My Grandfather: A Saga of a Ship Jumper, an Alien and an American Immigrant

Part 5 

Indian Born, America Made

In the last post I wrote about grandfather's carved life, his status as an alien within the confines of immigration policies and no possibility of citizenship. Vivek Bald, aptly comments, “Denied official belonging, they became part of another nation, a nation beneath a nation in working class neighborhoods of color from New York.” This is the environment that grandfather lived in as he would have experienced the Depression Era, the bread and soups lines snaking around the diverse communities in New York City.

Observes the beginning of WWII, Germany invasions in Poland, Belgium, and France. The bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the interments of Japanese, the arc of Franklin D. Roosevelt presidency, the buildup of war-time munitions industry and of course the mass call for men to register for the draft during WWII.

Surprisingly grandfather registered for the WWII Fourth Registration also known as the “Old Man Registration” men who were born between 1877- 1897, those not serving in the military.

Grandfather listed multiple address, not unusually for the Bengalis to do, sometimes boarding together to save on expensive. Interestingly, the birth year he gave was 1894. My grandmother shared there was a 20-year difference between their ages. It would put his birth year 1900, the same year he filled out on the marriage record. What a gem was the name of the town in India “Nadia” relatives has often said he grew up not far from Calcutta.

Check off as “White” and not “Indian” with a dark brown complexion, the lens of the interviewee biases. I know where he was 82 years ago on Monday April 27, 1942.

It was a busy month for grandfather, beginning in April 1942, under the Immigration and Naturalization Service grandfather face another hurdle. He and others who were not citizens or naturalized would require filling out a detailed alien registration form, “Alien Files (A-Files).” What is most alarming, a file could be generated, without the action or the consent of the alien, if the INS felt a need to “initiated a law enforcement action on the individual.” I can only imagine the fear and anxiety he experienced; I am not sure if grandfather or other Bengalis did comply.

Portraying in the background as the heightened fears of the U.S. had against Germans, Japanese and other immigrants during the war played out. It seems plausible for such action. The process to obtain these records is still ongoing.

Illustrated the areas: 155^th St. north, Harlem River Dr. & Lexington Av. East, 110^th St. south and Manhattan Av. west the shooting, riots, the mayor addressed to the crowds and the enforcement of 10:30 pm curfew.

                 Closer to home grandfather no doubt was aware of The Harlem Riot occurred on August 2, 1943. Six died, 543 injured, 500 arrested, about thousands in property damage and a 10:30 PM curfew enforced. The riot was a result of a police officer shooting an African American soldier at the Hotel Braddock.   

I could not help noticing in India, in the Bengal region and in Calcutta due to the war, a devastating famine occurred in 1942-1943. I am not sure if this affected any family members back home. I can only wish they were not weakened greatly. The conversation in the Bengali community in Harlem was most likely a significant cause of concern, discussions, and constant communications between the families back home.

After the war, many sighed with great joy, grandmother mentioned "how happy everyone was, many smiling faces." They would have observed if they did not participate in the celebration on May 7, 1945, in Times Square of the Japanese surrender in WWII.

Looking north from 44th Street, New York's Times Square is packed Monday, May 7, 1945, with crowds celebrating.

The post war years, grandfather maintain his residence in Harlem with his family and the connections to the Bengali ship jumpers. 

Top image: 1950 Census, grandfather with my grandmother, my uncle Wahab are all living in the newly developed housing complex on 770 E. 165^th Street, Bronx, New York. He is 47 years old and working at a hotel as a cook, which he was famous for. My father, as a young boy.

Uncle Wahab and father spent a great deal of their lives in the mosque and the Bengali community. One story uncle shared, while growing up in 1950s Harlem, visits to the mosque. He recalled the congregation of the men in prayers, lessons followed, the many activities, the dozens of children playing in the background, and most striking was Hindi and Bangla spoken, mingling with English. Then, out comes, many enormous assortments of trays filled with food, enough to feed several blocks of families in Harlem. “Uncle Wahab, would say, “if you went home hungry it was your fault.”

An ad announcing the opening of a new mosque. The New York Age. October 28, 1950.

