Tag Archives: Hoy Ping District

Sarah Lee Wong – Canadian Citizen’s complicated file

Affidavits, Birth Certificate, Canadian form 257,, Cerificate of identity number, Liberty Bond, marriage license, Photographs, student, Wife of merchant, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

There are over 110 pages in Sarah Y. Lee’s case file. Besides the photos required on various immigration documents, the file includes a wedding portrait of Sarah and Stephen Y. Wong, their marriage announcement in a local newspaper, a copy of their marriage license, and an invitation to their wedding banquet.

1924
On July 22, 1924, Sarah Y. Lee, a citizen of Canada of Chinese race, age 25, height 5’2”, dark eyes, dark hair, entered the U.S. for a brief visit. She was required to obtain a $500 Liberty Bond guaranteeing that she would not become a public charge. Her Canadian form C.I. 10 stated that she was also known as Kim Yuck, a student, and born on 26 July 1899. Her last place of residence was 223 Moss Street, Victoria, B.C. She was the daughter of Lee Deen (Tom Deen), a Chinese contractor and farmer in Coquitlam, B.C. Sarah was planning on traveling in the U.S. and visiting her brother, a student at Marquette College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin then returning to Canada in about one month. Her father swore in an affidavit that he held securities worth at least $10,000 including gold and received revenue from real estate. He had sufficient means to support his daughter. A $500 bond was taken out to assure that Sarah, an alien, temporarily admitted to the U.S. would return before the required date.

Sarah Y. Lee Affidavit photo, 1924, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, Record Group 85, National Archives at Seattle, Wong Sarah Lee, Box 858, File 17031/587.
Sarah Y. Lee Affidavit photo, 1924, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, Record Group 85, National Archives at Seattle, Wong Sarah Lee, Box 858, File 17031/587.

Sarah swore that she was not addicted to narcotic drugs and was not “engaged in buying, selling, dealing in or use of any such drug or ‘Dope.’” Sarah Y. Lee was admitted for three months to the U.S. at Seattle as a Section Six Traveler. She returned to Canada before the deadline in 1924. A certified copy of Sarah’s birth certificate was included in the file. She was born in Burnaby, New Westminster, B.C. Her parents were Lee Deen and Sim Shee.

1926
Sarah applied to visit the U.S. again in January 1926. She planned to travel and visit friends in San Francisco, Fresno, and Los Angeles and return to Victoria in six months. The examining inspector, Mr. Faris, knew Sarah’s father and that the family was friends with Mr. Lee Shek Yew, a Dominion Chinese Immigration Agent in Victoria. Faris believed that Lee would return when required so he didn’t think the bond was necessary. He approved her application. Her Canadian C.I. 10 form rated her father’s and brother’s financial worth at $60,000.

On 20 May 1926 the Immigration Commissioner, received a letter from Sarah Y. Lee saying she had married (6 February 1926) a Chinese merchant from Fresno, California a few months previously. She was now Mrs. S. Y. Wong and had started her paperwork to establish her permanent residence in the U.S. with the status of wife of a merchant. Immigration started an investigation to see if the man she had married was a merchant according to the Chinese Exclusion Act.

[Yikes – this probably added 80 pages to Sarah Y. Lee’s file. Sarah was admitted into the U.S. on 23 January for six months as a single temporary visitor. She married a little over two weeks later. One has to wonder if this was all pre-planned. The marriage license was taken out on 4 February. They had a formal wedding banquet the evening after the wedding.]

Sarah’s husband, Wong Tin Yuen (Stephen Y. Wong/Wong Yuen) who was born at Wong Lit village, Hoy Ping district, China, was interviewed by James P. Butler, Immigration Service in Fresno. Wong originally arrived in the U.S. in1910 with the status of the son of a merchant. His San Francisco file 12017/28119 was reviewed. Wong had applied for a return permit in 1925 and his permit was denied. Wong had two businesses. He worked at the Chinese Bazaar on Fulton Street for four or five hours a day. He was manager at San Sam Sing Company and worked there two or three hours a day. The San Sam Sing Company had never filed a partnership list with the county clerk or filed an income tax return. During the previous year, there had been no gambling or lottery business conducted in the store and no manual labor for the last year. Because he was involved in two businesses he needed two white witnesses for each business. Wong Lung (Wong Dock Tay), Stephen’s father, was interviewed. His testimony agreed with his son’s.

