Gong or Leung in Portland, Oregon, 1850s or 1860s

[echan]

I'm trying to learn about the first generation in my family to immigrate to the US. They are my great-great grandfather GONG Moon Cheun and his wife LEONG Shee. Apparently they were in Portland until 1867, when then moved to San Francisco, where they settled. They are my paternal grandfather's grandparents on his mother's side. Also, does anyone know where early immigrants (1850s-60s) to Portland came from? The names of family villages in the Pearl River Delta from whence they came? Thanks so much.

[jing]

Hi echan,
There is a academic book covering the Chinatowns of Portland, Oregon (1850's to 1943) for historical context and about the community. It written by Marie Rose Wong "Sweet Cakes, Long Journey:the Chinatowns of Portland, Oregon. Seattle, University of Washington Press, 2004. Gong Moon Cheun is not listed in the Index. His wife's surname is Leong. Her Shee refers to "maiden surname." Check your public library for a copy to borrow.

My suggestion is for you to begin your search with a U.S. census search for him as head of household (she and their children would be listed on the same page under him). Start with the last date known and work backwards. I would start with 1860 for Portland. Then 1870's onwards for San Francisco. Also, search under the names of their children. The regional national archives would have free search access into Ancestry.com's database. Also, ask the older family members if there are any gravestone inscribed in Chinese. If yes, photograph the gravestone for translation and the location of the ancestral home. Some gravestones may/or may not have detailed information on date of birth, ancestral home depending on who had information and also more details to inscribe may have cost more.

Jing

[echan]

Dear Jing,
Thank you so much for your very specific guidance and help. I really appreciate it. I've been fortunate to be able to read Sweet Cakes and talk to Marie Wong, the author of that history. Excellent book. And Professor Wong has given me invaluable advice and encouragement. I've been looking through the U.S. Census and talking to family members; no luck yet, but am crossing fingers. We don't unfortunately have any information about a gravesite. I'm so curious about how my great-great grandparents may have met. I wonder whether they were arranged in China or met here in the U.S. or...? Do people have any stories about how first generation married couples who arrive in the U.S. in the 1860s met?
Genie

[jing]

Dear echan,
You've joined the right club... genealogy is for the persistent and patient. Sometimes, family information comes to us serendipitously - almost 20 years ago, I was in a library waiting for someone and was quickly browsing a book on Chinese Americans when my eye caught the name of my family's business. My elderly uncle had been interviewed, and he mentioned my grandad's immigration year and his immigration name. And you know, the book wasn't even indexed !

Anyway, don't give up, but you need tangible information. When I started my research, internet was in its infancy and everything was either on microfilm or original immigration case files, and sometimes there are zillions of people with the same name... Start with your parents or grandparents and work backwards. Compile and organize your information on computer.

Some of the pieces do eventually come together. You might look into reading or taking a genealogy research class. Although, I've visited his home in China, have his signature on a Chinese Business Partnership File, have his portrait, and possibly his WWI draft record. I have yet to access my grandfather's immigration case file for 1906...

Jing

[chak]

Jing, do you know how to find a specific Chinese Business Partnership File?

[jing]

Chak,
The CBP casefiles I've seen are at the National Archives in San Bruno, CA and are for California businesses from about 1892 to 1950. You will need the business name and city. Send an email inquiry to ; [e-mail]

Ask if there are any other state CBPF with the other regional archives.

Those business lists are on two microfilms. If your family business is listed, there would be original documents in a case file (manila folder) with a photo of the main business partner and a list of the partners. Some will have two sheets with individuals and their monetary share in the business. 1) in English 2) Chinese. The CBPF were maintained by the U.S. Dept. of Justice. INS to regulate the Chinese Exclusion acts (1882-1943). Anyone who worked with their hands was consider a laborer and thus not allowed to enter the U.S. However, those laborers who entered
the US before 1882, could remain, re-enter if they had $1,000 in assets. So, you might see active and even silent partners listed with $500 at one or two business or $1000.

Jing

[echan]

Hi Jing and Chak,

Yes, the San Bruno NARA is excellent. Marisa Louie is one of the archivists there who located the business file that my grandfather, I believe, was a part of. He wasn't listed, but the listing of silent and active partners, different types of member, gov't certificates "authenticating" merchants, etc is fascinating.

Thank you, Jing, for the encouragement. I'll be visiting my paternal great-grandfather's village, Pan Yu --Yahucun (鴉湖村) and my maternal grandfather's village, in Toishan, in September. Am very excited. We don't know anything about my paternal great-great grandfather; we suspect he went back to China from San Francisco and died there.