Another change in the Immigration law was slightly, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 or formally “McCarran-Walter Act.” It would repeal the “Asiatic Barred Zone” and eliminate the racial bar on citizenship. It implemented partiality based on skills, a quota of 100 per county (it included India) and promoted family reunification. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as Hart-Celler Act, allowed South Asian Indians and many other ethnic groups to immigrate.

Grandfather may have felt hopeful and perhaps may have moved to start the process of citizenship. The family did not have a story or ever discussed it. I would never know, but I hoped he had a chance! Grandfather's death was a week later after New Year on January 6, 1954.

I find it intriguing the Bengali stories were lost to the immigration narrative. As the years passed, many of the seamen migrated to other parts New York City boroughs', to New Jersey, Connecticut, and Philadelphia. Forever changing the landscape of this tight-knit community.

Portrait painting of my grandparents. New York City. C1942-1944. Owner private property.

Grandfather attempted to establish his identity in this country as an American, yet he managed to launch numerous businesses with many of his fellow countrymen, founded a Masjid, now it is the largest and international Masjid in upper Manhattan. He married an American, had my father and created valuable lifelong friendships, including Americans. Today, many of his descendants are loving individuals with families, educated, with successful businesses and careers, active in many communities' and religious matters. His descendants are still preserving his stories, such as this blog.

Sources:

Bald, Vivek. Bengali Harlem: The Lost Histories of South Asian America (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2013), 180-187.

Goni, Abdul, Line 28, Sheet 26, Enumeration District 3-952, Assembly District 7, Bronx County, New York; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group 29, Records of the Bureau of the Census; National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC, downloaded from Archives.Gov on April 15, 1950.

H. Con. Res. 63 Immigration and Nationality Act. STATUTE-66

Proclamation 2980 - Immigration Quotas

Record Daily News. (August 3, 1943). Harlem Riot Aftermath. Newspapters.com. Retrieved April 20, 2024, from Daily News

South Asians America Digital Archives: South Asian Americans You Should Know About

The New York Age. (October 28, 1950). The Academy of Islam, Int'l, Inc. 231 Lenox Avenue. Newspapers.com. Retrieved February 18, 2024, from The Academy of Islam

UK Embassy

 

My Grandfather: A Saga of a Ship Jumper, an Alien and An American Immigrant

 Part 4 

America: I Am Immigrant And an American and Not an Alien!

   We are now into the late 1930s to the late 1940s, three major events have occurred in grandfather life during the decade:

• Married for the second time and became a father for the first time.
• Participated in Civic Activities.
• Started a small business.

My grandfather, Abdul Goni still had not applied for his first papers. Due to The Immigrant Act of 1917, it prohibited him from declaring his status as a naturalized citizen. It also prohibited any immigrants from Asian nations illustrated in the 1917 "Barred Zone" map. Grandfather had a double strike, due to his occupation as a seaman (lascar). United States would not permit the entry of working seamen on ships that were docked at the time of port call.

I do not know if grandfather applied for “The First Papers” (the declaration of intent to become a citizen) were the first steps to apply to become a citizen. As far as research I have not located any record sets of an application between 1920s – 1950s. Two pivotal events impacted grandfather’s goals were the Supreme Court ruled, “People of Indian descent are not white, and hence are not eligible for naturalization.”- U.S. v. Bhagat Singh Thind of 1923 (an Indian Sikh who identified as Aryan was denied citizenship in U.S.) and the Luce-Celler Act of 1942. Thus, grandfather's status as an alien remained unchanged over the decades. 

On July 2, 1946, Truman signs into law Luce Celler Act, granting naturalization rights to Filipinos and Asian Indians. A coalition of Filipinos and Indians witnessed the signing, 3^rd from right Sarda J.J Singh.

One story emerged in the family; Abdul Goni would assist in civic activities. It was not clear how or what grandfather did. His great desire and others to become Americans, may had propelled him to action, like the steadfast and vigilant efforts of men like J.J. Singh, President of the India League of American and Ibrahim Choudry of the India Association for the American Citizenship to witness a historic achievement. On July 2, 1946, President Truman signed the Luce-Celler Act. A quota of 100 Filipinos and 100 Indians from Asia were allowed to immigrate to the United States annually. A first, in granting Asians immigrants to naturalize as American citizens. It meant they could own land or property under their own name and more importantly to petition for their immediate family members to immigrant to United States for the first time. I wondered if he aided in some way, my research continues.

