As a point of historical fact, Ellis Island opened on January 1, 1892 and functioned until 1954. Unhappily, points of entry to the USA before Ellis Island were numerous, both on the east and west coasts, and cities on the Great Lakes. Try zeroing in on passenger lists for ships leaving Liverpool, which was the major emigration port during the Irish potato famine. Good hunting! Bill Jones. On Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 7:43 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Up till now I've had no experience with US records at all, being under the > impression that none of my ancestors ever went there. But, I've just found a > letter from my elusive Thomas William Portland SMITH in which he states that > "the happiest three years of my life were spend in the United States..." . I've > got no idea which part of the US he means, but the era would have been during > 1841-1860 approximately. > > Can anyone on the list give me any ideas about where to start searching? It's > likely that he went there with his parents, Robert & Barbara SMITH, who were > Irish. The last address I have for them is Stepney, London in 1841. I realise > that Smith somewhere in the US is a big ask!! > > Jeanette > > ************************************** > Send your List messages using **PLAIN TEXT** and always **TRIM AWAY** superfluous old messages in replies. > > **MEANINGFUL Subject Lines - who, what, where, when, with SURNAMES in CAPITAL letters** > > List Admin can be contacted at: [email protected] > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message