Mrs. Stephen Y. Wong (Sarah Y. Lee) was interviewed by Immigration Services on 12 July 1926. She said she had no intension of staying in the U.S. when she left Canada in January. She was not engaged to get married at that time. She was visiting Mr. and Mrs. Cuyler Wong and Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Vogel in Fresno. Sarah said she had known her husband since 1924. They met in San Francisco during her earlier trip.

On 20 July 1926, Sarah Y. Lee’s attorney wrote to Luther Weedin, Commissioner of Immigration in Seattle and included an application for Sarah Y. Lee to stay in the U.S. as the wife of a merchant. The attorney mentioned that Sarah came from a highly respected family and her father and brother had a substantial financial standing. She married Wong Tin Yuen (Stephen Y. Wong) in Fresno on 6 February 1926. He enclosed a copy of the marriage license, a copy of invitation to the wedding banquet, a newspaper announcement, and a photo of the bride and groom.

Sarah Lee Wong
Stephen Y. Wong and Sarah Y. Lee, Wedding Portrait, 6 February 1926, Fresno, California

[It gets complicated.]

Sarah needed to change her status from section six traveler to that of a wife of a merchant. This resulted in mounds of paperwork. In September G. E. Tolman, Assistant Commissioner General of the Bureau of Immigration in Washington, DC denied Mrs. S. Y. Wong (Sarah Y. Lee)’s application to change her status and said that she could not remain in the U.S. He suggested that she return to Canada and from there apply for admission to the U.S. as wife of a merchant. She should notify immigration services that she was leaving the U.S., obtain an affidavit showing that her husband was a merchant in Fresno, attach photos herself and her husband, take it to the American Consul near her home in Fresno to secure a visa, then apply for admission to the U.S. She needed to show that her husband had been a merchant for at least one year prior to her arrival.

1927
In January 1927, Mrs. Sarah Y. Wong wrote to the Seattle immigration office explaining that she had not followed through on changing her status because she has been unable to travel for health reasons. In February, the clerk at immigration services asked Mrs. Wong if she was “an expectant mother,” and when did she planned on returning to Canada. Mrs. Wong said her child was due in March and she would probably leave in May or June. She insisted that she was under a doctor’s care and could not travel. Immigration decided to let her stay until 1 June 1927. In April, Mrs. Wong asked if she could stay until August. She was again told in great detail what she must do when applying for her readmittance to the U.S. Sarah needed an affidavit showing proof that her husband was a merchant, and they were legally married.

In July, Stephen testified that his son, Eugene Wong (Wong You Jin) was born 6 February 1927 in Fresno. His white witnesses were Frank Ennis, an advertising agent; and Leo F. Jarvis, an insurance broker. Their testimony agreed with Stephen’s. Stephen’s business information was updated and showed that both businesses were successful and providing an income. Stephen Y. Wong receives a favorable recommendation for merchant status. They family left for Canada on 9 September 1927.

Vintage black and white photograph featuring a man and a woman. The man is on the left, wearing a suit and bow tie, with a neutral expression. The woman is on the right, wearing a simple top and also displaying a neutral expression. Handwritten text is visible on the left side.
Stephen Y. Wong and Sarah Lee Wong Affidavit photo, 1927, CEA case files, RG 85, NARA-Seattle, Wong Sarah Lee, File 17031/587.

Mrs. Sarah Wong filed her Canadian form 257, Declaration of Non-Immigrant Alien about to Depart for the United States, with the American Consular Service and received her passport visa. In her interrogation she said her father Lee Deen, died on 29 June 1927 and her mother, Lee Shim Shee, died in January 1925, both in Coquitlam, B.C. She listed her siblings as Thomas Lee, age about 43, was living in Port Hammond, B.C.; William, age 20 or 21; Gordon Lee, age 10 or 11, living in Canton, China; oldest sister, Mrs. G. T. Lang, Cardston, Alberta; Anna Lee, 16, student, Port Hammond; Arthur Lee,14, student, Shanghai; Lorraine, 9, student, Canton City. Sarah Lee Wong and family arrived at the Port of Seattle on 19 September 1927. The next day they were admitted and Sarah received her Certificate of Identity #58369.

1935
In June 1935, Stephen Y. Wong swore in an affidavit that he was the husband of Sarah Lee Wong and the owner of Chinese Bazaar in Fresno, CA. His photo was attached to the form. In his interview with immigration Stephen said that he and his wife Sarah Wong were applying to visit Canada and taking their eight-year-old son, Eugene, and two-year old daughter, Maylene with them. Their son, Avery, born in 1929, died in 1931.

