Ellis Island

Ellis Island - Where Fred Swanhorst and Erika Russman Swanhorst arrived in America in 1923 and 1925, respectively.

Ellis Island National Immigration Museum is a historical destination honoring the more than 12 million immigrants that entered the United States from 1892 to 1954.  ​Fred arrived in Ellis Island in 1923, and Erika followed in 1925. 

The American Immigrant Wall of Honor is located by the Museum and is engraved with names of immigrants that traveled through the station.  Included on the Wall is the name of Fred Swanhorst and Erika Russman Swanhorst.  Grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren have visited the Wall as the pictures below show!  

Artifacts, such as the manifest (ship's records of passengers), can be viewed on the website Ellisisland.org.  Wendy and Jann obtained a copy of the manifests and the pictures of the ship on which Fred and Erika traveled to America.
 
If you want to view Fred and Erika's passenger records, go to the website ellisisland.org.  All records are kept under the name given to the shipping company when boarding the boat. Fred's records are under Friedrich Schweinefuss, and Erika's records are under Erika Ruessmann.

 

Fred and Erika's names on the Wall of Honor at Ellis Island.

Wendy Swanhorst, John Swanhorst and Jann Engelstad in 2007 at the Wall of Honor near Grandpa Fred and Grandma Erika's inscribed names. Yes, it was a terribly rainy day!

Mary, Justin and Laci Zimmerman visited the Wall of Honor in 2012.

Fredrick Zimmerman with Jaredlee and Laci Zimmerman