Steve's History Website
my family's journey through time
Shugaevsky Family
Part 22 Marcus's Third Trip
1925 / Third Voyage
Marcus returned to the US in March 1925 and was preparing to depart the same month! Below is his passport application from 1925. It is a replacement for a lost passport. Was Marcus was loosing his passport to cover his tracks? I believe that the booklet form of passports we are familiar with started in 1926 in the US. Before that they were a folded sheet of paper and I haven't found out if they were stamped at border crossings or not. According to the US National Archives, passports were generally valid for two years or less, so Marcus may have needed a new passport anyway.
I transcribed much of the passport application below. New information is in Bold.
Click on images to enlarge.
Photo from the 1925 passport application
Marcus claims that his original passport was lost.
This application is for a naturalized citizen.
Birthdate is the same from the last application, October 12, 1885.
Birthplace is still Liege, Belgium.
Father is now “Andrew Terbey” instead of “unknown”, and is dead.
False immigration details, June 1905 from Liverpool are the same and he claims that he resided in the United States uninterruptedly from 1905 to 1918.
Residency is still Fort Hancock, NJ and New York City (no Bridgeport).
Naturalization information is the same.
He visited Japan, China, Russia, and Turkey from 1918 -1922. (this is the first time he mentions China)
He visited England, France, Germany, Estonia, and Latvia from Feb 1923- March 1925 (this is the first mention of Latvia)
"permanent address" is now at the “House of Charles Bellinger” in Maplewood, NJ (Charles Bellinger has the business address on 75 Maiden Lane that Marcus also uses).
His occupation is “office work”
Last passport was obtained in Washington, N. 247963 This is odd- why Washington DC. I once wondered if he did some spying for the US government, but if that was the case he wouldn’t have so many passport problems. Maybe all the applications were sent to DC.
He is planning to return within a year
In the space for what countries he plans to visit “all countries is entered and then crossed out and “England France Germany” written nearby.
The object of his trip is commercial business for the American Russian Consolidated Co., and the business address is “Broadway 11 NYC”.
He plans to leave from the port of New York aboard the SS Arabic before March 30, 1925.
The application is stamped March 24, 1925 and there is another stamp for March 26, 1925 for fee received.
1925 passport application
On page 2 for the passport application, "Wounded in left eye" is written in. A different pen was used and the handwritting looks different as well.
Someone named Peter vouches for Marcus's identity and testifies that he has known Marcus eight years (which would be since 1917). Peter lives at 37 Abingdon Road, Kew Gardens which is in Queens, NY. Peter is a merchant. More about Peter to come.
The passport is to be mailed to
M. Terbey ℅ Mr. H. Wadham,
Jos. Colgates & Co.
36 Wall Str. N.Y.C.
Previously the business at this address was H Wadham and Co (no Jos. Colgates).
A naturalized citizen spending so much time away raises a red flag. With the 1925 passport application Marcus had to explain where he was and what he was doing on his previous trip. This is the most detailed description of his activities. Transcription below.
England, about ten days in 1923
France, about ten days in 1923 and about four weeks in 1925
Germany, about three months in 1923 and about two weeks in 1925
Estonia, the rest of the time. (He doesn’t mention Latvia).
We don’t know the exact sequence and what he was up to in these different places but he gives a general idea under the section “my reason for such foreign residence being as follows:”
My work for the American Rus. Consolidated Corp of N.Y, City, Broadway 11 of which I am Director and Foreign Manager, and also to undergo the medical treatment of my eye (in Germany) I overstayed the time (more than 2 years for about three weeks) due to my sickness when returning from Estonia to U.S.A. by Germany and France.
And under the section: “I maintain the following ties with family, business, and property with the United States”
I am director and stockholder of the above mentioned corporations in U.S.A.
American Rus. Consolidated Co, 11 Broadway, N.Y.C.
Amruss Lumber Corp, 52 Broadway, Room 1019, N.Y.C., and I have an account with Jos. B Colgates and Co. 36 Wall Str. N.Y.C.
Marcus claims he pays the “American Income Tax” at “N.Y.City” and he plans “to return to the United States permanently to reside and perform the duties of citizenship within a few weeks.
The affidavit is dated March 25, 1925, the same day as the passport application.
Affidavit with the 1925 passport application
So to bring us up to date: Marcus seems to be the director of two corporations with American and Russian (or abbreviations) in the title. He is a stock holder of these companies. We don’t know how much of the stock he owned or who the other stockholders were (if there were any others). The corporations have different addresses which would lead me to believe that he was not alone in running these companies. Perhaps he was buying and selling lumber (and other things as well?). According to the 1923 passport application he worked for the American Mill Owners Corp.
If we are to believe him, he spent most of his time abroad in Estonia, very close to Russia. Estonia and Latvia exported lumber at that time. Perhaps he was able to buy Russian goods as well - the Soviets were desperate for capital. In 1921, Lenin’s NEP (new Economic Policy) made it easier for foreign companies to do business with the Soviet Union.
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According to the 1925 passport application, in March 1925 Marcus departed on the SS Arabic. I haven’t confirmed this. In 1920, the White Star Line (based in Liverpool) purchased the SS Berlin from a German company and put it into service as the SS Arabic.
This third trip was only nine months. Marcus arrived back in New York on December 4, 1925 as shown on the passenger list from the S.S. Berengaria. Here he gives his age as 39 which agrees with 1886 as his year of birth. The month and year of naturalization is given as January 1914 instead of January 1916. He uses a business address as his residence. He claims to be single.
The SS Berengaria started off as the German ship SS Imperator. In 1913 it was the largest passenger ship in the world, larger than the RMS Olympic. After WWI the US used it as a troop carrier. Then it was given to England as part of war reparations and used by the Cunard Line.
Image: Public Domain