Immigration Agent Butler’s summary of the Wong family’s applications says that Stephen Y. Wong’s business, Chinese Bazaar, which dealt with Oriental art goods and novelties, had steadily grown since 1925, his white witnesses were fully qualified, and he was the sole owner of the businesses. Stephen and Sarah Wong both received endorsements. The family visited Canda and return in September 1935.

1940
Stephen Y. Wong applied to leave the U.S. for a visit to Canada in 1940. His white witness was Miss Jo Fitzpatrick, a bookkeeper for Dr. Max M. Goldstein and for the Merchants Credit Association. She had purchased art at the Wong business, the Chinese Bazaar, and known the Wong family about ten years. Frank Ennis was a witness for Wong again. Stephen and Sarah Wong and their children, Maylene, age seven, and Shannon, age three, were interviewed. Stephen was asked the same questions as he had for previous trips and he gave the same answers with some updates. His sales were about $7,500 in 1939 with a profit of $1,200. Their sons Eugene and Avery died in 1936 and 1931, respectively.

Seven-year-old Maylene was interviewed and pointed to her mother when asked. When shown a photograph of a man, she identified him as “my daddy, Stephen.” She also identified her two-year-old brother, Shannon, who was deemed too young to be questioned. Certified copies of the children’s birth certificates were reviewed and approved. Stephen and Sarah’s photos are attached to their affidavit.

On 22 August 1940, Sarah applied for a Nonimmigrant Visa at the American Foreign Service at Vancouver, B.C. and was granted a passport visa under section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act of 1924, wife of merchant (Chinese) resident in United States in exempt status. Her photograph was attached to the document.

The Wong family returned to the Port of Seattle on 25 August 1940 and were admitted. All four applied for certificates of identity. They were approved and sent to the San Francisco immigration office about a week after their arrival at Seattle. The family made another trip to Canada in August 1944. The reference sheet included in the file contains the name and file numbers for Sarah Lee Wong’s husband, brother, two sons and daughter. Their photos are probably included in their files.

Thank you to Joyce Liu, CEA Indexing Project volunteer, for telling me about this file.

Jew Men (aka Clement Joe), minor son of merchant– Itta Bena, Mississippi

Advertisement, Affidavit, Letters of recommendation, merchant, minor son of merchant, Return Certificate, San Francisco file, Visa Application, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In 1949, Immigration Services was contacting Jew Men and his family to update their files.  They wanted to see if Jew and his family had applied for permanent resident status, or if they had left the country. This is what Immigration found1:

Jew Men and his mother, Quon Shee, arrived at the Port of Seattle in April 1937. They were classified as a minor son and the wife of a domiciled Chinese Merchant, Jew Woo, a member of the firm of Joe Yuen & Co., of Itta Bena, Mississippi. They were admitted and their certificates of identity, which were held by Immigration Services in their absence, were returned to them.

Jew Men, also known as Clement Joe, was 16 years old, when he was interviewed in 1936. He had gone to school for five years in Mississippi and could speak English, Cantonese, and See Yip Hoy Ping dialects. He was born in November 1920 in Sai Hing village, Lee Toom section of the Hoy Ping district in China. He was seven years old when he first came to the U.S. with his mother. They arrived at the Port of San Francisco in August 1926 and were admitted.  He had two younger brothers who stayed in China with his mother’s sister.
Jew Men went back to China with his parents in April 1934. He and his mother did not get Return Certificates before leaving because they thought that were told by the Immigration office that they did not need them. When they wanted to return to the U.S. they applied to the American Consul at Hong Kong for a visa.  The status of merchant for Jew Woo, the father and husband of the applicants, was investigated by the New Orleans Office of Immigration and recognized. Jew Men and his mother received a joint non-immigrant visa.

An October 1936 affidavit with the signatures of sixteen citizens of Itta Bena, Leflore County, Mississippi, swearing that they knew Jew Woo (aka Ray W. Joe), a merchant, for several years and that the photos attached were of his wife and son who resided in Itta Bena from October 1926 to April 1934 until they left for China.

“Jew Woo Affidavit for Quon Shee and Jew Men,” 1936, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, Record Group 85, NARA-Seattle, Jew Men, Seattle Box 861, file 7031/647.

