ideas and concepts from certain computer science algorithms, break them down into simpler terms to understand them better, and learn how we can apply them to our genealogy research. No tech skills or coding required! In fact, you may already utilize some of these methods without even recognizing them.

The first algorithm we’ll discuss is called a “Binary Search”.

A binary search reduces the search to half at each step, to save time. Think of it as “divide and conquer”.

If you’ve ever tried to go to a certain page number in a book, say you are looking for page 343, you may have implemented a form of binary search by opening the book in the middle. You’re at page 201, so you know you need to go higher. Instead of turning the pages one by one, you estimate another chunk of pages and now you’re at 356, so you need to go lower. This is basically the concept behind a binary search. You would continue dividing the sections into smaller and smaller results until you find the target page.

Instead of working in a linear pattern, i.e. starting at the beginning of a list and reading the values all the way through the end, a binary search would start in the middle and either ascend or descend the list depending on if the resulting value is greater or less than the target value, repeatedly dividing each new search area, until it either finds the target or determines it is not there. Of course there is more to it when it comes to the writing the formulas to make the algorithm work, and the computer algorithm may be more precise in terms of dividing each resulting search array in half while you have roughly estimated, but I think this explains the general concept we need to implement.

It’s important to note that a binary search will only work with an ordered set of data, like an alphabetized list or a set of files organized chronologically. The list can be sorted ascending or descending, as long as its ordered. If the set of data is compiled randomly this method would not work successfully.

Image above generated with in part with AI tools.

Another example I’ve heard to describe binary search would be that of a detective watching security footage tapes (as pictured above), trying to figure out when a car was stolen overnight. This example might be a bit outdated with today’s technology but the same idea applies. Let’s say there is perfect high resolution video, aimed directly at the car, that disappeared sometime between when the owner parked it at 8 pm and when they noticed it was gone at 7 am. Instead of sitting down and watching eleven hours of video footage from start to finish, which would take all day, even sped up, the detective is going to implement a form of binary search. He will fast forward the video halfway to 1:30 am. If the car is still there, fast forward half of the remaining time to 4:45 am. If the car is no longer there, go back and divide the previous time between 1:30 am and 4:45 am, and so on until the target time is discovered. This method of searching would take significantly less time than watching hours of video footage!

So how can we apply the concept of binary search to our genealogy research?

The best case scenario for applying this method to genealogy research, would be when you have to look through records that are not indexed, or not transcribed correctly (but are still in some order - alphabetically, chronologically, or otherwise) and you need to narrow down your scope quickly.

Some examples of this and additional scenarios:

1. A large set of record images in a database online, like FamilySearch, that is not indexed (therefore not searchable by name) where you need to find the year in order to narrow down the hunt for your record. I know it can seem overwhelming when you come across these huge image-only datasets to browse - but using the binary search method will help save a lot of time! First confirm there is an order within the collection - are the surnames alphabetical? Or is the information organized by date? Look at the first few pages to give you an idea, then skip ahead to half. Depending on what you need, either skip ahead by another half or backwards by half. Note your page numbers to remember where you have searched. Just be aware often these collections have other, smaller collections within them, and there is usually a small note on the microfilm image when a new section starts.

2. An alphabetical City Directory where you need to find a certain surname. Maybe it’s a physical book in your hands, or a digital copy you found on Internet Archive or Google Books. You wouldn’t start with “A” and flip page by page if your surname started with an “R”, you’d skip ahead, and then back, as needed. And once you got to the “R’s” you would do the same for the full surname.

3. You don’t have a date of death for your ancestor, but you know their address and can look them up in City Directories. You know she must have died sometime between the birth of her youngest child in 1931 and the 1940 Census, where her husband is widowed. Instead of looking at all the city directories in a linear fashion, 1932, 1933, 1934, and so on, you can start with 1936 (about halfway), and you’ve likely just cut your search time in half. If she’s alive, you only have 4 more years. If she’s not alive, you work backward - cutting each new search in half.

