If you are fortunate enough to find an ancestor on a ship manifest, read the entire thing–especially pay attention to families listed immediately before and after your ancestor, but you still never know.
I’ve found the family of a niece and her husband listed right after my ancestor and I’ve also found “grandma” who immigrated with her child and grandchildren listed separately on the manifest.
Sometimes names get overlooked and have to be inserted at the end of the list. The creator of the manifest could not “insert a row” in the list if he realized he’d overlooked someone.
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It's also good for pinpointing neighbors that may have made the trip together and settle in the same location.