The affidavit was signed by Mrs. W. S. Bissell, T. M. Allan, Mrs. W. A. Shurtleff, Wayne Shurtleff, J. M. Kelly, W. J. Harlin, Mrs. H Dienoff, W. D. Halsell, Buford Trussell, James C. Davis, J. M. Whittington, Chas F. Costigan, J. Q. Coppage, marshall; R. S. Love, B. B. Hudson, M. D., Mayor; Mc [Macklin] Bailey, Alderman.

In 1934, Mr. R. S. Love, Scoutmaster for Troop 38, Mississippi, wrote a glowing letter of recommendation for Clement Joe (Jew Men).  He called him a “good dependable boy” and thought he would become an Eagle Scout someday.

Jew Men’s file contains copies of Immigration’s 1936 interrogation with his father and mother, Jew Woo and Quon Shee, and a summary of Jew Woo’s file starting with his first admission to the United States in 1917 and his later trips to China. It lists Jew Woo’s San Francisco file as 1585/5-10 and Quon’s SF file as 25223/10-12. She also has a Seattle file #7031/646 which includes a full-page ad for Joe Yuen and Company. Jew Woo’s Americanized name, Ray W. Joe, appears on the ad.

“Joe Yuen Company Advertisement,” ca. 1935, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, Record Group 85, NARA-Seattle, Quon Shee, Seattle Box 861, file 7031/646.

Jew Men [Clement Joe] was naturalized at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 23 December 1946.

  1. “Jew Men File,” Chinese Exclusion Act case files, Record Group 85, NARA-Seattle, Jew Men, Seattle Box 861, file 7031/647. ↩︎

Hom Sit – many details about his home and village in China

Affidavit, Certificate of Identity, Form M143, House details, Maps, photos, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hom Sit, Form M143 photo, 1938

Hom Sit, the 24-year old son of U.S. citizen Hom Tin, arrived in Seattle on the SS Princess Marguerite on 22 August 1938. Although he was married (marriage name Soong Choo) he arrived alone and was going to live with his father in Butte, Montana. His testimony for his admittance was in his native dialect, See Yip. Fung Ming was the official government interpreter. Hom Sit was born on 7 September 1914 in Ung Sing Village, Chuck Hom Section of Hoy Ping District in China. He gave the following information about his father: Hom Tin (marriage name Gwong Ai) was 50 years old, born in San Francisco, California; living in Butte, Montana; and working in the restaurant business. Hom Tin visited them in Ung Sing when Hom Sit was eight years old and stayed for two years. That is the only time they spent together. The Hom ancestral village was Check Suey. Hom Sit’s father’s deceased father was Hom Goon Bow. He was buried at Bok Dook Hill, about a mile from their village. Hom Sit’s mother was Lee Shee, a native of Wing On village. His maternal grandfather, Lee Len Ock, had died but his grandmother, Ow Shee, was 70 years old, living in Wing On. Hom Sit had three brothers, one older and two younger. He was married to Dea Shee from Choo Heung village and they had one son, Hom Ngin, born in 1937.

Ung Sing Village faced east and had eight houses in five rows. Their house was the third house in the first row counting from the north. It was a brick house with five rooms, tile floors, a court paved with stone, had two outside doors with the large door was facing south. Each bedroom had an L-shaped loft along the outside walls and had two outside windows opening above a balcony. They were fitted with iron bars and glass panes with wooden shutters on the inside. The bedrooms and kitchen had skylights fitted with glass. There was a shrine in the parlor; a partitioned room in the parlor was made of wood.

Map of Ung Sing Village
Map of Ung Sing Village

Hom Sit described who lived in the other houses, their extended families, and where they worked. There was a bamboo hedge surrounding the village with a gateway on each end. A river about 200 feet wide was in front of the village and a dirt highway was nearby. The village did not have an ancestral hall or social hall. There weren’t any fruit trees near the village but there was a banyan tree. Hom Sit attended Gung Yee School in the village for twelve years. Won Wing Hop was the principal of the school and there were three other teachers.
Hom Sit said that his father sent $800 for his wedding expenses which included putting in the wooden partition in the parlor and erecting a pavilion for the wedding.