In 1944 grandfather married my grandmother, Lilly May Bobo, they had a son, my father, Umar Eddin. He also raised a stepson, Wahab, from the age of 2 years, a child of my grandmother's previous spouse. It was from Uncle Wahab I heard some of the stories. Mentioned with regularity were grandfather’s friends like, Ibrahim, Ali, Khan, Habib, Raymond and Soliman who were also ex-ship jumping seamen. All were a part of the Bengali networking community and members of mosques, restaurants, and other organization that formed between 20s-60s.

My grandparents wedding day, married February 10. 1944, officiated by Rev. L.S. Taylor at 71 W.114th Street, Harlem, NYC. Witnesses: Moses Zigler & Rebecca Powell. Owner’s private property.

One story repeatedly told grandfather was always attending, participated in prayers, and was involved, particularly in the cooking in the local mosques. The British Merchant Sailor’s Club for Indian Seamen on 100 W.38th street in Lower Manhattan he was at one such place.

Image from the British Merchant Sailors Club for Indian Seamen. Muslims Indians men congregate in the club’s prayer room, as the custom, sitting down, with shoes off, wearing turbans, fezzes and led by an Iman. (Choudry is second from left, front row, facing camera. (Photo: Nelson Morris, illustrations: Martha Sawyers, source: Life Magazine). 1944.

Under the management of ship-jumping Bengali seamen, Ibrahim Choudry was an activist and civic leader for the Bengalis. During WWII, the club offered a mess hall, a recreation room, and a prayer room. It catered for and supported hundreds of Bengali seamen. As Vivek Bald’s, Bengali Harlem: and The Lost Histories of South Asian American, writes, “By the end of the first year, the club had 66,221 visits by Indian seamen and had served 198,200 meals.” 

Ibrahim “Abraham” Choudry greeting another Muslim. Source: Hyphen Magazine

In the 1940 Census Abdul Goni was a painter at a shipyard. 

Listed #19 in 1940 Census, Abdul Gani at 306 East 100^th Street NYC, age 35 years old, married, birthplace India, Alien, painter at a shipyard, earned $300 as of March 30^th, head of household and lodging with Arment Baba. 

Another story emerged, grandfather had a pushcart selling hot dogs and sausages, along with a special family “Indian sauce.” Vivek Bald's Bengali Harlem referred to hotdog vendors as "sold hotdogs and sausages from pushcarts along Harlem's thoroughfares—Lexington Avenue, 110th, 116th Street". By 1944, he had resided on 74 W114th Street, which would place him in the pushcarts’ location, 74 W 114th Street Harlem, NYC . In addition to other jobs, grandfather had been a doorman, a cook, a painter in the shipyard and even an elevator operator on one document listing his occupation. 

In my next and final blog, I will write about grandfather from the continuation of the war years to the mid-50s in United States. As he pursued citizenship, established in the community, a working-class wage earner and living with his family.

Sources:

Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017

Original data: Index to Marriages, New York City Clerk's Office, New York, New York.

Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line), Provo, UT, USA:

Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls. Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: M-T0627-02663; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 31-1647

Bald, Vivek. Bengali Harlem: The Lost Histories of South Asian America (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2013), 180-187.

Ibrahim Choudry

N.A. (1944). Indian Lascars Fight The War at Sea. Life Magazine, Volume 16, Number 4, pages 60-64. https://books.google.com/books?id=-VYEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

Original U.S. Congress (1946) U.S. Statutes at Large, Volume 60, 79^th Congress, Session 2. United States [Periodical]. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, Library of Congress.

United States v. Bhagat Sind Thind

U.S. Statues at Large 1946 – pages 443-444.

United States v. Thind, Immigration Acts 1919 & 1924 and Luce-Celler Act

Works Project Administration (WPA) and the New York City Tax Department. New York Municipal Archives. DOF: 1940s Tax Photos. New York, NY, USA.

