Over the course of the past couple of days, I’ve been trying to find my great grandmother’s entry into the United States. According to the censuses that I’ve collected, Mary E. Crighton came from Liverpool in 1903. Just today, I found a passenger list on ship The Commonwealth that lists a brother and sister, Esther and a Samuel Crighton, coming to Boston in August 1903. The ages seem just about right.
I imagine that immigrating to a new country is a chance to reinvent oneself, and I wonder how much of that happened with my own people. In the Crighton line, I’ve also found relatives under the spellings of Creighton and Crayton. And while I was aware that newcomers to the U.S. changed their last names, I didn’t consider that they might also change their first names or use their middle. I’m wondering if my grandmother’s name is really Mary Esther Crighton, but I don’t know for sure.
So I have a little lead, but I need to confirm somehow that this Esther is my Mary. I’m thinking that the next step might be to write to the National Archives and see if I can get her naturalization papers which may have some more detailed information on her exact name. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to chase down this story?
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