Passport Info

Question:

Have decided to try another method of finding when my Grandmother Katherine Flanagan arrived in Boston. When she went back to Ireland in 1952 the story was that she hadn't been home in 50 years. Have since found out that it was unlikely that she arrived in 1902 but it could actually be anywhere from 1902-1907, more likely the earlier dates. I have looked at the Index through 1906 and haven't been able to find her.

Does anybody know if I can get a record of her passport request in 1952? Possibly this will help narrow down the date of her arrival in Boston ?

Answer:

The National Archives has passport applications from Oct 1795 to March 1925. After that you would have to contact the Department of State. For info on optaining passport applications from them see...

http://travel.state.gov/passport_records.html

You also might find some help here...

Finding Passenger Arrival Records at the Port of Boston, MA 1820-1943 http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/boston.html

Go raibh maith agat for your excellent suggestions. Will try them now, but will call my uncle in Montana to find out which month Grandma went to Ireland.

Go raibh maith agat for all that have sent some very helpful suggestions regarding Boston passenger ship lists and other ways to track when my Grandmother Katherine Flanagan arrived in the Boston. Also it was suggested to look at the census for 1910 and that should tell how long she had been in the U.S.

Since she went to Ireland in 1952 thought it would be helpful to see her information on her passport application. Received the following information from Joe:

The National Archives has passport applications from Oct 1795 to March 1925. After that you would have to contact the Department of State. For info on optaining passport applications from them see...

http://travel.state.gov/passport_records.html

Anyone looking for early passports should check the online indexes at http://naturalizationrecords.com/usa/passports.shtml

These records are free to use, and there are some different sets there already, plus more coming online in the next few weeks.

This one is online already: Register of Passports from 14 November 1834 to 1843 an Index for all states in USA [NEW! on NaturalizationRecords.com]

These are following as volunteers are found to transcribe them:

Index to Special Passports 1829-1887

Index to Special Passports 1872-1882

Index to Passports 1830-1831

Index to Passports 1850-1852

These are for ALL states and hold a wealth of information.

Be sure to let the pages load completely then scroll DOWN to read the indexes and the information on how/where to send for full details. There is no charge of any kind for this information.