P

assport applications can be an excellent source of genealogical information, especially for foreign-born ancestors. Applications from October 1795 through March 1925 are at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), while those from April 1925 to the present remain in the custody of the United States Department of State. This article discusses applications for the four major types of passports: regular, emergency, special, and insular.

A Brief History of U.S. Passports

Although the Department of State has issued passports to American citizens traveling abroad since 1789,2 it did not have sole authority to do so until August 23, 1856, when Congress passed an act (11 Stat. 60) prohibiting other persons, such as state and judicial authorities, from issuing passports. With two exceptions, U.S. citizens were not required to have a passport for travel abroad until 1941. Passports were required from August 19, 1861, to March 17, 1862, during the Civil War.3 On December 15, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson issued Executive Order 2285, which stated that all persons leaving the United States should have passports. Passports were again required from May 22, 1918 (40 Stat. 559), until the formal termination of World War I in 1921 by treaties. Passports have been required since the passage of the act of June 21, 1941 (55 Stat. 252), and subsequent legislation.

Passports were also issued to non-U.S. citizens. An act of Congress of March 2, 1907 (34 Stat. 1228), permitted the Department of State to issue a passport to any person who had declared his intention to become a citizen of the

United States. This law was repealed on June 4, 1920 (41 Stat. 751). A few passports had been issued under a similar law enacted on March 3, 1863 (12 Stat. 754), which was repealed on May 30, 1866 (14 Stat. 54)."

Regular Passport Applications

Applications for regular passports generally include the applicant's name, date and place of birth, and physical description. Some indicate the applicant's occupation, foreign destination, and reason for foreign travel. An application for a naturalized citizen may also state the court and date of naturalization and the date and ship upon which the applicant immigrated to the United States. Photographs have been required with applications since December 21, 1914.5

The indexes and chronological registers of applications for regular passports from December 21, 1810, to October 7, 1817; February 22, 1830, to November 15, 1831; and November 14, 1834, to February 28, 1906, can be found on National Archives Microfilm Publication M1371, Registers and Indexes for Passport Applications, 1810-1906, rolls one through nine. Card indexes are available for the periods January 1906 to December 1923 (created by the State Department) and 1850 to April 3, 1854, and 1859 to 1881 (created by NARA).

Regular passport applications in National Archives custody span a somewhat broader period than the indexes: October 27, 1795, to November 30, 1812; February 22, 1830, to November 15, 1831; and May 13, 1833, to December 31, 1925. The earliest passport applications were generally handwritten letters, but by the 1860s most were submitted on printed forms. The State Department issued regular passports without

Place of birth: Wurtemberg, Germany Date of birth: Aug. 27, 1836

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Form I-3

Passport applications, such as this one for George Eger, can be excellent sources for genealogists. Above, card indexes for these applications are available for the periods January 1906 to December 1923, 1850 to April 3, 1854, and 1859 to 1881.

charge until July 1, 1862, when a three-dollar application fee was instituted."

To effectively and efficiently use passport application records, the researcher should identify the persons who traveled overseas and the approximate years of travel. The researcher should not automatically assume his ancestors never traveled overseas, because foreign travel in the nineteenth century was much more frequent than one might expect. Overseas travelers included businessmen, the middle class, and naturalized U.S. citizens who returned to their homelands to visit relatives. The State Department issued 130,360 passports between 1810 and 1873, more than 369,844 between 1877 and 1909, and 1,184,085 between 1912 and 1925.7 It is unknown how many American citizens traveled abroad with passports issued by state or judicial authorities prior to 1856 or without any passport prior to 1918.8

Although 95 percent of mid-nineteenthcentury passport applicants were men, many women also traveled overseas. If the applicant was to be accompanied by his wife, children, servants, or other females under his protection, their names, ages, and relationship to the applicant were stated on the passport application. One passport was then issued to cover the whole group. Likewise, when children traveled abroad solely with their mother, their names and ages were indicated on the mother's passport application. Passport applications by women in their own names became more frequent in the latter part of the nineteenth century, and by 1923 women constituted over 40 percent of passport applicants.

