The passport application of Julia Van Hoorebeke was made out in Rock Island, Illinois, on 5 March 1925.  She was the widow of Frank Van Hoorebeke who is the probable brother of Louise (Van Hoorebeke) Mortier (1855-1921 Rock Island, Rock Island, Illinois). Initially I didn’t have too much interest in the passport application for a sister-in-law of an ancestor.

However given the time period the record has the potential to assist me on my actual problem–her husband and his sister.  Belgian native Julia would have derived her citizenship status through that of her husband. Because of the derivative nature of her citizenship, questions were asked about her husband on the passport application. Those questions were ones that I wanted to see answers to.

Julia Van Hoorebeke’s application indicated that Frank VanHoorebeke was born in Woorhoot, Belgium. He immigrated from Antwerp, Belgium, on or about 16 February 1892 and settled in Rock Island, Illinois, where he naturalized on 29 March 1898.

 

There is a stamp on the application indicating that the naturalization has been seen and returned. This would lead the researcher to believe that the date/place of naturalization was copied directly from the naturalization or at least compared with it. The county should have a copy of Frank’s naturalization. The other pieces of information may not have been substantiated by Julia with original documents and they could be incorrect.

Van Hoorebeke’s passport application number 6260 appears on “roll 2728 of National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M1490, “Passport Applications between March 2, 1906  and March 31, 1925.” These applications are available in digital format on FamilySearch.