Robert,
I'm not going to argue with you on anything. We have different experience from different areas. How's this going to help her, in this case? You say the Russian citizenship is out of the question, that it's a mistake in the manifest. So what about him being Austrian? Wherever he may have been born to/in is of importance if she's gonna be able to search further. I have so far seen only a very few spelled Ovat/Ovath/Ovatt in the American records here on ancestry.com and they don't much of a clue of origin outside the States. I've seen Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia. What have you found so far that can help her? I find no trace at all in the Alabama census, just like she says, only his death and burial in Jefferson as John Ovat. Nothing else. But I'll keep on looking to help with what I can.