James C. Connor, Passport Application, 1889

James C. Connor applied for a passport on February 15, 1889 in anticipation of a European trip.  He was 42 years old and planned to travel with his business associate, Mr. McCann, as mentioned in the write up of his travels noted below.

This passport application states the ship he traveled on coming to America, the "Dunbrodie," embarked from the ports of Queenstown/Liverpool, on or about the first day of May 1856.

Further, he states "I was naturalized as a citizen of the United States before the District Court of the United States at Chicago, Illinois on the first day of November, 1860 as shown by the accompanying Certificate of my Father's Naturalization; that I am the son of James Conners, the identical person described in said Certificate and having been 14 years of age at the time of my father's naturalization."


"In 1889 Mr. McCann, accompanied by Mr. James C. Connor, enjoyed a European trip, visiting the Mediterranean, Rome, Naples, Alexandria and Cairo, passing through the Suez canal to the Holy Land, where they spent some time visiting the principal historical spots.  They were with a party of tourists known as the First American Catholic Pilgrimage, and were gone six months.  On his return he visited his native land, passing also through England and Scotland."
Industrial Chicago: The Building Interests, Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Company, Vol. 1, 1891, page 746-747.

When the passport application was first viewed, it seemed odd that the "applicant desires passport sent to the following address:" area noted it was to be sent to a priest in New York City.  But, now knowing he was participating in the "First American Catholic Pilgrimage" this accounts for the passport being sent to Rev. Charles A. Vissani, No. 309 52nd St., New York, N.Y. and why it says "please forward at once."

The Pilgrimage group left Hoboken, NJ aboard the ship the Wieland on February 21 and planned to return to the US by the middle of June.  However, the article above states James Connor continued on to Ireland, England and Scotland, so he probably didn't return until at least July.  See the article: Off to the Holy Land: Pilgrims from this Country to Jerusalem, February 17, 1889, New York Times.

With the above information, it is time to find his passenger list and, hopefully, his father's Naturalization papers.  How exciting.