All best,
Genie

[chumley]

Echan,

You can also try the Seattle branch of the NARA. Portland, OR and Seattle, WA were also ports of entry / exit for the early Chinese immigrants. The Oregon case files and ship manifests are held at the Seattle branch.


www.archives.gov/pacific-alaska/seattle/

[chumley]

Echan,

If your great-great grandparents had immigrated through the port of San Francisco, it's likely their records were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake & Fire.

A famous Chinese from Portland over 100 years ago was Moy Back Hin. Google his name for online articles.

[jing]

Sorry chumley, I beg to differ - Although the SF Earthquake and Fire in 1906 destroyed city records, the federal U.S. Dept of Justice. Immigration Case Files for individuals who entered at SF are housed at NARA.San Francisco (San Bruno location) from about 1898 and known as the Record Group 85 (RG85). Once again, Send an email inquiry to ; [e-mail] for an archivist to check their database for an immigrants name in their San Francisco entries.
Other regional archives would have databases for folks who entered their states.

The exception of immigrants who entered SF are those who entered earlier and later became U.S. Citizenship by way of naturalization and known as the A-Files. Those A-Files for Chinese would include the confession file where "paper identities" were cleared for those claiming to be native born... (File a FOIA request, Form G639 through the US Citizenship and Immigration Service) for copies of those records.
Jing

[jing]

Hi again,

Forgot to mention that the two NARA archivists who worked with me at separate times: 1)both said that in the "old days" INS would toss the immigration case file if the immigrant did not intend to return. My gdad returned to China to retire in 1936. 2) If the immigrant exited the US and re-entered several times, his case file would receive a new number and all the previous documents transferred forward to the most recent file. Gd made several trips to China and back.
3) I'm waiting to exhaust all other avenues rather than have the archivists pull 100 files on their database with the same name for whom are different individuals.

Also, forgot to mention that my gdad was on the 1930 census but no other census years. He is listed as immigrating into the state in 1906 ... but that conflicted with my uncle's interview with gd's entering in 1908... When I mentioned that my Gd was listing as entered in 1906, the year the SF Earthquake vs the 1908 with Him Mark Lai, the late Chinese American Historian, he said he wasn't surprised because the "old timers" like to brag about being here in 1906.

Another point is that my mother identified my Gd's name in the CBPF that was written in Chinese character and happened to be his 2nd name. She also identified my granduncle's picture and his name in the CBPF.

Anyway, we have alot of family stories about gd and his brothers carpenter shop in SF Chinatown.

Jing

[chumley]

Thanks Jing. I'm familiar with the Record Group 85 (RG 85) files, but wasn't aware the NARA San Bruno, CA branch existed in 1898. I thought all documents were held at the Hall of Records (which burned down along with the San Francisco City Hall).

[jing]

Hi Chumley,

Just to clarify, the RG85 records at NARA.San Francisco (formerly known as San Bruno) date back to 1898, and not the building or branch. The records at the that archives are obsolete and from the U.S. federal system. For instance, the archives would have records pertaining to the U.S. Mint Gold Deposits in CA and the U.S. federal courts, etc.

Just like the other regional archives would contain obsolete federal records for those regions.
Jing



Jing

[chak]

About the RG85 records at NARA.San Francisco (formerly known as San Bruno), if you're looking for older Certificates of Residence, NARA San Francisco tells me:

"the vast majority of Certificates of Residence were destroyed by the INS in 1958. However some records of individual certificates of residence have survived and are housed at the National Archives in Washington, DC. The material appears to consist of some applications for the re-issuance of certificates of residence in lieu of those lost or destroyed in later years and a few ledger books recording certificates issued. The records are listed below. These surviving records appear to represent only a very small portion of the material that existed at one time.

Applications for Duplicate Certificates of Residence, 1893-1920 (RG 85; Entry 137)
Chronological Records Relating to Chinese Certificates of Residence, ca 1893-1903 (RG 85; Entry 138)
Numerical Records Relating to Chinese Certificates of Residence, ca 1895-1901 (RG 85, Entry 139)
Miscellaneous Records Relating to Chinese Certificates of Residence, N.D. (RG 85; Entry 140)

For more information about the four aforementioned series of records, please contact:
National Archives and Records Administration
Archives I Reference Section (NWCT1R)
700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Room 601
Washington, DC 20408-0001"