Find More Than Names and Dates at Ellis Island.org

One of my favorite places to visit in NY, Ellis Island, reopened last month. It was damaged last year, on October 29th, by Hurricane Sandy. Read about the damage by clicking here. According to the blog, Heartbreak & Hope: Stories of Ellis Island, visitors will have access to the main building and the wall of honor. More areas will reopen as repairs are completed.

Not one of my ancestors immigrated through Ellis Island. However, my husband's paternal grandparents and  several of their brothers and sisters immigrated from Ireland and arrived, first, at Ellis Island. 

You can find so much more than names and dates when reading ship manifests at Ellis Island. org. While looking for my husband's Murray family, I found physical descriptions, addresses, family names and relationships. 

My husband's grandmother, Susan Murray, came to the United States, through Ellis Island, on September 4, 1921.  She was the last of the six Murray sisters who came to the United States. She and three other sisters came through Ellis Island.  Susan arrived on the S.S. Carmania from Liverpool. She named her father as J. Murray, her age as 22, her place of birth as New Quay, and her final destination was the home of her sister, Kate Murray, in Westchester, New York. 

Catherine "Kate" Murray, who later married Peter McGing, sailed from Queenstown, in Ireland, on the S.S. Carmania on April 12, 1911 and arrived on April 19, 1911.  Her age was listed as 19 years. Her destination was NYC and she was going to stay with her sister Ellen in New York. She was 5'5'' with a fair complexion, fair hair and blue eyes.  Kate’s last residence was listed as Burren and she listed her father, James Murray of Burren, County Clare as the nearest relative in Ireland. 

Ellen Murray, age 17, arrived in the US on April 17, 1908 from Queenstown aboard the S. S. Mauretania.  She was 5 feet 7 inches tall with a dark complexion, black hair and brown eyes.  She states that she was planning to stay with her sister, Sarah Murray at 428 St. Nicolas Ave., NYC and that she had previously lived in Burren, County Clare.

Sarah Murray was 20 years old when she arrived at Ellis Island in NY from Queenstown aboard the Ivernia on May 6, 1903. She could read and write and her occupation was listed as servant.  She stated that she would be going to Dubuque, Iowa to live with her sister, Delia Murray, at 1428 Lockes Street.  I don't know if Sarah ever went to Iowa as by 1908, she was living in NYC. 

Diana

© 2013

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Sources

Ellis Island Museum Photo taken by Diana Quinn (2003).  

Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search. (n.d.). Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from http://www.ellisisland.org/default.asp