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| Howard and his second wife Rae |
While working on my Galloway line this week, I came to the children of Milo's daughter Sally Ann who married Daniel Valentine and moved to Illinois. I'd never before gone into this branch and as I followed the hints Ancestry threw my way, I came to Sally's grandson Howard Richard Valentine who had an amazing number of hints attached to his name.
Howard was born to Sally's son Richard and his wife Mary Pickens on 4 March 1885 in Chicago, but he didn't stay put for long. In 1906 he turns up in Boston where he married Beatrice Galvin whose parents were natives of Ireland. Their son Richard was born the following year in Illinois. In May of 1909 Beatrice passed away and Howard returned to his parent's home with his small son. He can be seen with them in the census of 1910 though his wandering seems to have continued. On the 9th of March in 1910 Howard can be found returning to New York City from Colon, Panama. The manifest gives his occupation as Artist. A passport application filed in 1918 shows Howard was in Australia for several months in 1915.
Sometime before 1918, Howard married again, his new bride being Rae Bell of Chicago; I've found no marriage record and I'm not sure if Bell was a middle name or surname, but she used "Rae Bell Valentine" in official documents. Howard and Rae were both listed on the passport application of March 1918 which was to be mailed to "South American Tour LTD" in New York City. Howard's occupation was "theatrical" and he and Rae's destinations were Argentina, Brazil and Chili. A Google search for South American Tour brought up an ad in The Yankee Clipper in 1917--
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| Dumb acts? |
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| Patricia Valentine |
In 1922 Howard, Rae and three year old Patricia set sail for England as they again did in 1926. In 1929 they can be found returning to New York City from Hamburg Germany. Unlike the passport application the ship lists didn't provide an occupation, but for some reason, Howard's passport was cancelled and he reapplied in March of 1922, stating he intended to travel to England, France, Belgium, and Holland for "theatrical business" as an actor. Always, Rae and Patricia accompanied him. In the new passport application Howard revealed he had spent three weeks in Canada in 1921 and that he had a contract with a man named Percy Reiss.
A Google search for Percy Reiss brought up the January 1920 issue of the theatrical trade magazine,Variety. In it Reiss states he opened and managed the Victoria Palace theater in London. Howard had apparently dropped South American Tours, maybe he didn't care for the "dumb acts".
This is an enormous amount of travel for a young family, it makes me wonder why? According to the 1910 census Howard was an actor, the 1920 says a truck rider, and in 1930 Howard operated a repair shop. Rather diverse occupations. I admit I was intrigued, but that wasn't the end of the Valentine travels.
I couldn't find them in 1940, but when Howard registered for the draft in April of 1942, just a few months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he and Rae were in Honolulu. Howard was again a welder, this time for the US Navy... at Pearl Harbor! I don't know if he was there at the time of the attack, but this guy had more excitement than ten people, did I mention I'm intrigued? Howard and Rae stayed in Honolulu where Howard passed in 1965 and Rae five years after. Their daughter Patricia made her home there also. You may be wondering what became of Howard and Beatrice's son Richard. He seems to have stayed with his grandparents through Howard's travels becoming a dentist as an adult, with a wife, the house in the suburbs of Chicago and a son and daughter. Probably the obligatory 1.6 dogs too.
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| Richard Valentine, son of Howard and Beatrice Galvin |
In my wilder fantasies I picture Howard as a spy or CIA agent. Whatever the truth of that is, there's no denying he had an incredible life!
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