Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty

The Ellis Island Foundation is something that has been a part of my life since I was about six years old.  The Foundation began the fundraising to undertake the huge project of restoring Lady Liberty.  My brother and I both donated funds from our allowances for a couple of years, if I recall correctly.

Touring Lady Liberty

When Jonathan and I went back east for our extended honeymoon, we were able to go to Liberty Island on Friday that we were in town.  It was the first weekend in December 1998.  It was 70-75F with clear blue skies, sunny, and warm!  We were able to take a tour of Lady Liberty although we missed being able to go up to the crown by a half hour which was a disappointment.  We are still happy that we were able to get a tour and be on the island.

Ellis Island Site Helps to Locate Immigrated Ancestors

Their website offers a wealth of information for all of us that have had family members immigrate into the United States.  This particular website focuses on the records for those that came into the U.S. through Ellis Island and the Port of New York.

Immigrants came to America through Ellis Island from 1892 to 1924.  They currently have records that span that time frame.

An announcement was just made via their email newsletter that states that they are once again working with FamilySearch.org to expand those records to include up to 1957!  This means that another 40 million passenger records will be added to the already 25 million in their database.  The passenger lists will be for Ellis Island as well as the Port of New York.  Wow!

When searching for your immigrant ancestors on this website as well as others, please remember that how you spell the name may or may not be how the name was spelled by your ancestor.  The intake person at Ellis Island may or may not have spelled the name correctly.  You will have to check various spellings for the first and last names.

The misspelling of names happened frequently by census takers and neighbors giving the information to the census takers, just to name a couple of examples.  Also, some people did not know how to spell their names or how it had been spelled.

Do You Think Your Ancestors Came to the U.S. through Ellis Island?

If you have ancestors that came through Ellis Island or you think they might have, this is the website to check.  If you cannot find them elsewhere coming into the U.S., give Ellis Island a try.

Please share in the comments if your ancestors came to the United States via Ellis Island.  I love hearing about your family stories and history!

~Adrienne