All four of my grandparents were immigrants and all four entered the United States through Ellis Island. For that reason, the Ellis Island processing center holds special meaning for me as a significant location in my family history.
Ellis Island
SOURCE: Ellis Island (Manhattan, New York County, New York City, New York, USA). Photographed by Stephen J. Danko on 09 August 2009.
My grandfather, Michael Danko, left Antwerp, Belgium aboard the SS Zealand on 25 February 1905 at age 27 and arrived at Ellis Island on 07 March 1905. He paid for his passage himself and was going to stay with a friend, Isaac Flichtenfeld on 1st Ave in New York.
My grandmother, Maryanna Dziurzynska Danko, left Antwerp, Belgium aboard the SS Vaderland on 15 May 1909 at age 28 and arrived at Ellis Island on 24 May 1909. She was accompanied by her children Zofia, age 9, and Jan, age 5. Their passage was paid by my grandfather, Michael Danko, and they were going to stay with him in Worcester, Massachusetts.
My grandfather, Kostanty Niedzialkowski, left Rotterdam, Holland aboard the SS Rijndam on 14 May 1910 at the age of 17 and arrived at Ellis Island on 24 May 1910. His passage was paid by his uncle, presumably Franciszek Niedzialkowski with whom he was going to stay at 18 Huntington Ave in Worcester, Massachusetts.
My grandmother and Kostanty’s future wife, Helena Chmielewska, left Rotterdam, Holland aboard the SS Nieuw Amsterdam on 04 January 1913 at the age of 16 and arrived at Ellis Island on 14 January 1913. She paid for her passage herself and was going to stay with her cousin [Wincas Milkovicjas?] in Thompsonville, Connecticut.
Copyright © 2009 by Stephen J. Danko
This would have made a great “Saturday Night Genealogy Fun” topic for those of us who can document our family’s immigration to the U.S.
I probably have all this same sort of information on my family but no reason to pull it all together 😉
Ah yes, Jasia! It would make a good “Saturday Night Genealogy Fun” topic. Of course, it’s more of a challenge for those whose ancestors immigrated further back in time than mine did!
I just found a record of my husband’s grandparents on the Ellis Island site and was amazed at the details I could learn, that I could see the manifest and see the steamships they rode on. Now I am going to try to find a record of my own grandparents too. I found it all out as we are moving and I cam across a string line belonging to my husband’s grandather which I wrote about on my blog – funny where life’s journey takes us, forward and back again, like the rocking of a ship.