DearMYRTLE - Ellis Island Records.org

Providing practical, down-to-earth advice for family historians since 1995, online since 1985.

Site of the Day:
Ellis Island Records
www.ellisislandrecords.org

DearREADERS,
Online access to ships' passenger records at the ELLIS ISLAND American Family Immigration Center site is perhaps the biggest boon to genealogists since FamilySearch went on the net 2 years ago.

Indeed the passenger arrival records list over 22 million people who immigrated through the port of New York, it covers only a short time period -- from 1892-1924. There are many other ports of arrival our ancestors may have chosen. And folks have been arriving since the late 1500s. In my case, all of my immigrant ancestors arrived long before this time period covered in the Ellis Island online database.

Nevertheless, this web site offers interesting perspectives for those of us who want to understand the process of immigration. You can:

search for an ancestor by name
find his/her listing in a typed transcript of the passenger record
click to view/print the original ship's passenger list where your ancestor is listed
click to view/print a photo and description of your ancestor's ship
post comments to the listing for your ancestor
create an online family photo album to share with other visitors
maintain a file of your findings
schedule a visit to the American Family Immigration Center in NYC, NY

View pages describing the immigrant experience including:

from the Ellis Island site:

Six stories of Americans from different backgrounds researching immigrant ancestry. Discovery of distant family members gave each of these Americans new insights into their families' pasts—and into themselves.	A timeline of immigration history shows the forces that brought people from all over the world to America's shores.

Since the advent of computers, genealogists have benefited from technology as a way to document, and research family history. The Ellis Island web site provides quick access via index to original documents, with supporting information concerning ships. Add to these personal scrapbooks and commentaries from immigrant's descendants and you've got an unbeatable combination!

TRANSCRIPT of Entry for Agnes Foy:

Transcript of Ship's Manifest showing Agnes Foy:

Scanned Image of Original Ship's Manifest:

Photo of Ship with description of size, weight, etc.

NEAT LINKS you might wish to visit!

Ellis Island - www.EllisIsland.org
Cyndi's List - Migration Routes, Roads & Trails - http://www.cyndislist.com/migration.htm
Cyndi's List - Immigration & Naturalization - http://www.CyndisList.com/immigrat.htm
Cyndi's List - Ports of Entry - http://www.CyndisList.com/portsentry.htm
Cyndi's List - Ships & Passenger Lists - http://www.cyndislist.com/ships.htm

Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Daily Genealogy Columnist
AOL Keywords: roots, myrtle
www.dearmyrtle.com

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