Photos of Hom Tin and Hom Sit, 1938 Affidavit

Jack Chan was the interpreter for interrogation of Hom Tin, the alleged father of Hom Sit. Hom testified that he was a partner at the Idaho Café in Butte, Montana at 799-1/2 Utah Avenue. He was born in San Francisco and had made three trips to China–in 1907, 1913, and 1921. He went through the Port of San Francisco each time. He presented his Certificate of Identity for inspection. He had a brother, Hom Foot, living somewhere in the U.S. They were separated during the San Francisco earthquake and fire and never heard from each other again.

Hom Tin said he did not bring his son over to the U.S. earlier because of the Depression but was bringing him over now to work in his restaurant. He was asked the same long list of questions that his son had been asked. His answers were consistent with his son’s testimony, but the interrogator ended the interview by saying, “Isn’t it a fact that the applicant is not your blood son?” [The interrogators frequently asked this question, even if it was obvious that there was a blood relationship.] Hom Tin stated that Hom Sit was his blood son and the interview ended.

The Board of Special Inquiry reviewed Hom Tin’s San Francisco file and recalled Hom Sit to question him about a few discrepancies in the interviews. They considered that the alleged father had not been in China for nearly fifteen years. They concluded that the alleged father and applicant both ”testified in a straightforward manner” and there was a physical resemblance between them. The board determined that the relationship had been established. Hom Sit was admitted to the U.S. as a United States Citizen, son of an American born Chinese, on 10 October 1938, one month and a half after his arrival.

“Form 143 photo of Hom Sit; Hom Tin Affidavit; map of village” 1938, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Hom Sit case file, Seattle Box 767, file 7030/11371.

Wong Yook Yee in 1913 – Engineer Graduate from MIT in 1925

Letter, photo, Section 6 Student, U.S. Army, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Photo of Wong Yook Yee, consular number 21/1913,” 1913, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Wong Yook Yee case file, Seattle Box 73, file 32-3614.

In 1913 Wong Yook Yee 黃玉瑜 was a student applying for a Section 6 certificate to allow him to come to United States through Seattle, Washington. He was eleven years old, born in Chung Hen Lee village, Hoy Ping district, China. His father, Wong Lon Seong, died in China in 1910. His mother, Jew Shee, was living in their native village. He had a younger brother, Nook Nay, and two younger sisters, Chuey Cit and Fong Gay. Wong Yook Yee attended school in his village for five years before going to Hong Kong for two months to study English. He planned to attend Ng Lee school in Oakland, California. His cousin, Ngong Suey, a merchant at Kwong Yuen Co. in Hong Kong, would be paying his expenses. Ngong gave Miss Ida K. Greenlee five hundred dollars in gold to cover the cost of school expenditures. Wong’s local contact was Know Ong Sow, a merchant at Chung Lung Co. in San Francisco. Wong was cautioned that if he did any manual labor during his stay in the United States he could be returned to China. Wong was admitted and started attending school at Pierpont School in Boston, Massachusetts. [change of schools explained in 1929 testimony] He was directed to confirm his school attendance to Mr. Monroe at the Seattle Immigration office via a post card signed by his teacher every three months.

Wong wrote to Mr. Monroe at Seattle Immigration and asked him to help get his Certificate of Identity. He adopted the Christian name of Perry Wong.



In 1929 Wong Yook Yee applied for a return certificate as a laborer. He was 29 years old and a draftsman in Boston. He married Lee Sue Doy (Boston file No. 2500/7819) on 11 March 1929 in Boston. During his interview there was some confusion about the place Wong was born. His family moved when he was three years old.
Wong testified that after he arrived in Seattle in 1913 he went to Ng Lee School in Oakland for six months then about six months in San Francisco before moving to Boston to attend Quincy School until 1917. He went to Northeastern Preparatory School for one years, then served one year in the U.S. Army at Camp Eustis in Virginia. He worked at an architectural firm and attended Tufts College in structural engineering, then Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he graduated in 1925. He then went back to work at Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott (called Coolidge & Shattuck when he worked for them previously)

In March 1929 Wong Yook Yee was granted his laborer’s return certificate. There is no more information in his file.

Alex Jay’s maternal step-grandfather was  Wong Yook Yee.  Alex has a blog, Chinese American Eyes about visual and performing artists. It includes links about Wong.