Since passports were generally valid for two years or less, the researcher should search the indexes covering the ancestor's entire lifetime

are the identical person described in the certificates of the that a Sworn day of

Sears to before me this 16th just Wendell Joachim,

because he or she may have submitted several applications. Multiple applications by the same person may provide conflicting, but useful, clues for further research. For example, Frank Bernard applied for a passport on August 9, 1900, and again on May 16, 1905. His 1900 ap

plication stated that he immigrated to the United States on January 4, 1888, aboard the ship Arabic and that he was naturalized in the county court of Kings County, New York, on July 22, 1895. Slightly different dates are reported on Mr. Bernard's 1905 application: February 12, 1888, for his immigration and July 22, 1896, for his naturalization. 10

14

13

Most applications state the applicant's exact date of birth; however, earlier applications may not. The March 30, 1836, application of Mordecai D. Lewis states he was "aged about Forty six years or thereabouts."11 While the birthplace is often listed simply as a state or country, such as the "Kingdom of Wuerttemberg" on George Eger's application, 12 the majority of applications state the exact town of birth, such as Rybakovic, Bohemia, on Mathias Mazanec's application. Evidence of the applicant's naturalization as a U.S. citizen may be detailed or cursory. John D. Campbell, a notary public, stated on Michael Caffe's 1836 passport application that "I know him to be a naturalized Citizen of the United States of America.' The date and court of naturalization is written vertically across the face of some applications, such as George Eger's, which indicates he was naturalized in "Comm[on] Pleas [Court] Hamilton Co[unty,] Ohio 30th March 1864."15 If the applicant became a naturalized citizen by virtue of being a minor at the time of his father's naturalization, it will usually be stated on the passport application. For example, Michael Phillips submitted the naturalization certificate of his father, Matthew, and his application stated that he "arrived in this Country under 5 years of age & am a naturalized Citizen by parentage, my father, now deceased, having been duly naturalized."16 Michael Mazanec's application indicates that his surname was written as "Maraner" on his naturalization certificate,17 a valuable clue to the genealogist who might otherwise never discover the naturalization record filed under the misspelled name.

Some applications state the countries visited or the reason for foreign travel. For example, Mr. J. B. Howard, in an application letter dated March 31, 1836, at Philadelphia wrote: "I was requested by Mr. Robt. W. Morris of Boon County Missouri to procure him a passport to the Spanish Provinces."18

The physical description includes the applicant's age, height, forehead ("broad, medium"), eye color ("blue," "grey," "hazel"'), nose ("straight"), mouth ("medium," "mustache"), chin ("round"), hair color ("dark,"’ "black"), complexion ("healthy," "fair"), and face ("round," "oval").

Emergency Passport Applications

Emergency passports were issued abroad by diplomatic and consular officials for emergency purposes only and were valid for only six months. Issuance of emergency passports began in 1874 but was discontinued pursuant to an act of Congress of July 3, 1926 (44 Stat. 887). Applications from 1874 to 1876 no longer exist, although the index to that period has survived. Indexes to emergency passport applications from 1874 to 1906 are on National Archives Microfilm Publication M1371, rolls ten and eleven. In addition, there is a card index for applications made in Berlin, Germany, from 1895 to 1902.

The information in emergency passport applications of native and naturalized citizens is somewhat different. The applications of both classes include the applicant's date and place of birth, occupation, permanent U.S. residence, date of departure from the United States, place of residence abroad, purpose of the application, and the length of time the applicant intended to reside abroad. In most cases, applicants desired a passport for purposes of identification.

In addition, emergency passport applications of naturalized citizens provide valuable immigration and naturalization information, including the original date and ship of arrival to the United States, the date and place of the ship's embarkation, and the date and court of naturalization. The application also provides information about the applicant's current foreign travel, including the date of departure from the United States, the ship's name, the arrival date, and the foreign port of destination.

Special Passport Applications

Over the years, the Department of State has issued various types of special passports. Since World War I, the "Passeport Diplomatique" has been issued to diplomatic personnel, while other special passports have been issued to government officials traveling abroad on official business. Applications for special passports from 1829 through 1925 are in the custody of the National Archives. Indexes for the period 1829 to 1894 can be found on roll twelve of National Archives Microfilm Publication M1371, while roll thirteen includes several chronological registers of miscellaneous passports issued between 1835 and 1869.

An unmicrofilmed chronological register of special passports issued from August 21, 1894, through May 1, 1897, shows the name and official title of each applicant, the date of application, and the passport number. In addition,

plied to the Department of State for a passport on an insular passport application. These applications include the applicant's name, date and place of birth, occupation, permanent residence, physical description, and father's citizenship. The wife's name and the number of children were also included if they were going to travel with the applicant. Insular possession passport applications in the custody of the National Archives include applications from residents of Hawaii (1916-1924), the Philippines (1901-1924), and Puerto Rico (1915-1922). Miscellaneous Passport Records

There are several other unmicrofilmed chronologically arranged series of passportrelated records that the researcher may find useful.19 There is routine correspondence, dated 1791 to 1910, requesting issuance of passports, as well as some certificates of naturalization and proofs of citizenship submitted by passport applicants between 1790 and 1899. Also there are unclaimed original passports or copies issued between 1794 and 1901 by various federal, state, and local officials. For 1817 to 1834 there is a bound record copy of passports, which indicates the person's name, age, and physical description.

