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.