Immigrant Ships
Transcribers Guild

Steamer Biela

I, F. Graham, Master of the Br Str Biela do solemnly, sincerely, and truly swear 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 the City of New York, is a full and perfect list of all the passengers taken on board the said vessel at Rio de Janeiro from which port said vessel has now arrived; and that on said list is truly designated the age, sex, calling, country of citizenship, native country, intended destination or location, number of pieces of baggage, location of compartment or space occupied, and date and cause of death of passengers as required by the Passenger Act of 1882; also a true statement so far as it can be ascertained with reference to the intention of each alien passenger as to a protracted sojourn in this country. So help me God.
Signed F. Graham

Sworn to this 22 Aug 1885 before me
(signed) Deputy Collector

List or Manifest of all the passengers taken on board the Br Str Biela whereof ______ is Master, from Rio de Janeiro burthen _______ tons.

Columns represent: passenger number, name, age, sex, calling, the country of which they are citizens, native country, intended destination or location, number of pieces of baggage, location of compartment or space occupied, whether visitors only or intending to be permanent settlers.

    
 1* Mr Dray??n        28 Male    Officer in Navy  U.S.          U.S.          U.S.         3     Cabin
 2  Mr A E Lawrence   24 Male    Merchant         U.S.          U.S.          U.S.         4     Cabin
 3  Mr G O Lawrence   24 Male    Merchant         U.S.          U.S.          U.S.         4     Cabin
 4  Mr Chandler       35 Male    Merchant         U.S.          U.S.          U.S.         5     Cabin
 5  Mrs Chandler      30 Female                   U.S.          U.S.          U.S.               Cabin
 6* Mr J N Nunl?r     25 Male    Merchant         Scotland      Scotland      U.S.         3     2nd Cabin   Visitor
 7  Mr Carl Rodenwald 30 Male    Laborer          Germany       Germany       U.S.         6     2nd Cabin   Permanent
 8* Mr Thomas Wood    4? Male    Master Mariner   St. Johns NF  St. Johns NF  St Johns NF        2nd Cabin   Transit
 
signed F Graham, Master


Transcriber's Notes:

* An asterisk indicates an error on the part of the original recorder, not
  the transcriber, or is used to call your attention to additional information
  in the transcriber's notes.

  There is a word after the 3 in the 'Number of pieces of baggage' column for Passenger
  #1, and ditto marks under it for all the other passengers. It may be 'pieces', but it
  is very difficult to read. There is a letter that has a downstroke loop that goes
  below the other letters, as a 'g', but it appears to be written over by other letters.

1 The surname looks like Draylon. The writer does not close his 'o's. There is a small
  dot above the vowel (6th letter), but it could be a smudge. The 'l' or 't' (5th letter)
  is not crossed, but the writer does not cross his 't's in most of the list. Other
  possibilities: Drayton, Draylin, Draytin.
6 The surname is either Nunler or Nunlir. There is a dot above the 5th letter, but it
  could be a smudge.
8 The age is either 45 or 48. NF after St. Johns stands for Newfoundland.

National Archives and Records Administration, Film M237, Reel 489, List 1039.

---

We strive to make your search productive. If you don't find the passenger list you are looking for on our site, please consider a subscription to Ancestry.com. There, you can locate your ancestors ship, passenger list, view and save a copy of the original list. You can also access census data and death records to help you in your search. Census records, and in particular the 1930 census, is one of the most easily used tools for beginners and seasoned genealogists alike. Ancestry.com is the only place where all census years are easily searchable.
Free Trial - Ancestry.com US Deluxe Membership