A register of passport applications received by the Boston Passport Office between January 1 and February 15, 1862, indicates the applicant's name, age, birthplace, U.S. residence, physical description, the names and ages of persons traveling on the same passport, and for naturalized citizens, the date and court of naturalization. Similar information is contained in passport applications processed by the New York Passport Office from August 1861 to February 1862, for which an index is available on National Archives Microfilm Publication M1371, roll thirteen.

Passport Application Research at the
National Archives

As of December 1993, the National Archives physically stores passport applications and indexes in two locations. At the National Archives Building in downtown Washington, D.C., the researcher can search microfilmed and some unmicrofilmed passport records. National Archives microfilm publications containing passport records include M1371 (various indexes

This passport was issued to Ebenezer Herring in 1795. Until 1941 most Americans traveling abroad were not required to obtain passports.

and registers) and M1372 (regular passport applications from 1795 to 1905). Regular passport applications from 1906 to March 1925 are in the process of being microfilmed as National Archives Microfilm Publication M1490, Passport Applications, 1906-1925.

Written requests for copies of passport records from 1795 to 1905 should be addressed to: General Reference Branch (NNRG), National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408. Researchers who visit the National Archives should make inquiries to the Civil Reference Branch regarding unmicrofilmed records.

Passport records from 1906 through 1925 are at the Suitland Reference Branch at the Washington National Records Center in Suitland, Maryland. Written requests for copies should be addressed to: Suitland Reference Branch (NNRR), National Archives, Washington, DC 20409. Following completion of the new Archives II building in College Park, Maryland, all passport applications are expected to be relocated to the National Archives Building in downtown Washington, D.C., in 1994.

NOTES

'The Department of State has also retained custody of passport indexes from January 1924 to the present. 2Further information about the history of passports from the thirteenth to twentieth centuries in England and the United States can be found in Leonard S. Goodman, "Passports in Perspective," Texas Law Review 45 (December 1966): 221–279.

3Mrs. Kieran J. Carroll, "Sources for Genealogical Research in State Department Records," National Genealogical Society Quarterly 52 (December 1964): 194-195.

'Gaillard Hunt, The Department of State (1914), pp. 372373.

SU.S. Department of State, The United States Passport (1976), p. 80.

"Carroll, "Sources for Genealogical Research in State Department Records,” p. 195.

Mark G. Eckhoff, Population Data in Passport and Other Records of the Department of State, Reference Information Paper No. 47 (1973), pp. 2–3.

Ibid.

"Passport Application of Frank Bernard, No. 31399, Aug. 9, 1900, Passport Applications, 1795-1905, National Archives Microfilm Publication M1372, roll 562, General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59, National Archives, Washington, DC (hereinafter cited as

M1372, RG 59, NA).

10Passport Application of Frank Bernard, No. 103830 May 16, 1905, M1372, roll 677, RG 59, NA.

Passport Application of Mordecai D. Lewis, No. 4232 Mar. 30, 1836, M1372, roll 4, RG 59, NA. 12Passport Application of George Eger, May 20, 1872, No. 20973 M1372, roll 183, RG 59, NA.

13Passport Application of Mathias Mazanec, No. 50445 July 13, 1876, M1372, roll 214, RG 59, NA.

4Passport Application of Michael Caffe, No. 4235 Apr. 1, 1836, M1372, roll 4, RG 59, NA.

15Passport Application of George Eger, No. 20973 May 20, 1872, M1372, roll 183, RG 59, NA.

16Passport Application of Michael Phillips, No. 50343 July 6, 1876, M1372, roll 214, RG 59, NA.

Passport Application of Mathias Mazanec, No. 50445 July 13, 1876, M1372, roll 214, RG 59, NA.

Passport Application of Robert W. Morris by J. B. Howard, No. 4233 Mar. 31, 1836, M1372, roll 4, RG 59, NA.

19 For additional information about passport-related records, see National Archives and Records Administration, Inventory of the General Records of the Department of State, 1789–1949, Inventory No. 15 (1992), pp. 147–159.