ghostchaser on Family Tree Circles

From the Samara region of Russia they came. Of Germanic Russian decent,several very large families boarded the "Petersburg" as steerage passengers bound for America and a better life. The crossing was cramped and conditions were poor, but hopes & dreams were high. They disembarked at Ellis Island in New York, & spent the better part of 2 months there. Papers needed to be recorded & verified, a quarantine to be satisfied, & a relative, a sponsor, to await arrival. Things moved slow but efficiently in 1907, but at last they were on the train for the trip to California & their new beginnings. And best of all, they would begin in a community of Russian Germans so they could more easily aclimate to the new language, culture, and environment.