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

Thomas MacEntee
Sep 20, 2023
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Content

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Welcome
1m 55s
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Speaker's Introduction
1m 09s
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Introduction
4m 58s
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The Case
10m 29s
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The Questions
21m 51s
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Questions / answers
5m 26s
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Announcements / prizes
4m 14s
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Questions / answers
14m 00s

About this webinar

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.

Here’s the link to your Case Review File.

About the speaker

About the speaker

Thomas MacEntee is a guy with a love of punk rock music but also art history who somehow “fell” into the technology industry years ago. He left a lucrative tech career to pursue his love of family history and genealogy. Technology and historical r
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  1. SA
    Staci Allen
    1 year ago

    I loved the content and the escape room concept. I want more of these I loved doing the research and finding out I was right!

    Reply
  2. BW
    Barbara West
    1 year ago

    very interesting topic. Reminded me that people in our family trees are not always who they seemed to be. appreciated how Thomas shared his knowledge and tips on how to document genealogy.

    Reply
  3. BR
    beverly Rothman
    1 year ago

    excellent presentation

    Reply
  4. EC
    ellen cosgrove
    1 year ago

    I always like to receive a comprehensive handout that will review the topic discussed. Thank you Thomas MacEntee for that extra work. Very interesting topic.

    Reply
  5. BL
    Barbara L Stanford
    1 year ago

    Thomas MacEntee always presents enlightening ways to research and ways to record the research. This is very helpful. Also I’m grateful that he is so generous to make his syllabus free to everyone. I wish others would do that also! If you want us to “do genealogy first,” we need all the generous help we can get!

    Reply
  6. XM
    Xana Miller
    1 year ago

    Awesome webinar gained so much knowledge. Will have to rewatch again and practice using the link shortcut technique that was demonstrated. Thank you.

    Reply
  7. BH
    Betsy Hettich
    1 year ago

    Love anything Thomas MacEntee!

    Reply
  8. EG
    Eileen Gilroy
    1 year ago

    Always learn something from Thomas’ webinars. I really like this type of webinar. Hope he has more.

    Reply

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