   Of course you could “get lucky” when searching in a linear fashion, if the information you needed was in first City Directory you checked, for example. This is just an example to illustrate the search method. And remember to check the printing date on City Directories to be precise.
   

Can you think of another case scenario where this might come in handy?

More computer science algorithms coming soon!

Sources & Further Reading

• “Binary Search Algorithm”, Wikipedia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_search_algorithm) Accessed 5 Jan 2024.

Revealing Codes in the 1950 Census: Leave Blank Column A

Updated 15 April 2022. Originally published 4 April 2022. By Sherri Mastrangelo.

Update: When writing this blog post initially, I formed the chart through comparison of over 50 enumeration districts (the first to show for every state on the National Archives search results). This week while I was looking into the other “Leave Blank” columns on the 1950 census, I found a better primary source for this information, not in the enumeration instructions, but buried in a large zip file called The 1950 Censuses - How They Were Taken on the census.gov website, written by the U.S. Bureau of the Census in 1955. Updates are included below, though my original findings were pretty much in line.

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In the 1950 Census, between columns 8 for Relationship and 9 for Race, is “Leave Blank A”. This column is hand-written later, after the census taker has visited homes, and refers to the individual’s relationship to the head of household. You’ll notice that column 8, immediately to the left, also describes the relationship. So are these numbers actually telling us anything new?

Well, yes and no - but before we get into the usefulness of these notes let me share my findings.

I was getting asked this questions in a few emails, and noticed it in a few Facebook genealogy groups as well: “What do the numbers in the first Leave Blank” column mean?”. Some other members in one of the Facebook groups dismissed the notes as not important and not worth looking into, while others speculated it had to do with a widow status.

I came across this section on Stevemorse.org called “Deciphering Miscellaneous Codes Appended to the 1950 Census in One Step” by Stephen P. Morse, PhD and Joel D. Weintraub, PhD: https://stevemorse.org/census/mcodes1950.htm that was compiled before the release of the census, which seemed to have the answers in the first dropdown for Column A. Yet I quickly noticed that these answers, that included “0” for head of household, “1” for wife, “2” for child, and so on, did not match what I was seeing on actual 1950 census records (they align more with the 1940 census). Update 16 April: this site has now been updated!

So I decided to come up with a quick reference chart for this column and 1950 records. I took a look at the first non-reservation enumeration district of each state of the 1950 census available at NARA (https://1950census.archives.gov/) and tallied up the occurrences of notations and their relationship to their head of household, to look for similarities. The results were the same across all states (with less than a handful of outliers) summarized in the chart below:

Notation	Most Often
1	Head
2	Wife
3	Step-son Step-daughter Child
4	Son-in-law Daughter-in-law
5	Grandson Grandaughter
6	Mother Father Mother-in-law Father-in-law
7	Brother; Sister Aunt; Uncle Brother-in-law; Sister-in-law Niece; Nephew Cousin (Descendant of any of these)
8	Hired hand Maid Housekeeper
9	Lodger; Roomer; Boarder (Descendant of Lodger) Partner (unrelated person) Foster child (unrelated by blood)
X	Head of hotel or institution
0	Guest of hotel or institution Staff or other workers of institution
V	Patient Inmate

Source list of enumeration districts reviewed to compile above chart can be found below, following this post.

For comparison, below is an excerpt from the document The 1950 Censuses - How They Were Taken mentioned above, written by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. I think it matches up pretty well to my chart above, though I did update # 3 to include all children. You’ll also notice that I have "patient” or “inmate” under “V” while the government publication shows only inmate. I decided to leave mine this way to reflect the data from the records I reviewed.

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*”Possibly all children” under notation 3, because it’s unclear to me right now if 3 refers only to step-children, or to any related child of the head of household (other than a foster child that is unrelated by blood, that is found by a “9”). You’ll notice when there is a step-child there is almost always a 3 in this column, but if the relationship is listed as a son or daughter, this column is usually blank. Does anyone out there have any insight here?

(Updated here to show that 3 means all children, not just step children.)

So how is the helpful information, and does it actually tell us anything new?

