Died at sea

[juicy]

This is one for the “Mastersâ€

[tonyric]

Not sure how it seems far fetched that someone that died at sea back then would be buried at sea. They didn't have the ability to keep a body cool enough back then, so by the time they reached land they would have had a mess from decomposition of the body. This would not be so far fetched I think.

[juicy]

Thanks for the graphics there Tony!
Your theory was considered and you may well be correct, and I suppose it must have been a fairly frequent event considering the numbers involved. If this was the case, at some point it obviously stopped.

[CowryShells]

I was just looking at a ship's manifest from 1893 (an arrival into Ellis Island). The very last column is titled "Date and Cause of Death", so they were prepared to record this for any passenger, should it occur.

I would try contacting relatives here and abroad to see if someone has a record of the family, perhaps in a Bible, just to get a little more information.

[PeterTimber]

There is nothing better than researching. Go to the following website:
www.longislandgenealogy.com/ComingtoAmerica.htm =Peter=

[JohnArmellino]

I have run across records of deaths at sea in the Atti di Diversi. One of the records even gave the latitude and longitude where the death occurred. If your comune has Atti di Diversi, you might want to check them for a record of your ancestor.

[juicy]

Great find there Peter,

Thanks everyone.