[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Passports or Identity Papers

[Greg Mason]

There seems to be a pattern, at least between Virginia's evidence and  
that possessed by my wife's grandfather.  He came from Nieszawa,  
Poland through Ellis Island in 1906 and brought two documents of  
which we know and have evidence.  One was a restatement of his  
Lutheran Church baptism because the original baptism record had been  
lost, destroyed, or perhaps never recorded.  So this restatement  
includes testimony of the original witnesses and others to vouch for  
the truthfulness of their statements.  Secondly, he carried his  
discharge from his Russian Army service.  These two documents are the  
only two that he brought with him for which we have any knowledge.   
These documents also were used by him to complete his naturalization  
in the early 1940s.  So, apparently, there was not a uniform policy  
by the United States regarding entry paperwork in the early 1900s.
Greg Mason
On Nov 21, 2006, at 12:48 PM, GVLESS at aol.com wrote:

> I was wondering if my husband's father (who immigrated to U.S.  
> 1903) might
> have had something else besides his Confirmation certificate for  
> identification
>  when he went through Ellis Island.  We have always assumed this as  
> his only
> identity paper as nothing had ever been found in the family's  
> records after
> his  death.  Family story has it he was "escaping" out of Volhynia  
> because he
> was of draft age and didn't want to serve in the Russian   
> military.  His
> brother, Erdmann who was in the military, and home  on leave also  
> made his "escape"
> the year before.  Could these brothers have  arrived here without  
> papers -
> except for what we know of my husband's Dad having  his  
> Confirmation paper?  So
> far also I have not been able to locate a  record of immigration  
> for Fred Less
> thru Ellis Island either.  A lot of  Less names are there but none  
> of a Fred
> (or Friedrich) Less.  I found a  record of Erdmann and his family  
> arriving in
> America through Halifax.   I have the naturalization papers that  
> does say that
> Fred Less  came thru Ellis Island and gives the date and even a  
> ship name
> (but  undoubtably not spelled right).  Fred Less could have  
> forgotten some of the
>  details perhaps when he filed out his naturalization papers a few  
> years
> later.  Did one have to have identity papers for naturalization?    
> These are some
> questions I have had as I researched for more proof of my   
> husband's father's
> existence in those early years.  Fred Less was born in  1884 and  
> confirmed at
> the Warwarowka church in Volhynia in 1899, according to  the  
> Confirmation
> paper.
>
> Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
>
> Virginia Less
>
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