• It can help us decipher the relationship if the writing is illegible in column 8 (though from what I’ve seen so far, handwriting in 1950 was pretty decent).

• If the relationship in column 8 is missing, it might help determine it.

An example of the latter is often seen for those transcribed from an ICR (Individual Census Report), as seen in the image below:

Image excerpt from the 1950 Census of Barnstable, Massachusetts (Enumeration District 1-2; page 31), found on 1950.census.archives.gov

In this 1950 census excerpt, we see a short list of “Persons Transcribed From ICRs [Individual Census Report] and Missed Persons Forms”. Right away we know the relationship of these people to the head of household, without any information shown in the relationship column. For example, for the last two indivudals we see that Edwin T. Chester is the head of the house, and Olive G. is his wife. You’d probably be able to figure this out eventually, but I still consider this helpful! What do you all think?

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Sources for my chart: All census records reviewed were from NARA (https://1950census.archives.gov/) as mentioned above. Enumeration districts reviewed include:

Alabama, Autauga, 1-1; Alaska, First Judicial Division, 1-1; Arizona, Apache, 1-1; Arkansas, Arkansas, 1-1; California, Alameda, 1-1; Colorado, Adams, 1-1; Connecticut, Bridgeport, Fairfield, 9-1; Delaware, Kent, 1-1; District of Columbia, Washington, 1-1; Florida, Aluchua, 1-1; Georgia, Appling, 1-1; Hawaii, Hawaii, 1-1; Idaho, Ada, 1-1D; Illinois, Adams, 1-1; Indiana, Adams, 1-1; Iowa, Adair, 1-1; Kansas, Allen, 1-1; Kentucky, Adair, 1-1; Louisiana, Acadia Parish, 1-1; Maine, Androscoggin, 1-1; Maryland, Allegany, 1-1; Massachusetts, Barnstable, 1-1; Michigan, Alcona, 1-1; Minnesota, Aitkin, 1-1; Mississippi, Adams, 1-1; Missouri, Adair, 1-1; Montana, Beaverhead, 1-1; Nebraska, Adams, 1-1; Nevada, Churchill, 1-1; New Hampshire, Belknap, 1-1; New Jersey, Atlantic, 1-1; New Mexico, Bernalilo, 1-2; New York, Albany, 1-1; North Carolina, Alamance, 1-1; North Dakota, Adams, 1-1; Ohio, Adams, 1-1; Oklahoma, Adair, 1-1; Oregon, Baker, 1-1; Pennsylvania, Adams, 1-1; Rhode Island, Bristol, 1-1; South Carolina, Abbeville, 1-1; South Dakota, Aurora, 2-1; Tennessee, Anderson, 1-1; Texas, Amarillo, Potter, 255-1; Utah, Beaver, 1-1; Vermont, Addison, 1-1; Virginia, Accomack, 1-1; Washington, Adams, 1-1; West Virginia, Barbour, 1-1; Wisconsin, Adams, 1-1; Wyoming, Albany, 1-1

Immigration Act of 1924 Codes on U.S. Passenger Arrival Lists

Today’s post is a follow-up to a recent blog post, “Passenger Lists: The Meaning Behind the Notations, Abbreviations, and Marks” as I wanted to add a bit more information, specifically about notations you may see on U.S. passenger arrival lists related to the Immigration Act of 1924.

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Massachusetts, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963. Ancestry.com. Series Number: T843; NARA Roll Number; 340. Note the highlighted area with notations, that refer to the Immigration Act. Can you decipher these codes using my table further below?

The Immigration Act of 1924, also known as the Johnson-Reed Act or National Origins Quota Act, “limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota. The quota provided immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census. It completely excluded immigrants from Asia.” (United States Department of the State). It capped the number of annual immigrants allowed at 165,000.

