“During the largest human migration in modern history, Ellis Island processed more immigrants than all other North American ports combined. Today, tens of millions of Americans have at least one ancestor who came through Ellis. The Passenger Search database allows you to look for family members who arrived at the Port of New York from 1820 to 1957. At the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration and on the Foundation’s website you can explore your family heritage by searching nearly 65 million passenger records and ship manifests, examining information collected at debarkation points. Some passenger records are more complete than others, but many reveal name, age, date of arrival, ship name, nationality, birthplace, occupation, last residence overseas, and final destination. Some even have information about how many bags a passenger had, the amount of money they carried, and where they stayed on the ship.” (Statueofliberty.org)
HOW TO USE THE ELLIS ISLAND SEARCH TOOL.
hit a snag or roadblock?
Not seeing what you are looking for? Try just using a few letters of their first, as many immigrants changed or Americanized their names after settling . What you thought was John may have originally been Johann.
NOTE: The workers at Ellis Island did NOT change or Americanize the names as they passed through. This is a myth. They used passenger manifest lists and spoke many different languages to communicate with the arrivals.
To access the actions and records, you will need to create a free profile with your email and a password.
As you can see this free research tool could be very valuable in helping you piece together your family story. Not all immigrants came through Ellis Island , but it’s the best known immigrant entry point of the era. It may be a good place to start. Remember, there were many other possible ports of entry, so don’t be disappointed if your search results are bust.
DID FIND WHO YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?
“Ellis Island’s site lets you buy physical copies of your ancestors’ passenger records and/or ships’ manifests. If you buy copies of Ellis Island documents such as passenger records and ships’ manifests, you support a good cause.
–Maintenance and preservation of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island,
–Maintaining the American Family Immigration History Center, which provides the free Internet passenger search and viewing.” ( taken from Livingwithbeth.com)
If you are unable or unwilling to purchase the records you can screenshot and use the snippet tool. You can then save as a file to your device. You can also save the records to your Ellis Island account for later viewing.
TAKE ME TO THE ELLIS ISLAND SEARCH TOOL
HAPPY HUNTING!
