Ellis Island
Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay, was the gateway for over 12 million immigrants to the U.S. as the United States' busiest immigrant inspection station for over 60 years from 1892 until 1954. Ellis Island was opened January 1, 1892. The island was greatly expanded with land reclamation between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the site of Fort Gibson and later a naval magazine. The island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965 and has hosted a museum of immigration since 1990.
William Henry Ellis (politician)
He was born on the Isle of Wight and came to Newfoundland around 1838. He was a member of a committee formed to protest a Fishery Convention between England and France in January 1857 granting the French fishing rights on the south and west portions of Newfoundland; the treaty was dropped by Britain in May of the same year. Ellis died in office in 1858.