This act also required everyone to present a visa prior to entry. Those that were subject to quota restrictions would have a Quota Immigrant Visa (QIV), while those not would have a Non-Quota Immigrant Visa (NQIV). The Act “exempted from the new quota highly skilled immigrants, domestic servants, specialized workers such as actors and wives or unmarried minor children of U.S. citizens” (Pew) making these examples of non-quota immigrants. Those immigrants whom had been legally allowed entry into the U.S. previously would need a Re-entry Permit (RP), while U.S. citizens would require a Passport Visa (PV).

Starting in July 1, 1924, when this act went into effect, you may see notations on passenger arrival lists made by the immigration inspector at the port of arrival. These numbers and letter combinations referred to different sections and parts of the text of the Immigration Act of 1924, which I summarized in the table below.

Section	Part	Excerpt from the Immigration Act of 1924
3	Definition of an Immigrant
3	1	“A government official, his family, attendants, servants, and employees"
3	2	“An alien visiting the United States temporarily as a tourist or temporarily for business or pleasure”
3	3	“An alien in continuous transit throughout the United States”
3	4	“An Alien lawfully admitted to the United States who later goes in transit from one part of the United States to another through foreign contiguous territory”
3	5	“A bona fide alien seaman serving as such on a vessel arriving at a port of the United States and seeking to enter temporarily the United States solely in the pursuit of his calling as a seaman”
3	6	“An alien entitled to enter the United States solely to carry on trade under and in pursuance of the provisions of a present existing treaty of commerce and navigation”
4	Non-Quota Immigrants
4	a	“An immigrant who is the unmarried child under 18 years of age, or the wife, of a citizen of the United States who resides therein at the time of the filing of a petition under section 9…”
4	b	“An immigrant previously lawfully admitted to the United States, who is returning from a temporary visit abroad”
4	c	“An immigrant who was born in the Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, the Republic of Mexico, the Republic of Cuba, the Republic of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the Canal Zone, or an independent country of Central or South America, and his wife, and his unmarried children under 18 years of age, if accompanying or following to join him”
4	d	“An immigrant who continuously for at least two years immediately preceding the time of his application for admission to the United States has been, and who seeks to enter the United States solely for the purpose of, carrying on the vocation of minister of any religious denomination, or professor of a college, academy, seminary, or university; and his wife, and his unmarried children under 18 years of age, if accompanying or following to join him”
4	e	“An immigrant who is a bona fide student at least 15 years of age and who seeks to enter the United States solely for the purpose of study at an accredited school, college, academy, seminary, or university, particularly designated by him and approved by the Secretary of Labor, which shall have agreed to report to the Secretary of Labor the termination of attendance of each immigrant student, and if any such institution of learning fails to make such reports promptly the approval shall be withdrawn”
5	Quota Immigrants
5	“When used in this Act the term “quota immigrant” means any immigrant who is not a non-quota immigrant…”
6	Preferences within Quotas
6	1	“To a quota immigrant who is the unmarried child under 21 years of age, the father, the mother, the husband, or the wife, of a citizen of the United States who is 21 years of age or over…”
6	2	“To a quota immigrant who is skilled in agriculture, and his wife, and his dependent children under the age of 16 years, if accompanying or following to join him…”

Above excerpts from The Immigration Act of 1924, also named “An Act of May 26, 1924, Public Law 68-139, 43 STAT 153, to Limit Immigration of Aliens into the United States for Other Purposes” found in The National Archives Catalog. Additional non-relevant sections of the act were not included, but should be referenced as needed.

Looking back at the first image (close-up below), with the passengers sailing from St. John’s Newfoundland and arriving in Boston, Massachusetts in 1925, we see a list of notations in the immigration section:

By referencing the Immigration Act of 1924, through my table higher above, we can decode these notes as follows:

• The “3 - 2” would be a tourist or a temporary visitor, for either business or pleasure. We see the remark “pleasure” next to the first reference.

• The “4 - B” would be an immigrant, legally admitted to the U.S. before, that is returning from a trip abroad.

• The “4 - C” would mean an immigrant born in Canada, Newfoundland, Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, etc. (in this case likely Newfoundland as that’s where they are sailing from) or the immigrant’s wife or minor children

This Immigration Act was in effect in various forms until the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, or Hart-Cellar Act, replaced the quota system (Pew), with some restrictions on Asian immigrants repealed earlier, though we still use a system of visas.