Guide to the 1940s Tax Department photographs, 1939-1951. 1940s Tax Department Photographs

My Grandfather: A Saga of a Ship Jumper, an Alien and an American Immigrant

Part 3

Illegal Alien: The Underground Railroad 

      I suspected Abdul Goni has jumped ship serval times, utilizing the 1920 and 1930 Census, I was able to locate him in upstate New York State and in New York City. His desertion was still a major issue, it was essential to keep moving and not to be taken into custody by immigration. One method he and others may have use to reduce capture some would change their names or alter the spelling slightly and change out of their seamen clothes to civilian garb of the era: wearing suits, tie, and hats. Along the docks recruitment for jobs in factories and services, outside of New York City would have aided grandfather to disappear and evade the immigrant officials.

       South Asian seamen - "Lascars" were vital to Britain's Merchant shipping for centuries. Wellington Trust & Maritime Foundation. 2022.

     With the connections of the Bengali community, he discovered work in 1930 in factory as a laborer in Lackawanna, Erie County. This factory work would provide higher pay and away from the docks. Lodgings with other seamen in a boarding house nearby, it was always an understanding seamen Bengali would combine their resources, money, food, housing, and clothing. To help everyone to stand on its own, to save, to provide for himself and to send money back home. In grandfather's case, I always heard stories of his charity with many friends, family, and a good provider of his own family. It is heartwarming to know he may have lacked tools but was full of heart.

        

1920 Census Lackawanna, Erie, New York. Abdul age 23 years old. Boarding at 119 Ridge Road other seaman. Working as a fireman at a steel plant.

1920 Census Lackawanna, Erie, New York. Abdul age 23 years old. Boarding at 119 Ridge Road other seaman. Working as a fireman at a steel plant. 

       I believe that grandfather may have witnessed and may have been an actor as a strikebreaker Lackawanna Railroad or in the Bethlehem Steel's clash with the pro-union white workers in the summer of 1922 marked a near conflict between the white workers, Hindus, and African American workers. 

• Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Lackawanna Plant, Route 5 on Lake Erie, Buffalo, Erie County, NY

    In Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian American, Vivek Bald’s states, “recruit members of the Indian and Chinese crews of ships passing in and out of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. 

Grandfather Abdul Goni name is spelled differently - Abdulkanie: line 29.
 Boarding at 413 Mellody Avenue with other East Indians. Working as a fireman at steel mill. 1930 Census, Lackawanna, Erie, New York.

In the years immediately following the war, as U.S. labor unions mounted a series of regional and nationwide strikes, factory owners continued this practice, hiring Indian and Chinese seamen off the docks and using them alongside African American workers as strikebreakers.”

Railroad managers bring in strikebreakers and unions leaders attempts to cripple rail service. Bethlehem Steel access to rail lines were vital in moving their supplies throughout the country.   

Bengali were often referred as one group, Hindus.

Grandfather certainly survive such event, desperate keep working. Perhaps his understanding of the English language was still being tested, the culture, adjusting the weather conditions, and the fear of being arrested and perhaps deportation was every present with him. If he deported, he would resume his life on a merchant marine ship and again in the trajectory to the United States for another offer of betterment. Where he went on to marry my grandmother and have my father. Abdul Goni clearly demonstrated his strength, resilience, ingenuity, and enthusiasm.

Citation:

Bald, V. (2013). Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America. Harvard University Press.

Historic American Engineering Record, C., Lackawanna Iron And Steel Company, Lackawanna Steel Company & Bethlehem Steel Company. (1968) Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Lackawanna Plant, Route 5 on Lake Erie, Buffalo, Erie County, NY. Erie County New York Buffalo, 1968. Benz, S., O'Connell, K. & Christianson, J., trans Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/ny1584/. 

The New York Times. (July 9, 1922). Hindu Strike Breakers. Newspapers.com. Retrieved March 24, 2024, from newspapers

Maritime Foundation

The Wellington Trust

United States Census, 1920. Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 16 March 2024. Citing NARA microfilm publication T625. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

United States Census, 1930. Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 24 October 2022. Citing NARA microfilm publication T626. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002.

