Are We Talking about the Same Ancestor?

I have a somewhat distant cousin who’s researched a Meinzen line.

I spoke with him on the phone a number of years ago when I was just starting research in earnest. He confirmed my information that Henry C. Meinzen was born in Germany in 1837, married Elizabeth Armitage in 1870, and died in 1925.

He said he’d found Henry and 3 of his brothers on a passenger list. He told the story of them traveling toward Indiana when Henry decided to stop and stay in Steubenville, Ohio. He also said that their ship sank in port, and that he’d found information about that event. I was really excited to hear that. And then he said that Henry and his brothers had come to America in 1871.

I was hurriedly taking notes. Afterward, when I reread them, I wondered how that could be! The dates didn’t fit. Did I misunderstand? Did he find someone else’s ancestor and line? Or am I just too inexperienced a researcher?