Immigrant Ships
Transcribers Guild

SS Dacian

I, James Laird Master of the Steamship Dacian do solemnly sincerely and truly declare that the following List or Manifest, subscribed by me and now delivered by me to the collector of the customs of the Collection District of New York is a full and perfect list of all the passengers taken on board of the said S.S. Dacian at Marseilles for which port said Steamer has now arrived; and that on said list is truly designated the age, the sex and the occupation of each of said passengers, the part of the vessel occupied by each during the passage, the country to which each belongs, and also the country of which it is intended by each to become an inhabitant; and that said List or Manifest truly sets forth the number of said passengers who have died on said voyage and the names and ages of those who have died. So help me God. Sworn to this Sp 30 1870 (unreadable scribble)(signed) Jas Laird before me. (signed)(illegible) List or Manifest of all the Passengers taken on board the Steamship Dacian whereof James Laird is Master, from (illegible) burthen 705 tons.

Columns represent: Name, Age in Years and Months,Sex, Occupation, Country to which they severally belong, Country of which they intend to become inhabitants, Part of the vessel occupied by each passenger during he voyage

    

1 Julius Blum          25   Male     M?ht          Germania  America  Steerage
2 Rev F A Spencer      29   Male     Clergyman     America   America  Cabin
3 and Wife             24   Male*                  America   America  Cabin
4 Lewis Falmieri       35   *        Desi????      Italian   America  Cabin
5 C H Bensi            23   *        Desi????      Italian   America  Cabin
6 Joseph Sammis        20   *        Farmer        America   America  Cabin
7 George G Smalley     36   Male     Ship Master   America   America  Cabin
8 Child of Rev Spencer    3*Female   Child         America   America  Cabin
                              
Transcriber's Notes:

The use of an * indicates an omission or error made by the original
recorder not the transcriber or is used to call your attention to 
additional information in the Transcriber's Notes below.

The use of a ? indicates a word or letters that could not be read, 
due to quality of original document.

The handwriting in this document was horrendous. In addition it appears
that the names of the passengers were written by different people, 
possibly by the passengers themselves with the rest of the columns filled 
in by yet another.  #1,2 & 3 looked similar, 4 & 5 looked similar and 
6 & 7 looked similar. The Spencer child was added last by the same person
filling in the rest of the columns.

1 Julius Blum - Occupation "M?ht" - Could be Moht or Mcht as the o could 
be a closed c. The "t" was super-scripted with a line underneath which 
might indicate it was an abbreviation. Mcht is probably an abreviation for 
merchant.

2 Rev F. A Spencer - Occupation was very hard to make out as the ink 
was very heavy but since passenger was a "Rev" it looks like a clergyman
misspelled as clergeman.

3 and wife - Ditto marks were used in the Sex column but obviously 
should be female.

4 Lewis Falmieri - Occupation was written in the Sex column. I cannot
decifer the handwriting. It looks like Desijn with 2 or 3 more unreadable 
letters after. They resemble several bumps gradually decreasing in size.

5 C H. Bensi - ditto marks under occupation of  #4 in the sex column.

6 Joseph Sammis - The handwriting was the same as for passenger #7 and 
appears that surnames began with the same letter but it is difficult to 
make out. The only other handwriting similar is the occupation of passenger
#7 - Ship Master which would make it Sammis. Other possibility is Dannis. 
Occupation was written in Sex column.

7 George G. Smalley - Difficult to make out first letter in last name. 
Same explanation as #6. Could also be Donalley. 

8 Child is 3 months old.

Steamship Dacian was registered at Glasgow, Scotland. James Laird was 
master from c.1868 when ship was built until it sank off Nova Scotia in 
1872 with no loss of life. The Dacian generally sailed between Glasgow-
New York-Mediterranean. In the Marine Intelligence column of the New York
Times for July 1871 the Anchor Line had Anigilia, Australia, Britannia, 
Europa, India as "express" steamers and the Assyria, Dacian, Iowa, 
Ismalia and Caledonia as "extra" steamers departing every Wednesday and 
Saturday. Costs were Cabin $65.00 - $75.00, Intermediate $33.00 and 
Steerage $28.00. Cabin excursian tickets good for 12 months could be 
had for $130.00.

National Archives and Records Administration, Film M237, Reel 335, List 931.