Genealogy Escape Room: The Case of the Only Name Change at Ellis Island

Imagine you are trapped in an archive and the only way out is to solve a series of genealogy research puzzles. Are you up to the challenge? Are you ready for Genealogy Escape Room™? Based on the popular escape room concept, Genealogy Escape Room™ turns the typical webinar format upside down! Each registrant will receive a Case Review File used to solve a series of online research tasks BEFORE the live webinar takes place. The webinar is the “reveal” where a step-by-step review of each puzzle, task, and clue all the way to the final “key” to open the door. Genealogy methodology concepts will be summarized before announcing who escaped first! The Case of Frank Woodhull: The Only Name Change at Ellis Island. You may have heard in a family story that a family’s surname or even a person’s given name was changed upon arrival in the United States at Ellis Island. This “urban legend” has been discussed and debunked for decades in the genealogy community. Since an immigrant’s name MUST match the ship’s manifesto, most name changes took place AFTER the person was successfully admitted. The change could have been done simply by adopting a new name or by selecting a new name during the citizenship process. But … there is ONE case of a name change of an immigrant at Ellis Island and that person is Frank Woodhull who arrived at New York City on October 4th, 1908. Follow an amazing research journey with twists and turns and you’ll find out how Woodhull lived under an assumed name in the United States for almost 15 years before his fateful return to the US from a holiday in England. \n \nHere's the link to your Case Review File.