Reminder

WE ARE ELLIS ISLAND

I will be leaving this post up all week again, simply because everyone wanders by on different days and times and I want to give you all a chance to make comments and ask questions.

You may have seen a public service commercial on TV called "We Are Ellis Island" encouraging people to support the renovation of the buildings on Ellis Island as a national monument to the immigrants who passed through there on their way to permanent residence in the United States. They encourage you to visit their site at We Are Ellis Island . At that site you can both read and watch stories of the people who came into the country written by their ancestors. You also can submit the stories of your own family, and they encourage you to do so.

If any of your ancestors entered the United States on the East Coast between 1892 and 1954, they were officially processed at Ellis Island and the records of their admission to the country, ship, and census information such as age, marital status, occupation etc. have been placed on file and are accessible for free at the official site Ellisisland.org. In addition, immigration, citizenship, and military information before, during, and after these dates are available from The National Archives.

Prior to 1890, the individual states (rather than the Federal government) regulated immigration into the United States. Castle Garden in the Battery (originally known as Castle Clinton) served as the New York State immigration station from 1830 to 1890 and approximately eight million immigrants, mostly from Northern and Western Europe, passed through its doors.

To give you a sample of the material you will find at the Ellis Island site: On a copy of the ship's manifest for the S. S. Algeria, Page 256, Line 6 you will find:

Stephen White a married man age 21 whose previous residence was Fauldhouse, Scotland and his nearest relative is his mother, Euphemia White, at 41 Castle Square, Bothwell, Fauldhouse, Scotland. Stephen speaks English and is literate. He is a miner by occupation who plans to live in the U.S. permanently. His first destination will be the Navarre Hotel in New York City. His complexion is pale and he has brown hair and eyes. He is of good physical condition. He is not a polygamist or anarchist and doesn't plan to overthrow the government of the United States (you have to wonder if anyone answered yes to those questions). On lines 2 and 7, you see where he is traveling with his brother, Robert White, and cousin, Robert Reid with similar information.

Stephen White

One building on Ellis Island has been restored with donations from the public. You can still donate to add ceremonial bricks to this building with the name of your ancestor and to assist in the research, transcription, and maintenance of the records.

If anyone would like additional information or assistance in tracing relatives, please let me know. I'm not a professional genealogist and I don't charge, but will be glad to get you started. In the meantime, do take the opportunity to visit both "We Are Ellis Island" and the official Ellis Island and Castle Garden sites for a great deal of interesting information and historical background on immigration.

A Long Voyage To Somewhere

My ships aren't nearly as well decorated as the S. S. Manic Monday, but they are much more important to my life. It wasn't all that long ago, that Pan American World Airways inaugurated the first transpacific passenger service. If you wanted to go overseas before 1936, the only way to travel was by ship.



S. S. Letitia

S.S. Cameronia

The Letitia carried my grandmother, father, and two uncles to the United States. The Cameronia came ahead of them by a year carrying my grandfather. A third ship, The Algeria, came even earlier bearing three great uncles.

I've written about the wonderful free on line service offered by Ellis Island to help you locate an ancestor's arrival in the U.S. As always, I will be supporting the Ellis Island Foundation by purchasing their annual Lady Liberty Christmas decoration. It is only $20 (unless you purchase all the back years to 2003) and a good cause. They also have some inexpensive posters, books, and keepsakes from $10 and up in the gift shop.

This year they are offering something much more remarkable if expensive that you might want to consider. It is the Legacy Keepsake (shown below). During the operation of Ellis Island, The New York Times would record daily Ship arrivals. If you have done the free research at Ellis Island and know the ship that carried your ancestor, they will provide a framed certificate with a picture of the ship, the page of the ship manifest with your ancestor's name, and the record of ship arrival page from the New York Times and the name and date. While it is possible to get all the elements and make your own for less, it's much faster to take advantage of their staff and records to do it for you.