Read more about Visa Files at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Note this immigration visa number written on passenger lists is not the Visa File number you need to request from USCIS.

Sources:

Pew Research Center. “Chapter 1: The Nation’s Immigration Laws, 1920 to Today”. 28 Sept 2015. (https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2015/09/28/chapter-1-the-nations-immigration-laws-1920-to-today/) Accessed 8 October 2021.

The Immigration Act of 1924. ”An Act of May 26, 1924, Public Law 68-139, 43 STAT 153, to Limit Immigration of Aliens into the United States for Other Purposes”. National Archives and Records Administration. (https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5752154) Accessed 7 October 2021.

United States Department of State: Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute. “The Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed Act)” (https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/immigration-act) Accessed 7 October 2021.

Passenger Lists: The Meaning Behind the Notations, Abbreviations, and Marks

When you look at a list of passengers arriving at a port in the U.S., you’ll see the names of those traveling on the ship, as well as their ages, the port and country they departed from, and perhaps their place of birth. It might show how much money they arrived with in their pockets. They may have given a name and address of their connection in the country (which weren’t always factual), if they are able to read and write in English, their race, if they are married or single, their occupation, and their intended destination. That’s a lot of valuable information for a genealogist.

However, if you’re not taking a look at the notations, abbreviations, and marks on the page you might be missing even more. Perhaps the person listed on the manifest never even made it on board the ship!

In this post we’ll go over some of the more prolific abbreviations and markings, including:

• Ditto or Quotation Marks

• USB (U.S. Born) or USC (U.S. Citizen)

• S.I. (Special Inquiry) and “X” and Several Reasons for Being Held (Husb., Bro, LPC, Under 16, Tel, Tel $, Med, DCD, LCD, No Boat)

• Line Through Names

• Not on the Ship (DNS or Did Not Sail; NOB or Not On Board; NS or Not Shipped)

• Naturalization Numbers

• DEP

While there were some discrepancies between ports and variations between years, you should be able to determine the meaning behind the markings in this post. You should also check out “A Guide to Interpreting Passenger List Annotations” by Marian Smith, available on JewishGen.org, for a more in-depth, qualified analysis of these and other notations and markings. Marian L. Smith, though recently retired, was the senior historian at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), previously Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), having joined the later in 1988 as their first historian (SHFG.org).

Ditto or Quotation Marks

Let’s start with an easy one that you’ve likely come across before in your work - things that mean “ditto” or “same as above”. This could be a quotation mark (or typed as _”_ or double quotation marks, ), the word “ditto”, or ditto abbreviated as “do”, or another letter or symbol (like the letter “V”). In the image below, what do you see?

In this early passenger list, you’ll see quotation marks meaning “ditto” or same as listed above, in the Name column, the Sex, Country to which they severally belong, and Country of which they intend to become inhabitants. Note while there is empty space in the Occupation column, there is no mark - so only the first passenger, Patrick, is a confirmed Blacksmith... Ancestry.com, Massachusetts, U.S. Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists. 1833, Oct, All Arrivals. [Database-on-line] Provo, UT. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006.

In many pages, you’ll note multiple forms of this. You may see quotation marks used in one column, and “ditto” or “do” in another for example.

In the left column it says “U.S. born” and underneath the abbreviation “do” for “ditto” is written three times. Would you have noticed all of the Di Lorenzo children where born in the U.S. looking at this? There are also quotation marks meaning same as above / child in the far right column... Ancestry.com, New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957. Year: 1905; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 1, Page Number: 41.[Database-on-line] Provo, UT. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

U.S.B. or U.S.C

In addition to “U.S. Born” (shown in image above) you may see “U.S.B.”. Also “U.S.C” for United States Citizen (See Smith’s section on “Annotations Regarding Nationality and Citizenship”).

