US Passport Legation Switzerland – Nicholas Fish
A large one-page folio, 32 x 47 cm, was issued to Miss Alice L. Blaney, a citizen of the United States of America, traveling in Europe to attend the University of Zurich. Berne, Switzerland, Legation of the United States 1st day of December 1878. Passport number 111. U.S. Passport Switzerland Fish
Alice was 25 years young (born 1853), hence during the American Civil War, she was around the age of eight when the war started and about 12 years when the war ended. Alice was 5,5 feet and had blue eyes. U.S. Passport Switzerland Fish
But the following lines make the document attractive, and that’s why I love passport history, as there is always a story behind a travel document. And this story is quite something! U.S. Passport Switzerland Fish
Fish, Nicholas (1848-1902) — of New York, New York County, N.Y. Born in New York, New York County, N.Y., February 19, 1848. Republican. Lawyer; U.S. Charge d’Affaires to Switzerland, 1877-81; U.S. Minister to Belgium, 1882-85; banker; Presidential Elector for New York, 1896. Member, Society of the Cincinnati. Quarreled with Thomas J. Sharkey, a private detective, on the second floor of the Ehrhardt Brothers saloon; Sharkey struck him so that he fell down the stairs into the street with a skull fracture; died the next day, without regaining consciousness, at Roosevelt Hospital, Manhattan, New York County, N.Y., September 16, 1902 (age 54 years, 209 days). Sharkey was later convicted of second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to ten years in prison. Interment at St. Philip’s Cemetery, Garrison, N.Y. U.S. Passport Switzerland Fish
Nicholas Fish (1846–1902) U.S. Passport Switzerland Fish
State of Residence: New York
- Chargé d’Affaires (Switzerland)
Appointed: June 20, 1877
Presentation of Credentials: August 7, 1877
Termination of Mission: Presented recall on August 24, 1881
Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned on October 30, 1877, after confirmation. U.S. Passport Switzerland Fish
- Minister Resident (Belgium) U.S. Passport Switzerland Fish
Appointed: April 28, 1882
Presentation of Credentials: July 5, 1882
Termination of Mission: Presented recall on October 6, 1885
Relatives: Son of Hamilton Fish (1808-1893) and Julia (Kean) Fish (1816-1887); brother of Hamilton Fish, Jr. (1849-1936); married to Clemence S. Smith-Bryce; father of Hamilton Fish (1874-1898; sergeant in the U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, the “Rough Riders,” in the Spanish-American war; killed in battle); uncle of Hamilton Fish, Jr. (1888-1991); grandson of Nicholas Fish; granduncle of Hamilton Fish, Jr. (1926-1996); great-grandson of John Kean (1756-1795); great-grandnephew of Robert Gilbert Livingston and Philip Peter Livingston; great-granduncle of Hamilton Fish (1951-) and Alexa Fish Ward; second great-grandson of Gilbert Livingston and Peter Van Brugh Livingston; second great-grandnephew of John Livingston, Robert Livingston (1688-1775), Robert Livingston (1708-1790), Philip Livingston and William Livingston; third great-grandson of Robert Livingston, the Elder; (extract)… U.S. Passport Switzerland Fish
