From Canada to Cleveland: Edward Baker's Journey

The Upper Bridge over the Niagara River, circa 1900, where Edward Baker crossed into the U.S. in 1910.

 

I'm writing this on Sunday, October 1st. It just so happens to be the birthday of one of my great grandfathers, Edward Joseph Baker, born on 1 October 1886. So, first off, Happy 137th Birthday, Great Grandpa!

I haven't done much research on the Baker family. I am curious, however, about a few things related to them, and so they're my current research focus.

My first questions are about Edward. He was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, but came to the United States in 1910. I wonder what brought him to the U.S., why he chose Cleveland, and why he and his family stayed there and never rejoined their Canadian families; his wife, Catherine Cassidy, was also Canadian-born.¹

Edward's home, St. Catharines, was located on Lake Ontario's south shore, near Niagara Falls.²

Another family migration preceded Edward's: His father—New York-born Joseph Baker—emigrated from Sheldon, Wyoming, New York to St. Catharines in the 1870s. Again, why?³

To answer the second question, I have to answer the first—it's just good genealogical practice to move from the present backwards in time—building out each family tree branch. So I start with Edward's story.

Edward's immigration was documented on both sides of the U.S./Canadian border by officials complying with U.S. immigration law:

• Form-1 titled "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers Applying for Admission to the United States from Foreign Contiguous Territory," was a document created by border inspectors. It listed all individuals who entered the United States each month as aliens. For years, many immigrants to the U.S. had circumvented border inspection by entering Canada first, then continuing to their ultimate U.S. destination. Form-1 was required by the Department of Commerce to screen all immigrants to determine if they could legally enter the country. Beginning in 1906 immigrants from Canada were treated as though they had entered a U.S. port first. This included both those born in Canada and those who arrived in Canada from other countries.⁴
  
• Form 548-B was a smaller card, a manifest of alien arrivals to the United States, also completed by U.S. border officials.⁵

Twenty-three-year old Edward J. Baker immigrated to the United States on 23 February 1910 into the Port of Niagara Falls, New York. He traveled on the Niagara Street Railway via the Upper Bridge, later known as the Honeymoon Bridge.⁶

The alien manifest recorded that Edward was married, born in Port Dalhousie on 1 October 1886, and had last lived in Saint Catharines, Ontario; his nearest relation in Canada was his father Joseph. His destination was Cleveland, Ohio, but Edward gave no address to which he was going specifically, and named no relative or friend to whom he intended to go. He gave his occupation as an iron molder. Edward disembarked the train on 24 February 1910, which became his official immigration date.

 

Left page of Edward's Form-1 entry...

 

...and right page.⁷

The form also noted that Edward had paid his own passage, and had $114 with him. This was far more than the suggested $50 immigrants were encouraged to carry when crossing the border. I wonder why Edward brought so much money. Of course, he would have had to cover the costs of travel, meals, and lodging to get to Cleveland and while there. Perhaps he wanted to find a job, but also a place to live; his funds could have been used to rent a home or apartment for his family.

On the United States side of the border, Edward's Form 548-B manifest card was prepared. He stated his intention in coming to the U.S. was "to look for work" in Cleveland, Ohio. Again, he gave no address, and named no one to whom he was going. He stated that he had never been to the United States before. The information given on this form was largely the same as on Form-1.⁸

Edward's Form 548-B completed on 24 February 1910.⁹

Given that Edward appeared to not know anyone in Cleveland, why did he choose it? Was it proximity to his homeland, as Cleveland was relatively close to his Ontario birthplace and the family he left behind? Could it be that Edward was the “pioneer” who paved the way for other family members to come to the U.S.?

I'll look at the answers to these questions next.

Until next time...

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This post was chosen as one of Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" posts of the week on the theme "Travel." Thanks Amy!

 

IMAGE: "American Falls and Steel Arch Bridge from Goat Island," One Hundred Glimpses of Niagara, (Buffalo: W.G. MacFarland, 1900); image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/onehundredglimps00wgmauoft/page/10/mode/2up : 1 October 2023); citing Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Image in the public domain.

NOTES

¹ "Canada, Ontario Births and Baptisms, 1779-1899", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FLQG-G2N : 3 October 2023), Edward Becker, 1 October 1886, Port Dalhousie, Lincoln, Ontario, Canada; citing Births, 1886, image 345, Archives of Ontario, Toronto. Also: "U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895-1960," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1075/images/m1464_118-0248 : 21 September 2023), "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers Applying for Admission to the United States from Foreign Contiguous Territory," sheet 17, line 15, Edward Baker, age 23, arriving from Port Dalhousie to port of Niagara Falls, 23 February 1910, disembarked 24 February 1910; citing Manifests of Passengers Arriving at St. Albans, VT, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895-1954, National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service RG 85, microfilm publication M1464, roll 118, Washington, D.C. Also: "Canada, Ontario Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760-1923," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYWX-6K4 : 3 October 2023), Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria (St. Catharines, Lincoln, Ontario), Baptisms 1860-1906, p. 129, Catharine Anne Cassidy, 12 April 1886; citing Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Catharines, Ontario.

²  GoogleMaps (https://www.google.com/maps : 3 October 2023), St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, and Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio).

³ 1860 United States Federal Census, Sheldon, Wyoming, New York, population schedule, p. 57, line 17, Joseph Baker, age 2; database and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7667/images/4237111_00198 : 3 October 2023); citing National Archives and Records Administration, microfilm publication M653, roll 884, Washington, D.C. Also: "Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923," (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61505/images/FS_005107195_00379 : 3 October 2023), Joseph Baker and Sera Dyer, 19 November 1878; citing Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Marriage Register, Jan. 19, 1858-May 11, 1911, Ontario.

⁴ "U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895-1960," Ancestry, "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers Applying for Admission to the United States from Foreign Contiguous Territory," Edward Baker. Also:  Marian L. Smith, "By Way of Canada: U.S. Records of Immigration Across the U.S.-Canadian Border, 1895-1954 (St. Albans Lists)," Prologue Magazine, Vol. 32, No. 3, Fall 2000; digital version, National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2000/fall/us-canada-immigration-records-1.html?_ga=2.35870822.779701606.1695313676-744313725.1694548999 : 21 September 2023), last reviewed 28 October 2022.

⁵ "U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895-1960," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1075/images/M1480_9-1800?pId=4480669 : 21 September 2023), Edward Baker, age 23, arriving from Port Dalhousie to port of Niagara Falls, 23 February 1910, disembarked 24 February 1910; citing National Archives and Records Administration, microfilm publication M1480, "Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Rochester, New York, 1902-1954," National Archives and Records Administration, microfilm publication M1480, roll 0090, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, RG 85, Washington, D.C.

⁶ "U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895-1960," Ancestry, "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers Applying for Admission to the United States from Foreign Contiguous Territory," Edward Baker. Also: U.S. District Court, Eastern Division, Northern District, Cleveland, Ohio, Declaration of Intention 27152, Edward Joseph Baker, 9 July 1910; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39P-8QQ7-W : 14 September 2023); citing National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

⁷ "U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895-1960," Ancestry, "List or Manifest of Alien Passengers Applying for Admission to the United States from Foreign Contiguous Territory," Edward Baker. 

⁸ "U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895-1960," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1075/images/M1480_9-1800?pId=4480669 : 21 September 2023), Edward Baker, age 23, arriving from Port Dalhousie to port of Niagara Falls, 23 February 1910, disembarked 24 February 1910.

⁹ Ibid.