I enjoyed the article in the March 10 edition entitled Feeding the Island Community about the Cronig family. In the fourth paragraph of the article it states that “15 year old Sam Krengle received his surname from the immigration officials in New York City.” This is a common myth, or in today’s parlance an “alt-fact.” Immigration officials in the U.S. did not change an immigrant’s last name. Sam Krengle either changed his name before booking his passage to the U.S. or after he arrived. The way to determine this would be to find the copy of the ship’s manifest on which he sailed here.

There are multiple reputable sources that confirm this including The Smithsonian Magazine, Genealogy.com and American Passage: The History of Ellis Island by Vincent J. Cannato.

Here is a direct quote from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): “During immigrant inspection at Ellis Island the immigrant confronted an inspector who had the passenger list already created abroad. That inspector operated under rules and regulations ordering that he was not to change the name or identifying information found for any immigrant unless it was requested by the immigrant or inspection demonstrated the original information was in error.”

Sam and the family that followed him to the U.S. changed their surname. The question as to why is buried with them.

Bob Rosenbaum
Chilmark