 

My Grandfather: A Saga of a Ship Jumper, an Alien and an American Immigrant

 

Part 1

Runaway to Join the Ships: A Lascar Agreement

Growing up I heard numerous heartwarming stories about my grandfather, he was seaman, a ship jumper, an alien, labeled as a "Non-Resident Indian. He would live under the radar of immigration laws, agents, and his constant fear of deportation. He sought to become a part of the "New American" immigrant identity despite his challenges his attempts to acquire citizenship, he married twice, had a son, assisted in raising stepchildren, became a businessman, and helper to establish the Muslim Bengalis community, like the India League of America in Harlem during 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. A witness to the many historical events in New York City, like the arrest of 7 Hindus in the steel mills in Western Pennsylvania.

Grandfather was instrumental in establishing one of the early mosques in New York City, now one of the largest on the Upper East side today. Part of seamen ex-pats who occupied his own immigrant neighborhood at laundry shops, Ceylon Indian Restaurant, boardinghouses, employment maritime agents, tenement homes in Harlem, on the Lower East Side and steel mills in upstate New York. In addition, his participation in the process of the Luce-Celler Act of 1946.

          My focus is the biography of my grandfather, Abdul Goni. He journeys and experiences as a merchant seaman. Why did he jumped ship, become an alien and later an immigrant in the United States from 1920s to 1950s? How did the British Empire and the United States influence his life decisions? And finally, to understand the roles he took on in shaping his national identity.

Map of India, 1903. Outline is the city of Calcutta, it spills into the Bay of Bengal.

Map of Calcutta. Bird's eye view of the city center adjacent to the Hooligy River, which spills out to the sea. 1893. 

Abdul Goni or Ibrahim Abdul Goni was born July 15, 1898, or 1900 in Calcutta of the tribe of the Bengali, more likely his first name was Ibrahim and not Abdul Goni. For this blog I will refer to him as Abdul Goni or Grandfather.

Lascar Transfer Agreement between the masters of the Rewa and the Oolobaria. Forcing lascars back to British India did not require permission from the lascar crew.

What is a "lascar agreements"

The British East India Company recruited seamen or lascar, as Bengali Muslims were often referred to as derogatory term, from areas around its factories in Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, and outskirts of Calcutta villages.

Lascars would serve on British Merchant Navy ships under "Lascar Agreements", giving captains more control. The sailors could be transferred from one ship to another and retained in service for up to three years at one time. Captains would withhold payments, which grandfather would receive his payment consisting of 1/3 or 1/5 of what the white seamen would receive.

Three lascars crew of the P & O liner RMS Viceroy of India. 1930-1939. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascar#/media/File:Three_Lascars_on_the_Viceroy_of_India.jpg

My uncles and other relatives often informed me grandfather was a longshoreman working in the bottom of the vessel with the heat and fire. In Jesse Ransley’s Blacks and Asian Seamen of the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World intensely describes, “Muslim Asian seamen worked in the engines room or ‘stokeholds’ (greasing machinery), trimmers (moving coal around to keep the ship balanced) and donkeymen (tending the auxiliary boilers).”  What vivid description, I am imagining grandfather slaving in herculean conditions, coupled with fewer rations, inadequate berths, ever threats of injury, illness, or worst death. Along with draconian policies, British ships in port, maintain strict orders of seamen to stay on ships in part due to racist attitudes and immigration fears about hygiene, disease, and cultural differences.  

Lascar crew members aboard P&O liner the Kampala. Photo: Getty Images

    Recently, thirty- nine Indian workers of the Bethlehem Steel Company were arrested without warrants at the gates of the factories in Bethlehem, Pa. . . . were taken to Ellis Island. . . . At this gate of America, they were lodged in filthy cells full of vermin. . . .  The British Captain of the Lucerus appeared on the scene and the Hindusthanees were summarily ordered to follow him to the boat, and there [return to] work as seamen. But when they came to know it was a British ship . . . they flatly refused to obey the order. Asked the reason, they said that to work on board a British ship was worse than working in “hell.”
-Basanta Kumar Roy, The Independent Hindusthan, October 1920

    Next post I write how my grandfather, Abdul Goni became a ship jumper.

Citations

Bald, V. (2013). Desertion and Sedition: Indian Seamen, Onshore Labor, and Expatriate Radicalism in New York and Detroit, 1914–1930. In The Sun Never Sets (pp. 75-). NYU Press.

