When we sit down to research an ancestor, we usually focus first on the “easier” records like census and vital records, and that’s fine. However, sometimes we need to dig deeper into records that may not be so obvious like a passport application. In this blog post, I’ll show you how they can tell your ancestor’s story like no other record can.
Researching a distant cousin
I found a passport application for my first cousin twice removed, Charles Edward Dettinger, Sr. First, let’s define what a first cousin twice removed is. Charles, my grandfather’s first cousin, stands two generations removed from me. It’s easier to see if you draw it out…
Second, why should I care about researching someone that far off my direct line? Because his story is fascinating, that’s why.
Charles was born on 14 May 1891, in York, Pennsylvania. He grew up in York County, the only son of William Henry Dettinger and Leah Warner. There was nothing special about his childhood or early life and on 3 October 1912, he married Susan Barbara Markley in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
World War I
A few years later World War I began and by April 1917 the United States declared war on the German Empire. The first of three draft registrations started on 5 June, 1917, which included Charles. His card dated that day contains wonderful personal information, including the fact he had a wife and three children. I also love any record where my ancestor’s signature appears!
Charles cited his family as an exemption from the draft. It seems likely that as a 28-year-old, he would have been of prime fighting age, but I can find no evidence to prove he was accepted into the Army.
Passport Application
The next record to analyze in Charles’ timeline is his passport application of 23 October 1917. Even though his draft registration card said he worked in a ribbon factory, the passport application listed his occupation as a pipefitter and it was this skill the U.S. Government needed. This was his entrance into the war.
The top of his application confirms his name, date of birth, and father’s name…all good to know.
It’s the bottom of the application that gets interesting. He listed the object of his visit as “Cold Storage and Ice Making Plant for the U.S. Government in France” with a stamp over it that says “Civilian Employee Q. M. Corps U.S.A.”
Quartermaster Corps
Q.M. Corps stands for Quartermaster Corps which began in 1775 to provide logistical support for the Army. Fast forward to 1917 and the Q.M. Corps had multiple functions such as supplying gas for and repairing trucks, building bath and laundry facilities, and feeding the troops. For Charles, his job was being part of a unit that built a cold storage and ice-making facility in France. You can read more about the history of the corps here.
Passenger Lists
A passenger list dated 12 January 1918 shows Charles E. Dettinger, Sr. sailing to Europe from Hoboken, New Jersey along with others in the Q.M. Corps. Another passenger list shows Charles arriving back in Hoboken on 20 August 1918 aboard the U.S.S. Kroonland.
But what happened in between?
According to an 81-page report, civilian employees of the United States Government built facilities to store beef, fresh and frozen. The request for this assistance came from no other than General John J. Pershing:
French labor at that time was scarce, obviously as most French men were fighting the Germans. It was the Americans supplying the manpower to construct and maintain facilities like these to support the troops. A section of the report reads:
“On January 24th, this Company arrived at Brest [France] and reported on February 1, 1918, at Gievres to the Engineer Officer in Charge of Construction. On account of the increased amount of labor thus furnished, progress on the construction of this plant proceeded from that date at a rapid rate, one cold storage room of the plant being actually under refrigeration on May 2, 1918, and the other four rooms finished within a short time thereafter.”
Charles was a member of this company that completed their mission. During the construction of this plant, the request came in for three additional facilities to supplement it. Given Charles’ return home in August 1918, it’s most likely his skills were valuable in building these other facilities.
If you want to read this comprehensive report, you can find it here.
After the war
Charles returned home and had five additional children, but his life made a dramatic turn for the worse. Police arrested him in 1934 for not supporting his family. That same year Sue filed for and received a divorce from Charles. The next year he remarried and lived the next twenty years in York County.
Charles died of a hemorrhage and cirrhosis of the liver in 1954 at the age of 62.
Finally
Passport applications serve as invaluable resources in genealogy research because of the wealth of personal details they contain. Not only can they provide information about an individual’s birth date and place, occupation, and physical appearance, but they may contain other wonderful pieces of information. Without Charles’ passport application, I would never have known about his part in World War I. This one record was the key to that part of his life…a fascinating story.
Genealogy tip: One last thing about passport applications…they come with pictures:
It’s exciting to find these types of stories about our ancestors. If you would like help putting your family tree together, let me know how I can help.
