One of the earliest challenges faced by most researchers looking for their
Jewish ancestors is finding them as they arrived in the
United States. There are many different ports where they may have landed and its not always easy to find which one to search first.
As more and more of those records become available online that search is helped.
Now,
FamilySearch has begun to add the original passenger lists for the arrivals at the
Port of New Orleans for the years
1820- 1945. The records for New Orleans are so nice because so many include
Sephardic Jews who came into the United States from the
Caribbean and South America. The
collection is name search able and images are still being added The information is very good. The pages below show the arrival of
Moses Cohen, who arrived on
29 Aug 1919 on board the
S.S. Metapan which was sailing from the
Christobal Canal Zone.
From the passenger list we are able to find that he was
32 years of age, a merchant, a citizen of
Cyprus. We also learn that he was
Hebrew and that his last permanent address was in
Colon, Panama. His closest relative still living in that country is his brother
Joseph who resides in
Panama City. Records of this type are such an amazing source of great information.
