Ellis Island Immigration Station

Ellis Island records are the key that unlocks the door to the lineage of many families in the United States. About forty percent of all U.S. citizens can trace at least one ancestor to Ellis Island, a federal immigration station that officially opened on January 1, 1892.

The peak period of Ellis Island was from 1900 to 1914. During that time, 5,000 to 10,000 passed through the Ellis Island every day. From 1925 to 1954 (the year it closed), about 2.3 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island – more than half the immigrants entering the U.S.A.

Immigrants Arriving at Ellis Island

 

“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, 

are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.” 

― Franklin D. Roosevelt. 

  

Although there is a common belief that Ellis Island officials sometimes changed the names of immigrants entering the U.S.A., this is not necessarily true. In fact, in those years there were no visa requirements. Immigration inspectors did not create immigration records. Rather, they checked the names of the newly arrived against the ship’s passenger list. And these ship’s manifests are the only record of entry of the immigrant.

Quite often, the passenger’s names were wrongly recorded on the ship’s manifest which is how they got miss-spelled in the U.S.A. Some passengers also changed their names in advance of arriving in the United States, and others changed their names after arrival in the U.S. – they had their own reasons for doing this. In those days, changing your name did not require a legal process.

All of these name changes has not made it easy for descendants tracing their family roots.

In total, more than 12 million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island, and the Ellis Island records – ship’s manifests - have been critical in tracing long-lost ancestors.

If you need assistance, Our Ancestry can help you find those elusive ancestors.