A Passport to New Research - Kline

I haven't had a lot of time to work on genealogy lately, but recently I did a little search for new information on the Kline family.  (I know this is the ELLING family news, but I have to digress to explain how unpredictable a hobby genealogy can be, so bear with me.)

 I found that old passports had been added to the database of one of the genealogical sites I visit, so just for the fun of it, I entered Kline and Hocking County, Ohio to see what would come of it.  My husband's father was born in Hocking County in 1912, I believe, and his family was there many, many years before that. 

Much to my surprise, I discovered this:

This passport for Earl Franklin Kline, son of Abraham Kline from Hocking County, Ohio, was very interesting and chock-full of information.  I knew Abraham was in Jim's father's line, but the name Earl was unfamiliar and the fact that he lived and farmed in Portsmouth, Virginia was a surprise. I didn't know of any of the family there. 

Earl's birthdate was given and a complete description (as he described himself) and best of all, a photo, although not clear in this copy.  He noted the ship he planned to take to Europe and the date of departure. 

BUT most fascinating of all, was the fact that he was going to France for three months for the purpose of MATRIMONY.  He was marrying someone who was French?  Did he meet her in World War I?  Was he in the military?  If it were a honeymoon, he wouldn't use the term "matrimony," would he?

Now I have many new paths to follow...all from a lucky find late one night. 

UPDATE:

Ok, it's late, but there were answers to find, so I went on a hunt and found that Earl, although born in Hocking County, lived in Farmdale, Trumbull County, Ohio, when he enlisted to fight in World War I at the age of 23 7/12. He was assigned to the 331st Infantry and joined the American Expeditionary Forces in the final phase of the war.  The 331st was a light tank battalion located at Varennes, France during early November, 1918.  It was credited with participation in the Meuse-Argonne Campaign.  He was discharged in February 1919.  He apparently lived in Virginia temporarily upon his return - Portsmouth is close to Norfolk and may be where his ship landed when he arrived home.  Perhaps he took a job to earn money for a trip back to France as soon as possible.  Just speculation...

By the 19th of August, we see in the passport above, he was all ready to go back to France.  He had a girl there and he married her!  A second passport I found named her as Martha P. (nee Picoulean) Kline, born in La Suze (Sarthe, France on April 23, 1896.  They were married on January 21st, 1920 and lived in France for the next year at which point they came back to the U.S. briefly, it appeared.  Earl named France as his temporary residence on the second passport which he applied for because he now worked for the Y.W.C.A. and was traveling to Belgium, England, France and Italy with his wife for his job.  I couldn't find them in the 1930 census, so maybe they remained in France.  That's a question for another day!

And the second passport...well, now I have photos of the lovely couple.