Some of the other articles about Yook Yee Wong on Alex Jay’s blog are:
Y.Y. Wong and S. Howard Jee’s Entry in the Capital Plan for Nanjing, China

Yook Yee Wong in the Journal of the Lingnan Engineering Association

Yook Yee Wong and Sun Yat-sen University

Yook Yee Wong’s / Huang Yu-yu’s Daughters Visit China 黄瑜瑜的女儿们访问中国

Other links provided by Alex Jay:
China Comes to MIT Bringing “Tech” to China
Early Chinese MIT: Wong Yook Yee

Yee Shee, Chan Sheung and Chan Git Oy – Cleveland, Ohio

Affidavit, Photographs, Visa Application, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yee Shee, Chan Sheung and Chan Git Oy
“Chan Sheung 陳相 Affidavit photos,” 1929, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Yee Shee case file, Seattle Box 1155, 11627/3-3.

Yee Shee, age 27, arrived at the port of Seattle on the Princess Marguerite on 28 September 1929. Her admittance status was “wife of merchant.” She was accompanied by her husband, Chan Sheung 陳相, and daughter, Chan Git Oy, age three. Yee Shee’s paper work consisted of a U.S. Consular certificate, an affidavit with photos of her, her husband and daughter, signed by her husband and sworn by a Washington State notary public; a Declaration of Non-Immigrant Alien sworn by Kenneth C. Krentz, Vice-Consul of the U.S. at Hong Kong; and Visa No. 118.

Yee Shee was born in 1902 in Lung Tin village, Toysan District and lived there until she married Chan Sheung in November 1920. After marrying she moved about 3 or 4 lis [about a mile or a mile and a third] to Sam Gong, her husband’s village, Hoy Ping district. Her father, Yee Won Jung, died when she was young and her mother, So Ho Shee, raised her with money he had left them. Now Ngon, a marriage go-between, arranged Yee Shee and Chan Sheung’s marriage; they were married under the new customs. They did not see each other until their marriage day. Yee Shee’s dowry was a dresser table, dining table, two chairs, leather trunk, wooden trunk, clothes cabinet, and a wash-stand. Chan Sheung gave her a gold ring after they were married. Their wedding ceremony consisted of worshiping her husband’s ancestors and serving him a cup of liquor. Their red marriage paper shows three generations of Yee Shee’s family. [mentioned but not included in the file]

Yee Shee’s interrogation describes her family, her husband’s family, their village and home—six pages in all. When Chan Sheung returned to China from the U.S. in May 1929 he brought with him an American trunk, suitcase, sea bag, one box of laundry soap and some eatables.

Their first son died shortly after his birth. A woman doctor, Dr. Look Ooh, attended Yee Shee for the birth of her second child. Their daughter, Chan Git Oy, born 17 June 1926 was accompanying them to the U.S.

Yee Shee described their trip to the United States: they left the village about 7 a.m. and walked to the landing, took a row boat to Chung Sar market, transferred to another boat to Bok Gai, then boarded a steamer to Hong Kong. They were in Hong Kong a little more than two weeks at the Ung Nom Hotel, room number 13 before sailing for the U.S. While in Hong Kong they went to see a Chinese show and made several trips to the American consul to get the necessary forms and photographs.

The testimony of Chan Sheung (marriage name Chan Leung Park) was also six pages long. He stated that he was 31 years old, a salesman and member of the Wing Wah Chong Company in Cleveland, Ohio. He first came to the U.S. at San Francisco in July 1912. He had made three trips to China since then; once as a student, then as a laborer, and currently as a merchant. Chan Sheung described his family in great detail.

The village of Sam Gong had nine houses and one lantern house. Their home, which he inherited from his father, was “a regular five-room brick building; tile floor in every room; court is paved with cement; two outside windows in each bedroom with five iron bars, wooden shutters and glass door in each window.” There was an alarm clock on the table in the bedroom and several photographs hanging on the west side wall of the sitting room. The village had a brick wall about six feet high at both ends with bamboo trees in the back. A granite stone road ran in front of the village. Beyond the road was a stream where they obtained their household water.
After lengthy interviews of Yee Shee and Chan Sheung there were only a few minor discrepancies—the exact houses their neighbors Chin Yoon Ying and Chan Wee Lee lived in the village; the number of suitcases they had when they left their village; and Yee Shee forgot that her husband bought her a brown purse in Hong Kong. The inspectors asked Yee Shee about these inconsistencies and her new testimony agreed with her husband’s statements. They were admitted to the United States.

“Yee Shee Visa Application” 1929, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Yee Shee case file, Seattle Box 1155, 11627/3-3.

