First Ellis Island Immigrant Gets Buried Over a Century Later

The first immigrant to enter America through Ellis Island was finally given a proper burial yesterday over eighty years after she died. Annie Moore immigrated from Ireland as a 17-year-old on January 1, 1892 and was given $10 in gold for her place in history. For many years, historians had believed that as an adult she had migrated west and passed away somewhere in Texas. Then in 2006 during the making of a documentary, genealogist Megan Smolenyak discovered that Moore had been buried unceremoniously in an unmarked grave in Queens. That prompted five of her great-grandchildren to raise $25,000 for the Celtic cross made of limestone that was dedicated in her honor yesterday at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside. The ceremony was attended by family members and Irish personalities and even involved a letter from Barack Obama.