Previously I had discovered a possible ship on which the
Thomas & Mary Davey family arrived to the United States. Read about it here.
The conflicting problem in the above post, was the family
was recorded as Nichols and Thomas was not with them.
This past week, I discovered some new evidence. The
oldest son, Thomas N. Davey, made several trips across the Atlantic to visit
family and friends in England. In 1915, he obtained a passport to make the three-month
travel and I found the passport application on Ancestry.[1]
These passports are great for giving valuable information
about naturalized citizens. He swore he was born at Saint Agnes, England on or
about 7 November 1933. He emigrated to the United States on board the Ocean
Queen from London on or about 5 February 1852. He had resided in the U.S.
for 43 years, and in Carthage, Missouri from 1872-1911. He also stated he was
naturalized at Carthage on 26 September 1891.
At the time of his application, he was 79 years old,
stood five feet nine inches tall, with a high forehead, gray eyes, large nose, gray
hair, light complexion, and a full beard.
In checking back with the first ship list that was found,
it turns out to be the exact ship and the date is off by one day. Here I have
now direct evidence that the family came aboard the Ocean Queen in 1852.
How they were listed under the Nichols name is still a mystery. I also do not
know who the Mathew Nichols the family was traveling with. He was either a
family member or a friend entrusted to bring Thomas’ wife and children to
America. And when did Thomas Davey arrive?
The bonus: the photo on this passport is much clearer. It’s
amazing that a seventy-nine-year-old would travel aboard, but what is more
amazing is he did it again in 1921 when he was eighty-five!
[1] "U.S.
Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database & images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com),
Thomas N. Davey, no. 5137, 26 July 1915; citing NARA M1490, roll 0261, Ancestry
images 66 & 71.
Copyright © 2020 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.
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