Most researchers have likely heard but for those that haven’t there is a new site open that provides some good information regarding immigration into the U.S. The site http://www.ellisislandrecords.org just went operational this week.

According to a recent AP article: “Tracking ancestors who entered the country through Ellis Island used to mean poring through endless reels of microfilm. Now, it can be as simple as a few clicks of a computer mouse. Ellis Island officials and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints introduced a database yesterday containing arrival records for the 22 million immigrants who entered New York from 1892 to 1924.

The database is expected to be up and running today. When fully operational in about a month, the database, which includes 70 percent of all U.S. arrivals recorded during that period.”

I gave the system a go and was able to find specific family members, the date they entered, ship they were on, and their port of embarkation. There are, according to those responsible, a few bugs – mostly with transcription. The data I found indicated they were U.S. citizens who resided in Onchar, Minnesota. Needless to say they came from Onchan but that’s close enough and easy to decipher. Far better than searching microfiche.

The system is being heavily used and “sorry” messages are common. Two tricks I found useful. If using an Explorer browser and “sorry” pops up continue clicking on the “go” arrow on the upper right until the main page opens. Once at the main page look at the bottom of the screen for “terms.” Click there and the applicable page for logging on will come up (likely after a few “sorry” screens).

Good hunting,
Gary Clucas - Seattle