Special Inquiry or “X”

A Special Inquiry meant cause for further examination, usually in the form of more interviews by officials or doctors. May show as the initials “S.I.” or “B.S.I.” for Board of Special Inquiry. May be a stamp of “Admitted” or “Deported” on or above the initials. Appears in the left column before the name.

Note on the left hand side, the initials “S.I.” with the word “admitted” stamped on them. FamilySearch.org, New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909; 1925-1957. Vol 8222-8224 Jan 5, 1925. Image 25.

While Special Inquiry means they were sent for a hearing or trial, an “X” in the far left column usually means they were just detained for a brief while (See further below: Husb, Bro, Tel, Tel $, or No Boat). Instead of an “X” you may see a “D” for “Detained” but depending on the port, those detained might also be subjected to a hearing.

Several reasons an alien would be held for Special Inquiry or Detained:

• Women (or children) waiting for someone to meet them. You may see “Husb” or “Bro” indicating their husband or brother was on their way to pick them up, as women were generally not allowed to travel alone. These passengers were likely detained for a short time.

• “LPC” or Likely Public Charge, or those likely to become a burden to tax payers. Many reasons for LPC like being a single woman, not having enough money, or having a medical condition. Could be grounds for deportation.

• Similarly “Under 16” was indicative of minor children not traveling to reunite with a parent.

• “Tel” or “Tel $” meaning Telegram, meaning they didn’t have sufficient funds to travel to their intended destination, and they sent a telegram requesting money from a relative or someone else.

• “MED” or medical reasons. These people may have been sent to hospitals or local medical buildings (some ports like Ellis Island had their own) or in some cases deported. You may also see D.C.D or L.C.D. for Loathsome or Dangerous Contagious Disease.

• “No boat”, meaning a smaller boat wasn’t available to take them to shore or the dock just yet, and they had to wait.

• “STOW”, a stowaway, usually deported.

This list above is not complete. For example, an immigrant may have been rejected for being a criminal or anarchist. Explore more reasons on Smith’s “Causes (Grounds) for Exclusion Noted on BSI Lists, ca. 1903-1924”.

In New York passenger lists, you may see a separate form (“Record of Aliens Held for Special Inquiry”) that may explain the charge for special inquiry, note the meals served (which can give you an idea how long they stayed if it doesn’t say elsewhere), and the resolution of the inquiry. These forms began in 1903 (Smith).

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On a separate page, the reason Mr. Kenneb was held for Special Inquiry looks like “LPC” or Likely Public Charge. Though the ship arrived on January 6th, he had his initial hearing on the 7th, had a rehearing on the 9th, and was admitted on the 10th. If you visit the link for this image you’ll see he was fed three meals four times each. FamilySearch.org, New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909; 1925-1957. Vol 8222-8224. Jan 5, 1925. Image 37.

In the above image, under the heading “Actions of the Boards of Special Inquiry”, you may have noted referrals to page numbers, followed by the initials of the recording secretary. These court records, or transcripts of the inquiry by this secretary, “for the vast majority of immigrants who had BSI hearings were destroyed long ago” (Smith). Read more about this on the “Records of Aliens Held for Special Inquiry” page on JewishGen.org, where the aforementioned writings of Marian L. Smith are shared.

She also notes that, in addition to New York, records exist for Philadelphia’s detained immigrants from 1882 to 1909, with “some, dating from 1893 to 1909, are on microfilm as National Archives publication M1500. The majority remain in hard copy at the Regional Archives in Philadelphia” (Smith).

Line Through the Name

I noticed this example in a passenger list for my great-grandfather, shown below. I was not expecting to see his son (Vincenzo Costa) on the list as one of the crossed out names. This means they intended to sail together and purchased a ticket for him, but for whatever unknown reason did not.

In the above image, there are three names crossed out. To the left it reads “Not on boat”. Ancestry.com, New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957. Year: 1905; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 11; Page Number: 25. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Note that a crossed out name could also mean they did in fact sail but were recorded on another passenger list or section, like a lower class part of the ship (often called 2nd class or steerage). Usually there’s some clarification on the same line or page as to the reason there was a line through the name. In the image above, to the left of the name we see “Not on boat”, without an explanation as to why.

