If you're like me, you haven't had much luck with the Ellis Island Web site <www.ellisisland.org>. Either you don't have your ancestors' names right (you've racked your brain for every possible spelling variation and still can't find them), or they simply came through a different immigration station. Ellis Island didn't open until 1892; if your forebears immigrated to New York Gty before then, they would've come through Castle Garden.

With the new CastleGarden.org Web site <castlegarden.org> (see the December 2005 Family Tree Magazine for a preview), you can search New York passenger lists from 1820 through 1913 for free. (Although Castle Garden was open only from 1830 to 1892, me Web site includes some immigrants who came before and after that time.) I took CasdeGarden.org and Stephen P. Morse's companion search/ browse utilities at <www.stevemorse.org> for a spin to see how they stack up.