Going to America

In my first novel, Ikons: Saint Nicholas the Wonder Worker, I describe my grandfather Massey's voyage to America: how he disembarked from the port city of Danzig aboard the SS Arabia, endured seasickness and indecision, and finally the dehumanizing experience of Ellis Island.  His journey was a tale fraught with danger, new friendships, romance and hope.

Danzig

My impression of the SS ARABIA in Danzig

I had Massey leave for America aboard the SS ARABIA, a converted British troop ship.  There was no such ship, but I liked the idea of placing the immigrants in the worse possible facility. 

* * *

 As the procession rounded the corner to the gangplank Massey suddenly came face to face with the SS ARABIA.  It was massive.  To his mind it was larger than any ship could possibly be.  Its whiteness shouted out against the gray overcast sky, her masts and funnels disappeared into the murkiness high above, and her deck spanned the horizon.  For a moment Massey stood frozen in awe.

 * * *

I gave my poor grandfather a bad case of seasickness, threw in the origins of his life long friendship with two Polish gentlemen and added a shipboard romance for good measure.  There was quite a bit of uneasiness as their ship approached America, each man wondering if he would be admitted or sent back in disgrace.

Ellis Island

 Ellis Island, the gateway to America.  Even though I had no proof, I sent Massey to Ellis Island.  After all, it was the port of entry for millions of Europeans during the early 1900's.  Following several weeks at sea, the passengers of the ARABIA were straining to catch a glimpse of the new world, their new home.

***

Eyes strained from every viewing point to catch a glimpse of the lady with the lamp.  For days, weeks, and even years, the passengers had heard of the lady who stood in the harbor to welcome immigrants to America.  But try as they might, their eyes could not pierce the gray mist shrouding New York Harbor.  The sun drenched sky that had greeted the ARABIA that morning had steadily clouded over as the ship moved west.  By the time she had reached the three-mile limit the sky had turned dark gray and a solid drizzle was falling.

 * * *

Ellis Island - Circa 1907

From mountains of background information, I constructed a plausible story of Massey's experience passing through Ellis Island.  I had him prodded, questioned, examined, interviewed and finally having his first American meal of eggs, bread, coffee and a banana.

Truth

Well, all this made a very nice story, but it never happened.  A decade after I published Ikons, I received an email for a woman whose grandfather accompanied Massey from Hutava.  According to her, my grandfather was part of a group that left their village for America in 1907.  Their destination was not New York's Ellis Island, but Baltimore's Locust Point.  Her family remained in Baltimore, but the others scattered, with Massey ending up in Rockdale Illinois.  
 

Baltimore Point of Entry in Its Heyday

So even though my version of Massey's first trip across the Atlantic is more fiction than history, it served as a source for an additional piece of our family's puzzle.