Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Thanks for Traveling Frederick! – A September 1913 Passenger List

This is part of a series of posts in which I share the documents relating to the travels of Watson (Frederick) Emory Webster and his family.


Passenger List for Fred Webster Sep. 28, 1913
S.S. Verdi Passenger List
for September, 1913
See Footnote

There he is on line 1…Frederick E. Webster, my "Traveling Dentist" great-grandfather. Where was he going this time? And why was he traveling again? In two previous posts I shared the U.S. Consular Registration Applications for the years 1917 and 1923. They were full of interesting information. They even provided the answer to why Frederick was traveling during those years.

Unfortunately, this passenger list
1 (above) doesn't give an answer to why Frederick was traveling in September of 1913. Perhaps the reason he was traveling again was to practice dentistry. That's what he stated as the purpose for his travels in both of the U.S. Consular Registration Applications.

So, what information can we glean from this passenger list?

  • We already know his name, but there it is as Frederick E. Webster
  • He left Santos, Brazil on September 8, 2013
  • He sailed on the S.S. Verdi
  • He arrived at the Port of New York on September 28, 1913
  • Age – 43
  • Married or Single – Married
  • Date and place of birth – Athens, Ohio, February 14, 1870 (Actually his birth date was February 14, 1864. I don't know why this passenger list states his age as 43 and year of birth as 1870.)
  • Address in the United States – Brooklyn, New York

I have some questions:
  • Why was Frederick traveling alone?
  • Where were his wife, Esther and children Carlota and Edna Lillie?
  • Why was his address in the United States listed as Brooklyn, New York?
  • Did he know someone there?
  • Did he travel from Brooklyn to some other destination in the United States? If so, where?

Unfortunately, I may never know the answers to these questions. What I do know is that my great-grandfather, Frederick Webster, traveled a lot during his life.  And it turns out he wasn't the only member of his family who traveled.

In my next "Thanks for Traveling Frederick!" post I'll be sharing a passenger list which contains the names of two of Frederick's close family members.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last



1 National Archives, "New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital image, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com: accessed April 15, 2013), National Archives Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls); Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36; National Archives, Washington, D.C.;Year: 1913; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715; Microfilm Roll: 2187; Frederick E. Webster, Line: 1; Page Number: 122.

6 comments:

  1. Jana: Have you checked out the following website about the SS VERDI?http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?115887 There are images of the ship available. It appears this is the VERDI your Traveling Dentist was on since the SS Conte VERDE is spelled differently and had its maiden voyage in 1923. Your VERDI was a British transport ship built in 1907 and was lost due to a torpedo strike by German submarine U-53 on August 22, 1917. The wreck site is off the northwest coast of Ireland. See alsohttp://bluestarline.org/lamports/verdi1.html for images of the VERDI, which was a Lamport & Holt ship. Images include some interior views.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi John,

      Thank you so much for the website information. I'll have to check that out.

      Delete
  2. Are you saying the Brooklyn address is in conflict with what you know to be true?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Wendy,

      No, I'm not saying that. I just don't know why his address was listed as Brooklyn. Maybe it was a hotel or somewhere he stayed when he first arrived in the U.S. before he went to visit family in Ohio or Chicago, or to do dental work wherever he did that. I know he was in Louisiana at some point too. He did travel a lot, that's for sure. =)

      Delete
  3. "Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog" has been included in the Sites To See for this week. Be assured that I hope this helps to point many new visitors in your direction.

    http://asthecrackerheadcrumbles.blogspot.com/2013/06/sites-to-see_14.html

    ReplyDelete

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