Yee Mollie – Ambridge, Pennsylvania

Birth Certificate, Form 430, photo, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yee Mollie Form 430 1923 photo
“Yee Mollie, Form 430 photo,” 1929, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Yee Mollie case file, Seattle Box 773, 7030/11550.
[The complete Form 430 includes Mollie’s finger prints.]

Yee Mollie (余瑪琍) arrived in the Port of Seattle on the Princess Marguerite on 4 October 1938. She was with her parents, brother and two sisters. They were on their way home to Ambridge, Pennsylvania.

Molly’s mother, Chin Shee, (陳氏), [SF file 16954/4-1], whose maiden name was Chin Ah Yee, was born in Hung Gong village, Hoy Ping district, China on 10 April 1895. She married Yee Doo Coon (余祖群) on 25 November 1913 in her village. Her husband was born in San Francisco [SF file 13955/11-36]. After they married they lived in his village, Au Mee in Sunning district. Chin Shee came to the United States in 1917 with her husband. His marriage name was Lim Wah.

The family lived in the United States until August 1929 when they left for China with their four U.S. born children–three sons and daughter Mollie. Mollie’s 1927 birth certificate was used as proof of citizenship when the family left in 1929.

Yee Molllie Birth Certificate 1929
“Yee Mollie, State of Pennsylvania Birth Certificate,” 1927, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Yee Mollie case file, Seattle Box 773, 7030/11550.
Yee Doo Coon returned to the U.S. through Seattle in January 1938 with his second and third sons, Yee Ning Young and Yee Ning Don. His eldest son, Yee Nin Yum, had returned to the U.S. in October 1937. Four more children were born to the Yee family while they were in China. Yee Doo Coon made a special trip to China in June 1938 to accompany his wife, daughter Mollie and the three youngest children, Yee Ma Soo (余瑪素), Yee Ning June (余年注) and Yee Ma Far to the United States. Their son Yee Ning Foo was staying in China with his aunt.

There were twenty pages of interrogation of the family upon their arrival in Seattle in November 1938. The questioning of Mollie, age 11, went on for four pages. She gave many details of their life in China and told how they moved from Canton City to Ai Hong Fong village because of the Chinese Japanese war. They heard the bombing but did not see it. They lived there until they could return to the U.S.

Although the interrogations were lengthy, the board concluded that the testimony from all parties agreed and the relationships claimed were reasonably established. The Yee family was admitted to the United States one month and four days after their arrival.

Ng Chuen Yong of Ellwood City, Pennsylvania

Birth Registration, Form 430, Medical Card, photo, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ng Chuen Yong (吳春容) was twelve years old in July 1939. She passed a medical examination in Hong Kong before boarding the Princess Marguerite for her return trip to the United States.

Ng Chuen Yong Medical Card 1939
“Medical Card for Ng Chuen Yong,” 1939, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Ng Chuen Yong case file, Seattle Box 792, 7030/12239.

Nl [Normal] Chinese Girl, inoculated against Cholera. Signed V. N. Atienza

Ten years earlier she and her mother, two brothers, Ng Chuck Sang and Ng Jack Sang, and sister, Ng Chuen Moy had left from the port of Seattle to return to their home village of Nom Yung in Hoy Ping District, China. There were only two houses in the village and they were next door to her mother’s parents. Her mother and brother, Jit [Jack] Sang traveled back to the United States about 1931; her brother Chuck Sang returned around 1937. Her sister stayed in China and was going to school in Hong Kong.

Ng Chuen Yong Form 430 1929
“Ng Chuen Yong, Form 430 Photo” 1929, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Ng Chuen Yong case file, Seattle Box 792, 7030/12239.

Ng Chuen Yong’s mother, Lee Lon, was born in China and was admitted to the U.S. at the port of San Francisco, California in 1923 as the daughter of a merchant. Her husband, Ng Ong Jen, was born in San Francisco. They were married in July 1924 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was a waiter there at the Paris Inn Restaurant. Their children were all born in Pennsylvania. The United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census issued a “Notification of Birth Registration” for Ng Chuen Yong saying she was born on 31 August 1927 at Ellwood City, Pa. The document was signed by Dr. Theodore B. Appel, Harrisburg, Pa.

Ng Chuen Yong US Birth Reg
“Notification of Birth Registration” 1927, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Ng Chuen Yong case file, Seattle Box 792, 7030/12239.

Ng Chuen Yong was admitted in 1939.