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'Annie Moore' (January 1, 1877 - 1923) was the first immigrant to the United States to pass through the Ellis Island facility in New York Harbor.
Moore arrived from County Cork, Ireland aboard the steamship ''Nevada'' on January 1, 1892, her fifteenth birthday. As the first person to be processed at the newly opened facility, she was presented with a $10 gold piece.
Moore was accompanied by her brothers Phillip and Anthony. Her parents, Matthew and Julia Moore, had come to the United States in 1888 and were living at 32 Monroe Street in Manhattan. She married German immigrant Joseph Augustus Schayer, an employee at Manhattan's Fulton Fish Market, with whom she had at least eleven children. She died of heart failure in 1923 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Queens. Her previously unmarked grave was identified in September 2006.
Moore is honored by bronze statues at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum and in Cobh, the Irish seaport from which she sailed. In addition, the Irish American Cultural Institute presents an annual Annie Moore Award "to an individual who has made significant contributions to the Irish and/or Irish American community and legacy." [1]
A woman named "Annie Moore" who died near Fort Worth, Texas in 1924 had long been thought to be the one whose arrival marked the beginning of Ellis Island. Further research, however, established that the Annie Moore in Texas was born in Illinois.

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References

★ "Putting things right" by Ray O'Hanlon, The Irish Echo, September 20 - 26, 2006 • Vol 79 No. 38

★ "First Through Gates of Ellis Island, She Was Lost. Now She’s Found.", by Sam Roberts, ''The New York Times'', September 14, 2006

★ "Annie rewrites an American dream", by Sam Roberts, ''Scotland on Sunday via scotsman.com'', September 17, 2006

★ "Irish Immigrant First To Pass Through Ellis Island", from the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation website