I have started helping a friend with his research, and he has a large number of relatives who came from Italy from late 1800s through 1920s, so a number of records are passenger arrival lists. Taking the fact that everything Ancestry does with a grain of salt, Ancestry notes facts from the record as a “Departure” location and date and an “Arrival” location and date. For example, leaving Naples, Italy, on 20 May 1906, arriving in New York, NY, on 01 Jun 1906, travelling via the S.S.Moltke.
RootsMagic does not have Departure nor Arrival facts; the closest facts that seems to match are Emigration and Immigration. So my question is, what exactly defines emigration and immigration for genealogy purposes, i.e., are departure and emigration synonyms (ditto for arrival and immigration), or are they in fact denoting two distinct events?
Maybe to help illustrate my point… I was born in the US, and have lived therein my entire life. If I go on a cruise, sailing from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, stopping at various Carribean ports-of-call over the next two weeks—e.g., Sint Maarten, Martinique, etc.—then come back and disembark in Ft. Lauderdale, have I emigrated and immigrated back?
Emigrate means to leave a country to live in another, while immigrate means to come to a country to live. If you are just traveling but not changing residence I would use departure and arrival.
So here’s one of the complications. One of the ancestors, Giovanni Romano, in particular was married 3 times (first two wives each died).
10 Nov 1900: Initially arrived in US 1
12 Nov 1902: Departed from Naples, Italy, single; last residence, Miglionico, Italy 2
27 Nov 1902: Arrived in New York; final destination, Rochester, NY 2
06 Feb 1905: Naturalized in Amsterdam, NY 1
20 May 1906: Departing from Naples, Italy, with wife, Sofia; last residence, Miglionico, Italy 3
01 Jun 1906: Arrived in New York; final destination, Amsterdam, NY 3
17 Sep 1921: Permanent residence specified as Amsterdam, NY 1
29 Oct 1932: Departed Naples, Italy, with wife, Donatella; last residence, Miglionico, Italy 4
07 Nov 1932: Arrived in New York; final destination, Amsterdam, NY 4
So for Giovanni, would you consider only his first entry to the US in 1900 to be an “emigration”, and the others (for him) merely an “arrival”? Or would the 1902 arrival also be an emigration, as he was not yet naturalized? From ~1905 on, all records indicate he was living and working in Amsterdam with intent on being there permanently…
1. According to passport application, 17 Sep 1921
2. Passenger arrival list, S. S. Nord America
3. Passenger arrival list, S. S. Moltke
4. Passenger arrival list, S. S. Conte Grande
Definitions quoted from Black’s Law Dictionary, Second Pocket Edition
immigration,n. The act of entering a country with the intention of settling there permanently. – immigrate, vb. – immigrant, n. Cf. EMMIGRATION.
immigrant. A person who arrives in a country to settle there permanently; a person who immigrates. Cf. EMMIGRANT
emigration (em-ə-gray-shən), n. The act of leaving a country with the intent to not return and to maintain a residence elsewhere. –emigrate, vb. Cf. IMMIGRATION
emigrant (em-ə-grənt), n. One who leaves his or her country for any reason with the intent to establish a permanent residence elsewhere. Cf. IMMIGRANT
So technically, immigration and emigration are acts rather than facts, with those acts encompassing several discreet facts such as departure, arrival, filing “first papers”, taking an oath of allegience, obtaining a citizenship certificate, etc.
I personally use a “Travel” custom fact. It suits my needs and uploads to Ancestry fine. I am not a Genealogy or Gedcom purist and I find it suits my needs better than using Emigration or Immigration all the time.
No, RM doesn’t have them. You have apparently created them at some point in the past or they may have been in a database that you imported. Either way, they are not stock facts in RM.
great way to remember it – departure or arrival usually more temporary (but not always) – sometimes there can be departure but the immigration part is unknown or records not founds – or was the case with someone in my tree they were a stow-a-way (twice in fact)
I too use a custom fact for these, except where I know that the journey was definitely emigration/immigration because my relatives who emigrated to the USA and South Africa came back to visit several times or some also travelled to the USA as servants and only visited the country and these are all recorded as arrivals and departures.
