Treasures found in Passport Applications

#52ancestors — Week 28 (July 9-15)--Travel

Treasures Found in Passport Applications

By Myra Vanderpool Gormley (c) 2018 

In January of 1921, Sally Brown (née Connally) Martin and her husband, Hiram Warner Martin, applied for a passport in order to take a three-month trip — “for health and recreation” — to British West Indies, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chili (sic) in South America. They were to sail from New York on the S.S. Vauban on or about 15 February 1921. 

During the early 20th century until about 1937, married American women were just a footnote in their husbands’ passports. It was not acceptable for a married woman to travel outside of the country without her husband; he, of course, could travel without her. “A married woman’s public identity was tied to her husband, and passports reflected that in being issued to the husband, with his wife being a literal notation,” according to Craig Robertson, author of Passport in America: History of a Document. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/features/a-history-of-the-passport/ 

This record was found in the United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925, and in it there turned out to be a wealth of information about Sally, her husband, her parents and two of her siblings who also were making the trip. In addition to learning and verifying some birth dates and places of Sally and her siblings, there were photographs. The passport descriptions are noteworthy, too. Sally is described as 36 years of age, 5-foot-4, with a high forehead, brown eyes, auburn hair, a straight nose, medium mouth, round chin, fair complexion and a round face. 

The S.S. Vauban, launched in 1912, was a passenger steamship owned by Lamport and Holt Line and used in its New York to east coast of South America service. It later transported U.S. troops during World War I. It was in service until 1930 and was sold for scrapping in 1932. 

What I’ve found so far does not indicate that the family travelled first class, but it appears likely they did. On 18 January 1921, the Atlanta Constitution newspaper (Atlanta, Georgia) ran a story with the headline: “Connallys to Make South American Trip.” The article mentioned the group included Dr. and Mrs. E. L. Connally and their three children, Mrs. Warner Martin (Sally Connally), Mrs. Hal Hentz (Frances Connally), and Tom Connally. Among the points of interest they planned to visit were: Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Valparaiso and a journey across the Andes, if weather conditions are favorable. 

Dr. E. L. [(Elijah Lewis) Connally was 84 years old at the time and his wife was in her seventies, so a “journey across the Andes” seems a bit ambitious for them, although details are lacking as to how such a journey was to be taken. 

The newspaper article mentioned that Hal Hentz (husband of Frances Connally) had two brothers in Buenos Aires and that “there are other Atlantans located in South American whom the Connally party will visit.” 

My jubilation at the discovery of this material was short-lived because, as often happens when one finds answers to the family puzzle, additional questions pop up. While entering the new information into my genealogy database, I realized that Dr. Elijah Lewis Connally and Mary Virginia Brown had another daughter, Mary Temperance, who was the wife of John Schaffner Spalding, and they were parents of five daughters — all living in Atlanta at the time. 

Wonder why they didn’t make the trip?