Discharge from Ellis Island 1902

My family was already here!

Only a few. My Irish gggm came through Philadelphia in the 1860s, my Swedish gggf came through Canada possibly illegally somehow and his name was changed so I can't even research him, I think my ggm came through from Italy, but my ggf apparently jumped ship and was definitely not legal, both of them were still listed as "alien" in 1930 so potentially I have a claim to Italian citizenship, which frankly is awesome. A bunch of their kids helped win WW2 so hopefully nobody was hung up on them not being naturalized.

My husband’s father came from Italy as an infant. His mother was returned to Italy because of a problem with her papers.

My mother's parents were refugees from Russian-Occupied Poland. Her father came to America before Ellis Island was set up. He married and had a son, but his wife died shortly after. My grandmother to the US in 1892 and married my grandfather not long after she arrived.

I never knew them; they died before I was born. Sadly, there is no photographs of my grandfather.

My father came to America from Italy in 1909. He was the eldest in the family and came here with his mother, his younger brother and sister. His father had already come to the US several years before and worked to earn enough to bring his wife and kids. The remaining 7 children in the family were born in the US.

Southern Italy at that time had been experiencing very deep poverty for years, and many people immigrated to the US. Even though my grandparents and all the children lived in a basement apartment and were very poor, it was still many times better than what they left in Italy.

What touches me the most is the fact that so many immigrants left behind everything they knew and all their loved ones. Some of my dad's siblings were named after the mothers and fathers that my grandparents never saw again.
There were no emails, no phone calls, and regular mail took weeks.

My dad told me his mother was seasick almost the whole trip, and their meals consisted of horsemeat stew...which she simply could not manage to eat.

But, even knowing that they would never see those loved ones ever again, they came anyway...so many of them because they were willing to do whatever it took for the sake of their children's future...a better future, opportunities, education. They went through hardships, worked and saved for years to have enough for the passage, and traveled to a foreign land where they couldn't speak the language and had no idea how they would manage...but America was the golden land where there was hope and freedom.

That takes a bravery that, I think, some of us might not ever know...or, if we're lucky, not need to have. A lot of us owe our ancestors a great debt for what they did...and too many Americans have forgotten, if they ever even thought about the sacrifices and determination of those who came here so we now have so many times more than they did.

Doesn't matter how early ancestors came, either. Unless someone is a full-blooded Native American, we are all children of immigrants.

None of my ancestors came through there, all were here well before the Civil War, most before the Revolution. On the other hand, my husband is 2nd generation (Italian and Polish) and all of his did come through Ellis Island.

No

Yes my grandfathers brother Stephen came through ellis island in the late 20s and became a naturalized citizen

My maternal grandmother came in 1909. She was told she was only allowed to have 4 bags. On the manifest the original number of bags is crossed through and a 4 is written in above the crossed out number. Sad her things were stolen.

My mother did, my dad's family came over with the Braintree Trust

I had no idea that Ellis Island closed in 1954. "Why" did they close?

My great grandfather did in 1901 but my great grandmother came through Baltimore, Maryland in 1907. Sadly, we never hear of Baltimore. Why?

Yes, my paternal great-great grandparents came through Ellis Island. I’m very grateful they did!! 🇺🇸

Yes my mom and grandmother

My paternal grandfather came through Ellis Island in 1897, from England. He was 17 yrs old. My paternal grandmother's father immigrated from Denmark, but I don't know his port of entry. Most of my other ancestors were here for a very long time before that. Many before the Revolutionary War.

Nope! We are here in South Africa, no American family or ancestors. Just love the photos on ancient faces 😊

My grandparents on both sides came through Ellis. My Mother's Irish parents in the late 1890s and my Father's Italian parents in the early 1900s.

From Poland!

My mother's paternal side was here long before it was the US . Her great grandparents came over from Holland so its possible they came through Ellis. My own paternal side I have no idea.

Castle Garden which was the precursor of Ellis Island.

My paternal grandfather, Evan Evans, came through Ellis Island on his way to Chicago in 1907 from the Isle of Anglesey in Wales.

My family came through in Virginia around 1920. Other relatives came through New Jersey or the Carolinas. There were other ports of immigration on the east coast. People came in through Maine and also Florida and Louisiana. Not everyone came through New York or Boston, the two main immigration sites.

My husband is 2nd generation Russian and Lithuanian. His grandfathers both came through Ellis Island.

I believe that my Mother 's family, Baumgartner, Latham and Crotts originally Kratz all came through Ellis Island. Probably my Father's as well: Walkup originally Wauchop, Stone and West