Who was the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island, where did they originate?

Question

Who was the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island, where did they originate?

Answer 1

The History of Ellis Island

On opening day, Col. John B. Weber, the new commissioner for the post of New York, presented a ten dollar gold piece to the first immigrant (from England), to pass through the gates of the new station. Fifteen year old Annie Moore's response to the gift was "she will never part with it, but will always keep it as a pleasant momento of the occasion."

Ellis Island's history journeys much farther back than most think; back before opening of Ellis's immigration screening station, and even before the first documented immigrants entered the country. In the 1600's, Ellis Island, at the time known as Gull Island by the Mohegan tribe, was a mere two to three acres. During high tide, the island could scarcely been seen above the rising waters. After being discovered for its rich oyster beds in 1628, Dutch settlers renamed it Oyster Island. Following the hanging of Anderson the Pirate in 1765, the island was again renamed, this time known as Gibbet Island after the instrument used to hang him. Finally on January 20, 1785, Samuel Ellis purchased the property and gave it his name, which remains the name of the island till today.

After passing through a few generations of Ellis's descendents, the island was bought by the state of New York, then sold to the federal government in 1808 for ten thousand dollars. During the years of 1812 to 1814, the United States Army erected Fort Gibson, which was eventually dismantled by the government in 1861. In 1876, the United States Navy used Ellis Island as a munitions depot, storing 260,000 pounds of powder. However, complaints from nearby New Jersey residents lead to the removal of the depot in 1890.

That same year, the House Committee of Immigration chose Ellis Island as the site for a new immigrant screening station. The original station, Castle Garden at the Battery in lower Manhattan, could not longer handle the flow of immigrants. To accommodate the size of the new facility, the island was increased to 3.3 acres by means of landfill and a ferry slip was built. In the following two years, Ellis was enlarged to fourteen acres in order to contain immigration depot and support buildings. By January 1st of 1892, Ellis's first immigration station, a two-story-high structure of Georgia pine, was open ready for business. A report in Harper's Weekly described the new building as a "latter-day watering place hotel, presenting to the view a great many-windowed expanse of buff-painted wooden walls, of blue slate roofing, and of light an picturesque towers."