Photo of Woo Bing, manager of the Qwong Tuck Company in Seattle, Courtesy of the Wing Luke Museum, http://www.wingluke.org/
Woo Bing, manager of the Qwong Tuck Company in Seattle, was a witness for Bertha Hoy when she returned from China in 1923. [See 24 October 2016 blog entry for Bertha Hoy.] Woo Bing showed the interrogators a departure book with the names of hundreds of Chinese departing for China. It listed the Hoy family’s departure on 30 August 1908 and was the proof Bertha Hoy needed to be admitted into the U.S. The Wing Luke Museum has materials from the Quong Tuck store but the departure books are not among them. This photo of Woo Bing is courtesy of the Wing Luke Museum.
“Bertha Hoy’s New York Birth Certificate,” 1905, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Bertha Hoy case files, Seattle, Box 1371, Case 40875/8-12.
Bertha Hoy’s birth certificate describes her as a white, female; the daughter of Tom Jung Hoy and Long Ho Hoy, born on 25 January [1905]. The date of record is 3 April 1905 and the date at the top of the document is 21 July 1908. Her father was 33 years old and was born in China. Her mother was 20 years old and her place of birth is not entered. The family resided at 5512 5th Avenue, New York City. This was their second child. A current photo [ca. 1923] of Bertha Hoy is stapled to the certificate.
The family left for China from Seattle on 30 August 1908.
Bertha Hoy returned from China on 17 January 1923. Her application for Certificate of Identity includes her Chinese name, Jung Bik Ha. Bertha presented a copy of her birth certificate as proof that she was a U.S. citizen.
An Immigrant Inspector thought it was necessary to compare her birth certificate No. 7595 with the original record on file at the Brooklyn Board of Health. A comparison was made in the presence of Dr. S. J. Byrne, whose check marks appear on the official copy and he verified it as genuine.
Witness Woo Bing, manager of the Qwong Tuck Company in Seattle, was called forth. He exhibited a Qwong Tuck Company’s departure book showing the names of hundreds of Chinese that departed for China. The book listed the Jung Hoy family’s departure on 30 August 1908.
[A note at the bottom of the interview says, “The book above mentioned shows Chinese departing for China from the year 1906 to December 3, 1912.”]
The Board of Special Inquiry unanimously agreed to admit Bartha Hoy to the United States as a returning native-born Chinese.
[Nothing in the file mentions anything about Bertha Hoy’s birth certificate listing her as “White.” They may have decided that it was a clerical error not worth pursuing.]
“Ancil Hoffman Letter regarding George Washington Lee,” 1921, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, George Washington Lee & Raymond Lee case files, Seattle, Box 1349, Case 40233/1-1 & 40233/1-2.
George Washington Lee and his brother Raymond Lee were pugilists (boxers). Their primary home was in Sacramento, California but they were being promoted to box all over the world—United States, Canada, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Australia, Germany, France and British Isles. In 1922 they were returning from their first trip out of the U.S.– a boxing match in Vancouver, B.C. Their manager was Ancil Hoffman and James J. Corbett created a promotional biography for George Lee. He called him the “yellow peril” and said he held his own with Bud Ridley, Young Farrell, Al Walker and Felix Villamore, know on the West Coast as the “Big Four.”
This is a condensed family biography gathered from Form 430, witnesses, letters, interviews and the promotional material in the file:
The progenitor of the family was Lee Moy, who was born in China, and his wife, Neevis Paderas, born in California of Mexican descent. They had seven children, four boys and three girls: George, Raymond, Elwin, Daniel, Emma, Dora and Irene. The mother died in Sacramento in 1917. (Moy and Neevis’s 1899 marriage certificate and Neevis’s death certificate were reviewed by the inspectors and returned to the family.) Their son Daniel died in 1918. George and Raymond were born in San Francisco before the earthquake and fire. (Raymond’s birth certificate is included in the file.)
Lee Moy serviced in the U.S. Army as a mess attendant on the U.S.S. Pinta and was receiving a pension for his military service. He worked as a cook after his stint in the army.
In 1921 George Lee applied for and obtained a U.S. passport from the Department of State. (included in the file)
Ira M. Conran, Chief of Police, Sacramento, Mr. Tharpe, a detective, and Ted N. Koening, a policeman, all testified that they knew George Lee since he was a child. A copy of a torn family portrait was included in the file.
The inspectors were satisfied with the applications and they were accepted.
“Esther Moy (Esther Wah Kee Moy) photo, age 10 months,” 1917, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Esther Moy (Esther Wah Kee Moy) file, Seattle, Box 1263, Case 363531-3.
Mrs. Moy Bow Wing, a widow, also known as May Moy, was applying to re-enter the United States with her three children, Esther Wah Kee Moy, Florence Wah Jong Moy and Stanley Wah Chung Moy. All three were born in Portland, Oregon. The family had been visiting May Moy’s grand-uncle in Vancouver, British Columbia. Being Canadian-Chinese, May Moy made several trips between Seattle and Vancouver, B. C. between 1912 and 1915 and was known to the Seattle immigration office.
Dr. George Parrish, the Health Officer of the City of Portland, swore to the accuracy of the copy of Esther Wah Kee Moy’s birth certificate.
The reference sheet in the back of the file contains the names and file numbers for the baby’s father, mother, brother, sister, grandparents, and two uncles.
Esther Wah Kee Moy’s father, Moy Bow Wing, died in January 1917 just five months before she was born.
Additional information not in the file:
According to a long article in the Oregonian, Portland, Oregon, 6 January 1917, page 10: Moy Bow Wing was the eldest son of Moy Back Hin, Chinese Consul in Portland. He was 34 years old when he died of pneumonia. The article contains much biographical information and tells of Moy Bow Wing’s many accomplishments.
“John Mackenzie photo,“ 1921, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, John Mackenzie file, Seattle, Box 1310, Case 38905/1-11.
John Mackenzie, arrived in Seattle on the s.s. Princess Adelaide on 3 August 1921. He was applying for admission to the United States as a United States citizen. He was 25 years old and was born in Canton, China. He had never been to the United States but he did possess State Department Passport #21840, signed by Chares E. Hughes, secretary of state. His father, who died in 1903, was born in Scotland and was a naturalized citizen of the U.S. John Mackenzie was educated and registered in Hong Kong. He had been a clerk with the Standard Oil Company at Hankow but was not currently employed by them.
Chinese Exclusion Act Case Files 