A "NEW" ancestor name found in Michael McKenna records.

The next public record I can find on Michael McKenna is a treasure. that helps us to get back one more generation on this family line.


Form for a Naturalized Citizen to apply for a passport.

• Michael applied for a passport May 17, 1922.

• He was planning to board the Cedric June 17, 1922 and visit County Monaghan, Ireland for a period of two months. Seeing this tells us that he must have went to Ireland to get Thomas Leo Corr prepared to join the family in America. I think this because, Tom arrived a few months after he was planned to return in October 1922.

• Michael lists his home address as 496 8th Avenue, New York, NY.
• His occupation is Hotel Proprietor.
• Date of Birth stated again as January 6, 1886. By now you see you see the birth date varies from record to record, this is typical for that time in many countries. Here in the US it didn’t become a law in many states until the age of Social Security and the draft held for World War 2, when many men had to go back and get a delayed birth certificate.

The most precious piece of evidence this form gives us is the name of Michael’s father. It says, “My father, FRANK MCKENNA was born in County Monaghan, Ireland and resides at dead.” Well that explains what happened to dear dad who wasn’t with the family in the 1901 census and gives us one generation back in the family line. Now we just have to find mom. Another wonderful thing is this application includes a picture of Michael himself. As you can see government ID pictures have not gotten any better of the years.

This passport application also indicates that Michael had a passport before. The former passport was issued at the Custom House in New York City in 1920 but has since been cancelled. I wonder if he encouraged another family member to come over during the last visit he had. It also means there might be another brother or sister that emigrated from the homeland.

Now on to find more clues about the last passport and look at the ship manifest for the Cedric he mentioned in his application.  Look for the ship he may have been on in 1920 see what other information may be found.  Maybe I will be able to find more information on his father.  I am also very interested in finding the moms name.