Not on the Ship

In the case the person listed on the passenger list was never actually on board, like above, you may see the abbreviations D.N.S. for Did Not Sail; N.O.B. for Not on Board; or N.S. for Not Shipped. Other examples are Not on Boat or Failed to Join. Historian Marian Smith notes “perhaps they missed the ship, or changed their travel plans, or became ill and health officials prevented them from boarding the ship" (Smith). Passenger lists were created by the steamship companies before the boats even left, and had to be corrected later to make sure these companies were charged the correct amount of tax.

Check additional passenger records in case the individual made other travel plans.

Similar to “Not on Board”, this list has a line through a name with the stamp “Failed to Join”. Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957. Year: 1936; Arrival: London and Plymouth, England; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 1; Page Number: 21. Ship: American Banker.

Naturalization Numbers

Some notations could even be done many years later when an alien applied for a passport or citizenship. While a record of immigration wasn’t required for naturalization until 1906, notations were not generally made until 1926 to cut down on fraud (Smith). Annotating these passenger lists helped prevent other people from using the same name and information when applying to be a citizen.

These naturalization numbers may be written by the passenger’s name, but are more likely to the right under nationality. There may be a date, either referring to the date the information was verified, or the date of naturalization. You may also see “NAT” or a similar abbreviation before the number.

The number itself may refer to the number on the passenger’s naturalization certificate. Other numbers written adjacent may refer to the location of the court where the person was naturalized. These numbers can sometimes be used to help track down your ancestor’s naturalization papers (see Marian Smith’s explanation and District Key Number Tables).

Sidenote: Personally I have not come across these type of annotations very much, if at all, aside from the examples in Smith’s article. If you come across naturalization numbers in your research please send me a link to the list!

Did your ancestor apply for citizenship in 1943 or later, and you’re wondering why you don’t see naturalization numbers on their passenger list? It’s probably because “the passenger lists were microfilmed in 1942/43, so records of immigrants who arrived earlier but did not begin the naturalization process until after 1942 could not be annotated” (Smith).

These naturalization numbers should not be confused with Permit or Verification of Landing markings, which may also appear in the name column, and usually have a “P” or ‘V / L” before the set of numbers. Read more about these notations for immigrants wishing to travel in the page on JewishGen titled “Markings in the Manifest’s Name Column” by Marian Smith.

DEP (Deportable / Deported)

In between the Family Name and Given Name, we see the initials "“DEP”. Ancestry.com, Massachusetts, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963. Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: T843; NARA Roll Number: 291. [Database-on-line]. Provo, UT. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006.

The abbreviation “DEP” likely stands for Deportable / Deported. These markings are done on individuals only in the U.S. for a short time.

Other Annotations

Are there other abbreviations or annotations still undeciphered on your passenger list? Look at the name of the immigration official listed at the end or on a following page and see if the initials match.

Also, as mentioned before, be sure to check Marian L. Smith’s guide (linked below).

I’d love to see more examples as you come across them. Use the Contact form in the left navigation to send me a note with the link, and any questions.

Sources and Additional References:

Alzo, Lisa. “Beyond The Arrival Date: Extracting More from Immigrant Passenger Lists.” Archives.com. 20 December 2011, archives.com/experts/alzo-lisa/immigrant-passenger-lists.html. Accessed 21 May 2021.

Powell, Kimberley. “U.S. Passenger List Annotations and Markings”. Thoughtco.com. 30 July 2018. thoughtco.com/us-passenger-list-annotations-and-markings-1422263. Accessed 21 May 2021.

Smith, Marian. “A Guide to Interpreting Passenger List Annotations”. JewishGen.org jewishgen.org/infofiles/manifests. Accessed 20 May 2021.

Society for History in the Federal Government. “2019 Roger Trask Award Winner Marian L. Smith”. SHFG.org. shfg.org/page-18338. Accessed 20 May 2021.

Further Research

Library and Archives Canada. “Terminology and Abbreviations”. https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/Pages/terminology-abbreviations.aspx