Question about Ellis Island Passenger list

Sweeney · Post by **Sweeney** » Tue May 06, 2003 2:31 pm

Hi,

I think I located my Grandmother's brother, Guillermo Verdin, in the Ellis Island register. He arrived on Sept 9, 1920. On the ship's passenger log it states he was going to join Brother Politico Julio Ovies in Spelterville, Indiana.

What does Brother Politico mean? Does it mean brother-in-law?

By-the-way, if you are researching family from Salinas in the Ellis Island site; whoever transcribed the Ellis Island log often mistaken the word "Salinas" as "Salmas".

Post by **Art** » Tue May 06, 2003 2:43 pm

Yes, "politico/a" means "-in-law."

I'm intrigued by the "Spelter" in Spelterville, IN. Do you know if they had a zinc or chemical plant there?

It struck me as odd that there would be both "Spelter" WV and IN. That got me to wondering if "spelter" is rellted to the word "smelter"?

So, I looked it up. Yes, although it's not exactly "smelting," it is related! "Spelter" is "zinc, especially zinc cast in slabs for commercial use."