Annie Moore (immigrant)

For other people named Annie Moore, see Annie Moore (disambiguation).
Contemporary illustration of Annie Moore

Anna "Annie" Moore (April 24, 1874 - December 6, 1924[1][2]) was an Irish emigrant to the United States in 1892. She was the first immigrant to the United States to pass through the Ellis Island facility in New York Harbor.

Immigration

Moore arrived from County Cork, Ireland aboard the steamship called the Nevada on January 1, 1892. It was reported that her arrival was on her 15th birthday, but records in Ireland reveal that her birthday was in May and she was actually 17. Her brothers, Anthony and Philip, who journeyed with her, had just turned 15 and 12, respectively.[2][3] As the first person to be processed at the newly opened facility, she was presented with an American $10 gold piece from an American Official,[3] which is the 2013 equivalent of $202[4] through inflation (as of February 1, 2013). From 1820 to 1920, more than 4 million people left their native shores of Ireland bound for the Port of New York and a new life in America. When Ellis Island officially opened on January 1, 1892, the first passenger registered through the now world-famous immigration station was a young Irish girl named Annie Moore. Annie departed from Queenstown (County Cork, Ireland) on December 20, 1891 aboard the S.S. Nevada, one of 148 steerage passengers. The trio would spend 12 days at sea (including Christmas Day), arriving in New York on Thursday evening, December 31. They were processed through Ellis Island the following morning, New Year's Day. All three children were soon reunited with their parents who were already living in New York.

Her parents, Matthew and Julia Moore, had come to the United States in 1888 and were living at 32 Monroe Street in Manhattan. She married a son of German immigrants, Joseph Augustus Schayer, an employee at Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market, with whom she had at least eleven children. She died of heart failure on December 6, 1924,[1] and is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Queens. Her previously unmarked grave was identified in August 2006. On October 11, 2008, a dedication ceremony was held at Calvary which celebrated the unveiling of a marker for her grave, a Celtic Cross made of Irish Blue Limestone.

A woman named "Annie Moore" who died near Fort Worth, Texas in 1924 had long been thought to be the one whose arrival marked the beginning of Ellis Island. Further research, however, established that the Annie Moore in Texas was born in Illinois.[3][5]

Legacy

Gallery

References

  1. 1 2 Annie Moore's gravestone
  2. 1 2 Smolenyak, Megan (December 31, 2013). "They Say It's Your Birthday -- But It's Not". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
  3. 1 2 3 Roberts, Sam (September 14, 2006). "Story of the First Through Ellis Island Is Rewritten". The New York Times
  4. ↑ http://futureboy.us/fsp/dollar.fsp?quantity=10&currency=dollars&fromYear=1874
  5. ↑ Genealogist Megan Smolenyak report on Annie Moore story
  6. ↑ IACI-USA.org Annie Moore at www.iaci-usa.org
  7. ↑ Memorial dedication ceremony for Annie Moore. Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears sung by Ronan Tynan toward the midpoint of the video.
  8. ↑ Celtic Woman performing The New Ground - Isle Of Hope, Isle Of Tears on YouTube

External links

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