I have been told that my Grandfather John William Whitehead came to
this country from England between the years of 1881 and 1885.  This is
all I was told and I wonder if it would be possible to get a list of
all the ships and their paaaangers name in this time period. Am told
that he came to this country via Charleston,South Carolina.  Thank you
for your kindness.  Annette Tucker.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 09 Mar 2004 16:41 PST

Many (if not most) of the available passanger lists have already been
digitized and made available through online services, such as
Ancestry.com.  However, your grandfather's name is a fairly common
one, which can make the research very difficult.

For instance, have a look at this link:

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gsfn=john&gsln=whitehead&gsco=1&gspl=1%2C&Submit=Search&ltpop=1&gl=allgs&prox=1&yeart=a&ti=0&gss=anfp&sourceid=2524

It is the search results for "John Whitehead", and as you can see, it
returns thousands of results, including a number of passenger lists
through New York and other immigration ports.

However, a similar search that includes the name William (in addition
to John Whitehead) greatly narrows down the results:

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gsfn=john&gsln=whitehead&gsco=1&gspl=1%2C&Submit=Search&ltpop=1&gl=allgs&prox=1&yeart=a&ti=0&gss=anfp&sourceid=2524

but now, there do not seem to be any relevant records for passenger
lists.  However, there are a good many other pertinent records, and
some of them may shed some light on your grandfather's history.

In order to really look into it, though, we will need some additional
details -- anything -- about his life.  What was his wife's and/or
children's names?  When did he marry?  When was he born?  When did he
die?  Where did he live?

Anything you can add would be a tremendous help.  

Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 09 Mar 2004 18:04 PST

Sorry...the second link (with "William") should be:

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gsfn=john&gsln=whitehead&sx=&prox=1&gsco=1&gspl=1%2C&year=1860&yearend=1920&gskw=william&gst=&refine=1&gl=allgs&ti=0&gss=ansmp&hc=&submit.x=49&submit.y=11

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Request for Question Clarification by omnivorous-ga on 10 Mar 2004 16:13 PST

Rosetta --

Do you know if your grandfather ever became a U.S. citizen?  If so,
his naturalization paperwork may contain all of the information that
you're seeking
(and include his place of birth and his parents' names).

You can find this by requesting a copy of the "Petition for
Naturalization" and "Certificate of Naturalization" from the
Immigration and Naturalization Service using a 'Freedom of Information
Act' (FOIA) request.  This process takes 4-6 months and undoubtedly
will be expedited if you provided a stamped return envelope:
U.S. Department of Justice 
"FOIA Request Form" 
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/g-639.htm  
  
Incidentally, U.S. Census listings for your grandfather from 1900
onwards would tell you whether or not he ever became a U.S. citizen. 
(Unfortunately the 1890 Census data was largely destroyed by fire.)

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA