Port of entry: Looking for info on family's arrival

[Lloyd]

I have checked the Ellis Island lists of immigrants and had no luck finding my great grandfather's family. I understand that there were other ports that my relatives could have used. I'm at a loss as to how to search beyond the Ellis Island records. Any suggestions? I found in his obit that they first came to America in 1905, returned to Spain in 1909, but again moved back to America in 1915 and that they were possibly on the Lusitania on one or both trips Except for three and a half years' residence at Collinsville, Ok, they lived in Cherryvale, Ks since 1915.. Since this was word-of-mouth, I have no way to verify these facts.

Elisco Fernandez ( my great grandfather)
7/22/1869-11/5/1932
Other possible first names I have found are Elised (typo?), Eliseo and Francisco M.(typo or mistake?) Elisco was on his obit.
According to his obit, his parents were Mr and Mrs Brollis Fernandez of Asturias and had one living sister at his death.

Grace (Engracia) Arias Fernandez (wife)
4/16/1875-6/12/1942

Sarah (Sagrario) Fernandez (daughter)
2/16/1900-5/10/1914

Joe (Ceasar) Arias Fernandez (son)(my grandfather)
7/4/1903-1992
born in Castrillon

Elisco Fernandez (son)
no info

They settled in Cherryvale Kansas in 1915 and worked in the Edgar Zinc Company smelter plant. Three additional children were born in Cherryvale; Tony, Connie (Constantine) and Olga Fernandez.

Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[Bob]

One approach is to search the Ellis Island records for both the first and last surnames of your ancestors. When I search for Engracia Fernandez I find several records, wrong year and wrong ship, but family memories can be faulty. Was Elisco a given name or a surname?

As far as I know, the Lusitania sailed between England and NYC, so the records should be in the Ellis Island archives somewhere.

[Lloyd]

Thanks very much, Bob. I'll take another look at the Ellis Island records using your advice. I don't know the answer to your question about Elisco as it's the only name I have from his headstone and the family. I'll ask my Mom that question. Thanks for the response, Bob.

(Edit) I just found new dates from Elisco's obit and will conduct a new search on the Ellis Island website. Thanks for your efforts, Bob.

[Art]

Elisco may be your ticket. That's not a common name, so I'd search on that. Also, you'll want to try variants and misspellings. Let us know how it goes!

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Elisco puede ser tu pasaporte al éxito. No es un nombre muy corriente, por eso te aconsejo que lo busques y también que busques para variantes y versiones mal deletreadas. ¡Dinos como va la busqueda!

[Lloyd]

Thanks, Art. I did another search on the Ellis Island site today using only "Fernandez" and the four birth dates I have. Still no luck. Maybe they didn't come through Ellis Island. Oh well; I tried.

[Bob]

Some of our ancestors came through New York (Ellis Island), and others through other ports (e.g., Philadelphia, New Orleans), still others stopped in another country (often Cuba) before arriving in the EEUU.

The Ellis Island index is not entirely accurate. I could not find my grandparents' records through the Ellis Island search engine, but when I searched for my uncle who arrived here with them at 6 weeks of age, I found the entire family.

The important thing, in my opinion, is to keep searching again and again in as many ways as you can think of.

[jbarbo]

Lloyd,

It took me a long time to find the Ellis Island record on my great grandfather. His last name was misspelled. When I checked the 1910 Census, he was listed with his family and some other Asturianos whose census records showed that they came in 1905.

I checked their imigration records and behold,there was my great grandfather's name (misspelled), where he was from, his age and his family's address in Anmoore, West Virginia.

Try this. Also, check military draft registration. The information for many was well documented.

Good luck.

[Lloyd]

Thanks Bob and Jbarbo for all the advice. I understand that this research takes time and patience and I'll try your methods. I spent much time again on the Ellis Island site using different approaches and still no luck. But I'll keep trying. Thanks again.