Daily AncestorWhether ever before in the United States
Whether ever before in the United States is a passenger list question showing if the immigrant had been in the U.S. earlier, and when and where.
The question appears on the list forms used from February 1907, worded "Whether ever before in the United States; and if so, when and where?" The answer is yes or no, then a year or period of years and a place. Border card manifests also noted earlier stays.
A yes is a strong hint that an earlier arrival record exists. Many immigrants arrived several times and so have more than one passenger list record, sometimes with the name spelled differently on each. Later annotations on a list may even point to the earlier one by volume, page and line.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Whether ever before in the United States." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/immigration/ever-before-in-the-us. Last checked 2026-10-12.