Ransley, J. (n.d.). Blacks and Asian Seamen of the Forgotten Wrecks of the First World War. The Maritime Archaeology Trust, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. SO 143ZH2022, 1–44. Maritime Archaeology Trust.org

Roy, B. (1930). Doing England’s Dirty Work. The Independent Hindustan, 1(2). https://www.saada.org/item/20120111-575

Map of Calcutta from Constable's 1893

https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3044306/who-were-lascars-where-did-they-come-and-where

https://mha.mun.ca/mha/mlc/seafarers/lascars/remainder-of-crew.php

https://www.pandosnco.co.uk/lascars-two.htm

Three Lascars

My Grandfather: A Saga of a Ship Jumper, an Alien and an American Immigrant.

Part 2

A Ship Jumper: An Occupational Hazard

I often wonder how Grandfather managed to get on a ship to New York. A lascar seaman from the Asian Continent located in the Asiatic Barred Zone. Vivek Bald’s Bengali Harlem, he describes, “they had often spent…weeks, months, or years…working at sea… ports cities across the globe…to break maritime trade and break immigration laws of the United States…encourage by other seamen…about moving on and off ships as they docked in different places.”

 Lascars on the merchant ship SS Chyebassa of the British India Line, 1917. © IWM Q9460.7

 The challenge for grandfather was, no seamen was allowed to enter United States ports and indenture by the lascar agreement under the British Colonial Shipping Merchant Industry. Coupled with the fact he was not able to receive his pay until the end of his term, it meant two or three years out after the ship had circumnavigated designed ports. Would he received his 1/3 wages. 

 

Our Stories Book Club

    In the United States, as the heated debates and fear of entering a war, coupled with the xenophobia of aliens and immigrants, were detrimental to the purity and nativism ideals of the country. Pressure among politicians, activists, labor unions, social leaders of the day gave way to President Woodrow Wilson in February 1917 in signing The Immigration Act of 1917 or “Asiatic Barred Zone Act.” 

displayed gridded latitudes and longitude lines of the geographic areas of. “Natives who were excluded from entering United State, with certain exceptions." South Asian American Digital Archive. Asiatic Zone of Barred Citizenship

U.S. Statutes at Large, Volume 39 (1915-1916), 64th Congress. See here

    Although these laws were severe, many of the Bengali men managed to enter the United States. Ships were docked into ports in New York City, Brooklyn Navy Yard ports, or the New Jersey ports. The men would simply leave or wait until evening to make their way to escape, hence grandfather a ship jumper. I could not comprehend such a feat, wading in cold and unsanitary waters at night.

Two Important points:

·       The creation of the “barred zone” prohibits any immigrants from all of Asia.

·       Any employed seamen from Asia were barred to come ashore as merchant ships entered United States.

Immigration laws. Act of February 5, 1917

Lascar's Britain Forgotten Stories

A middle man waiting with a boat to catch the lascars from the water and ferry them to the nearest port. They would communicate with another individual, whether it was someone from their country, a friend or a relative from the Bengali community. Grandfather was able to find shelter, clothing, food and a job. This spider web network allow grandfather access to the New York City, Harlem, upstate New York and other regions to start his as an illegal alien and later as an immigrant.

Abdul Goni (second from bottom) recorded as deserted seamen. This was one of several times, grandfather jumped ship of SS Holly Park in New York City. October 3, 1925.

    At the age of 30 years old grandfather signed a "Lascar Agreement" was for seven years as a trimmer. The ship sailed from Newport, Wales, UK. on September 7, 1925. As a trimmer he would hammered away at coal into pieces, then were wheeled into fire fuel furnaces. I imagine the life threatening conditions he faced. The SS Holly Park last port was September 27, 1925 in Cienfuegos, Cuba. c 1890-1901. Three weeks and five days later, grandfather ceremoniously jumped ship!

 Line 22. Abdul Goni, Seamen #24317.

    Grandfather Abdul Goni made it! Perhaps it would have been more important to his mind. Now, to begin to survive within the vast navigational network in this strange, new and yet dissimilar country.

    In my next blog, I examine grandfather's experience as illegal alien immigrant within the context of historical events in United States, stay tune!

