That was awfully kind of the company. My grandfather came over in steerage, but his sister-in-law, wife of his brother who was already in the US, had enough money to pay 2nd class fare, and she didn’t have to go through Ellis Island processing. My parents learned that when they visited and didn’t find Aunt Martha in the E.I. records.
She was still a British subject when she died in the 1990s, something over 100 years old.
My grandmother died of TB when she was in her late 20’s. I’ve wondered if perhaps she hadn’t contracted the disease while on board the ship. I know they screened refugees upon arrival, but it’s possible the disease was in its first days when they were processed. Fortunately my grandfather, nor my father and his two brothers were ever diagnosed with it. I never knew my grandparents on either side as they had all died by the time I was born in ‘47. I do have a photo of my father and his family shortly after they landed. The three boys are in knickers, my grandfather is wearing a 3-piece suit, and my grandmother has a long dress on. It’s the only picture I have of my grandparents and I cherish it.