Samuel Ellis was the last owner of Ellis island before the government took it by procolamation.
The Thirteenth Amendment was the instrument that actually freed the slaves, but his Emancipation Procolamation which went into effect on 1 January 1863 was the first step in the process.
The slaves in Beaufort and Port Royal were not immediately affected by the Emancipation Proclamation because these areas were under Union control. The Proclamation declared freedom for enslaved people in Confederate states still in rebellion but did not apply to Union-held territories or border states. As a result, the enslaved individuals in these regions did not gain their freedom until the Union Army's presence and subsequent legal actions led to their emancipation.