Ellis Island Immigration Records
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Ellis Island operated from 1892 to 1954. During much of that time, Ellis Island was the main port of entry for immigrants not just to America but for much of North America. Ellis Island processed an average of 5,000 people per day and a total of 12 million immigrants passed through the island over the years. As the table below shows, more immigrants passed through Ellis Island than all other North American ports of entry combined.
Top 10 Ports of Arrival in North America in 1903
Port |
Number of Immigrants |
| Ellis Island | 706,113 |
| Baltimore | 69,541 |
| Boston | 64,358 |
| Montreal & St. John's | 33,048 |
| Philadelphia | 29,926 |
| Honolula | 11,439 |
| San Francisco | 9,504 |
| Key West Florida | 5,129 |
| New Orleans | 4,685 |
| New Bedford Mass. | 4,435 |
| Source: Ellis Island |
When looking at Ellis Island immigration records, here are the things you need to know:
• Not all immigrants were successful in entering the United States. About 2% of immigrants were rejected and sent home. The most common reason for rejection was a concern by immigration officials that the person may become a ward of the state. This could be due to health issues (especially a fairly common eye disease called trachoma, which led to blindness), mental illness or lack of sufficient funds for immigrants to support themselves. People were sorted based on their health condition, financial status and language. Therefore, when looking at the records, don’t assume all your ancestors passed through Ellis Island. Some may have been sent home.
Every immigrant had to walk up stairs like these at Ellis Island. Doctors were stationed around all sides and at the top to see if anyone had difficulty navigating the stairs. This was essentially a 10-second exam used to filter out people with health issues.
• Immigration officials also turned away communists, anarchists and bigamists. They did this by asking rather ingenious questions: “Are you a communist?” “Are you an anarchist?” and “Are you a bigamist?” If a person answered ‘yes’ to any of the questions, they were rejected. If a person answered ‘no’ to any of the questions they were put aside for further questioning. The correct answer would have been: “What is a communist/anarchist?” or “What is a bigamist?” One hundred years ago, most people would not have been familiar with the terms communist, anarchist or bigamist. If they were aware of any of these terms then they may have been a communist, anarchist or bigamist and they were questioned in greater detail.
