Category Archives: appeal

Lee Poo – Chinese Gardener, Walla Walla, Washington

Affidavit, appeal, Bayard-Zhang Treaty of 1888, Certificate of Residence, IOU, laborer, photo, promissory notes, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
“Affidavit photo of Lee Poo,” 1903, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, Record Group 85,
NARA-Seattle, Lee Poo, Box RS 019, file RS 664.

1903 Sept 28 –   Lee Poo started the process of obtaining a return certificate which would allow him to reenter the U.S. within a year of his department date. He swore in an affidavit that he was laborer, age 37 years, had been in the United States 23 years and was living in Walla Walla, Washington, and working as a gardener nearby. He was owed more than $1,000 by Jim Lee and Hoy Yam, both of Walla Walla. He handed over his Certificate of Residence which would be returned to him when he reentered the U.S. His photo was attached to the affidavit.

1903 Sept 28 – Jim Lee and Hoy Yam, both from Walla Walla, swore that they owed Lee Poo, a total of $1,100.  The Chinese Inspector verified the loans with them.

1903 October 8 – the Commissioner-General at the Bureau of Immigration in Washington, D.C. wrote to the Inspector in Charge in Port Townsend, Washington saying they compared Lee Poo’s duplicate Certificate of Residence that they had in their file and it completely agreed with Lee’s copy. Hoy Yam testified that he still owed Lee Poo money. Jim Lee who worked as a gardener in Walla Walla, also testified that he still owed Lee Poo money.

1904 June 28 – R. B. Scott, the Chinese Inspector at Port Townsend report that Jim Lee and Hoy Yan both said that neither of the debts were in the form of promissory notes.

1904 Aug 24 – When Lee Poo returned to Port Townsend on 25 August 1904, he testified that he was 38 years old and lived in Walla Walla. He had worked in a laundry for three years, then as a cook for fifteen or so years, and as a gardener for the last two years.  He saved his earnings and accumulated about $3,500. He took half of it to China and left the remainder with his cousin, Jim Lee who owned a garden in Walla Walla near the O.R. & N (Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company) depot. Lee Poo worked every day of the week for one dollar a day. Jim Lee had only paid him about $40 so he still owed him $500.
Lee Poo loaned $600 in gold coins to Hoy Yan so he could buy an interest in a garden. He kept his money at Quong Chung Seng’s place in Walla Walla. Bow Loy, a member of the firm, was a witness to the transaction and held the notes. He signed an IOU for the money.

Lee Poo also leased a garden with his cousin Lee Hing in Dayton, Washington. They owned a horse and wagon.

Lee Poo’s trip to China involved taking a steamer from Port Townsend to Victoria, another steamer to Vancouver, then the Empress Line to China. After Lee Poo’s return, Jim Lee and Hoy Yan both testified they still owed Lee Poo money.

1904 Aug 27 – Lee Poo was denied admittance and given two days to file an appeal. He filed an appeal.

1904 Sept 6 – Lee Poo told his lawyer that he thought his application for a certificate of departure and return was proof of note for his loans. He gave Bow Loy a slip of Chinese writing paper listing how much money he was owed by Jim Lee and Hoy Yun. It seems that Lee Poo did not understand he was being asked about a legal “promissory note” not just a note reminding him that he was owed money.

He was rejected “on the ground that the debts on which he sought to re-enter the United States were evidenced by promissory notes.”

1904 Sept 14 – The report of R. B. Scott, Chinese Inspector at Port Townsend, to the Inspector in Charge clarified that the monies due Lee Poo were for money borrowed and labor performed; they were not promissory notes. His Book of Debts Owed was offered as evidence of the debts owed by Hoy Yun and Jim Lee.  

“Book of Debts Due to Lee Poo,” CEA case files, RG 85, NARA-Seattle, Lee Poo, Box RS 019, file RS 664.

Kwong Si  29  August 10,
Jim Lee, total balance due $500
         Lee Poo Count.

Kwong Si    29    August, form other book –
Total –
        28 year April 10
        Borrowed U.S. gold coin $600        
Both agree until next year when I come back.
       Huey Yan see Lee Poo count.
(Translated by Chin Kee, Chinese Interpreter)

This case file pertains to the Bayard-Zhang Treaty of 1888 and the 1888 Scott Act. To find out more about them, go to https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Scott_Act_(1888)#Scott_Act



Goon Fon – Port Townsend & Spokane

Affidavit, appeal, laborer's return certificate, photo, Return Certificate, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Goon Fon affidavit photo
“Goon Fon affidavit photo,” 1904, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Goon Fon file, Seattle, Box 1001, Case 7032/3500.

Goon Fon was born at Hom Quon village, Sun Woi district, China on 14 January 1883. He came to the United States with his father. Goon Sam, arriving at the Port of San Francisco about 1894 and went to live in Port Townsend, Washington. His father returned to China in 1902 and died there.

On 2 July 1904,  A. F. Learned, postmaster; William P. Wyckoff, Customs House official; and H. L. Tibbals, of Port Townsend, Jefferson County, Washington, swore in an affidavit they had been residents of Port Townsend for more than twenty years and were U.S. citizens. They testified that Goon Fon’s father, Goon Sam, was a bona fide merchant for more than twelve years, and a member of the Wing Sing Company, on Washington Street near Quincey Street in Port Townsend. Before leaving for China in 1902, Goon Sam gave his son a $500 share in the business.

The business closed about 1906 and Goon Fon lost his investment.

After his father left Goon Fon went to New York City and worked in the Mon Fong Restaurant on Pell Street, and then a laundry. He came back to Seattle and worked in a cannery in Alaska for Goon Dip, then moved to Spokane, Washington.

In 1924 Goon Fon applied for a return certificate as a laborer. His only proof of his status was the 1904 affidavit. He secured a $1,000 bond for the required proof of the necessary debt owed to a laborer to enable him to return to the U.S. His application was approved. While he was there, he married and had a son. When it was time to come back in 1925, he obtained a Nonquota Immigration Visa from the American Consular Service in Hongkong with his photo. He was admitted at the Port of Seattle, obtained his Certificate of Identity, and went to live in Troy, New York where he was a dishwasher at a restaurant.

In 1937 Goon Fon was living at Noodles Café, 512 Main Street, Spokane, Washington. He wanted to make another trip to China. According to his application for his “Return Certificate for Lawfully Domiciled Chinese Laborers,” he had a $1,000 loan due from Hui Cheung, who was living at 126 ½ North Wall Street, Spokane. The interrogation was thorough. Goon Fon was asked about his early life in Port Townsend—the Chinese businesses and their exact locations, the business owners, and the whereabouts of other businesses. Hui Cheung was his witness and his answers agreed with Goon Fon’s.

The Seattle Immigration office wrote to San Francisco Immigration to verify when Goon Sam and his son entered San Francisco. They could not find any record of Goon Sam in their indexes of ship manifests or other records. On 9 July 1937 they disapproved Goon Fon’s application for a laborer’s return certificate, but he had the right to appeal. The file does not say how his lawyer won his case, but the appeal was sustained, and he left for China. He returned in July 1938.

Blog post updated on 9 April 2024.