Citations:

https://www.maritimefoundation.uk/

https://www.saada.org/tides/article/shadows-of-the-past

https://www.saada.org/explore/videos

Bald, V. (2013). Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America. Harvard University Press.

Index to Alien Crewmen Who Were Discharged or Who Deserted at New York, New York, May 1917-Nov. 1957; Microfilm Publication A3417; NAID: 4497925; Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Services, Record Group 85; National Archives in Washington, D.C.

Leonard, K. (2013). [Review of Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America, by V. Bald]. African American Review, 46(2/3), 548–549. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23784113.

The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85

U.S. Congress. (1915) U.S. Statues at Large, Volume 39 – 1916, 64^th Congress. United States – 1916. [Periodical] Retrieved from the Library of Congress. Statues at Large.

United States & United States Bureau of Immigration. (1922) Immigration laws, Act of February 5, 1917; and acts approved; October 19, 1918; May 10. 1920; June 5, 1920; December 26, 1920, and May 19, 1921, as amended, and Act May 26, 1922. Rules of May 1, 1917. Washington, Govt. print. off. [pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress,  Immigration Laws.

Benjamin Seymour, Who Was His First Family?

www.newspapers.com

Of my maternal line; my 3rd great grandfather, Benjamin Seymour first family was a mystery. Until I located this news clipping of his death, this was a nugget. It mentions a brother, but no name, how cruel is this! I wanted to shout at the writer of this announcement or whoever submitted the miniscule details of his familial ties. I created a time, it appears he lived his entire life in Sumter County, he never left, never migrate to other counties, or out of state, never enlisted in the Civil War. He simply live, married, raised a family, purchased land, became a farmer, voted and died in a unfortunate manner...

I had no leads as how to start with the exception of the,1870 United States Federal Census. Located in Concord Township, Sumter County, Benjamin Seymore age 40 years old, with wife Molly, with personal and real estate value of $200.00 respectively. Next door was a Cato Seymore age 55 as head of household with his family and Personal Estate value of $300.00. A few doors further away was L. Seymore (Laurence/Lawrence) age 42 years old with a family and a Real Estate value a little over a $1000.00 and Personal Estate value at $460.00. 

Benjamin had purchased land from Laurence Seymour some five years after the Civil War had ended and the abolishment of slavery. What was their relationship? Was it through bloodline or was Laurence the identifying slaveholder. Who was Benjamin first family i.e. parents and siblings? What Ben and Laurence historical connection? To answers these questions, I opted to search the Harvin line via deeds and probate records.

While browsing FamilySearch, I stumble upon "Sale Appointments", I was delighted to find Lawrence Seymour and his wife Francis E., the daughter of Richard Harvin, had died sometime in 1850. They were petitioning land against the Estate of Richard Harvin Petition. A lightbulb went off! I do have a connection to the Harvins'. Benjamin fathered a child with my 3rd great grandmother, Celia. She appears to had adopted the surname or may have been enslaved by a Harvin. I later, discovered Laurence Seymour and his wife, Frances E. inherited from his father-in-law, Richard Harvin, an enslaved family; Rose and her two children, Isaac and Ben. 

I did notice something interesting. Listed underneath Rose and family, is "1 negro Isaac".

Rose's son share the same name of this "Isaac." Is there a connection or perhaps the father? Another research project to discover. I went further back in the Harvins' genealogy line. Again finding another inventory, there is listed is a slave named Rose for $200.00

I have now the names and birth years of Benjamin's first family.

Sources:

1. 1870; Census Place: Concord, Sumter, South Carolina; Roll: M593_1509; Page: 157A; Family History Library Film: 553008 
2. South Carolina Probate Records, Files and Loose Papers, 1732-1964; Sumter > Probate Court, Estate records > 1784-1960 > Bundles 040-048 > image 761 of 878; county courthouses, South Carolina, and South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia.
3. FamilySearch "South Carolina Probate Records, Files and Loose Papers, 1732-1964," FamilySearch, Sumter > Probate Court, Estate records > 1784-1960 > Bundles 163-164 > image 345 of 437; county courthouses, South Carolina, and South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia.
4. The Watchman and Southron: Sumter, South Carolina: 23 Mar 1904, Wed • Page 5