MY GREAT-GRANDFATHER

[Louis]

For as long as I could remember, I can recall being told by my mother, aunts, and uncles that I was “part” Chinese, but that was it. It was obvious to me that I was since my mother’s family all had some type of visible Asian trait. I knew my great-grandfather immigrated from China to the United States but there was no documentation of when he left or when he arrived. My mother and members of her family always told me stories of how my great-grandfather came to the US. One story claimed he was a stow-away who landed in Mexico. Other stories had him landing in California and him journeying to Texas as a laborer.
A few years ago, my great-aunt passed away at the age of 95. She was my great-grandfather’s last surviving child. My great-aunt had never married so all of her possessions were left behind to my 3rd cousin; her great-great nephew. As they were cleaning out the house, an old box was found tucked away in a dark corner of the attic. Inside this box, my cousin discovered old letters written in Chinese along with a few pictures of my great-grandfather, and an old Chinese book. These papers were all turned into the Austin History Center to be displayed as an exhibit titled “Pioneers from the East: The First Chinese Families in Austin”.
I’ve always wondered about my family roots both on my Mother’s side of the family as well as my father’s. Now that a my great-grandfather’s name has been uncovered along with the names of other family members, I feel I have something to branch off of, but I have no idea of where to start.
The museum curator revealed that my great-grandfather’s name was Jo Fung Sheng, born March 25, 1860 in Guangdong Province outside of Hong Kong. My great-grandfather arrived in the U.S. around 1890 in Boston, MA. Upon arriving to the U.S. my great-grandfather’s name was Americanized to suit western ears and his name was changed to Joe Sing. Following his arrival, he landed in New Orleans, LA., finally settling in Austin, Texas.

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[Henry]

Hi klou79,

Welcome to the Forum.

I suggest that you have someone that can read traditional Chinese characters to look at all your Chinese material and letters. If the gravestone of your great grandfather has any Chinese characters, please take a digital photo and post it.

The objective is to obtain the Chinese characters for your great grandfather's name and any relatives. It is also very important to find the Chinese characters for the name of your ancestral village. It would be helpful if you could also find out the name of the county that your great grandfather was born.

From this information, it is possible to determine which of your blood relatives are still living in your ancestral village and it may be possible to acquire a copy of the village genealogy book which may have your great grandfather's name in it.

Regards,

Henry

[helen]

Quote: "These papers were all turned into the Austin History Center to be displayed as an exhibit titled “Pioneers from the East: The First Chinese Families in Austin”."

I am so happy that the papers were give to the people who would treasure the information. The papers you found hold your history. Let's hope you can get the Chinese characters as henry has suggested. If he was from close to Hong Kong, he could be Cantonese - and the Jo name could be Chau, Chow, or anything in between. Our fingers are crossed

[Doug 周]

Your are so fortunate to have written material. I wonder if that ‘old Chinese book’ is your jiapu^click (family tree booklet-which I call the Holy Grail of Chinese heritage research). There are some images of a jiapu in the referenced Wiki.
So many people inquiring about their genealogy in this forum have no access to their relatives written Chinese characters.. All they have are just verbal history and romanized Western names. Look at the Wiki at the bottom of this page to see how to handle the Chinese characters. Treat the characters like Rorschach images and used the technique to digitized the characters for easier organization. Be aware that there might be multiple names for your G grandfather, so be systematic in your research. Like Henry said, the most important words are the 3 character names (of as many relatives) and the 2-3 characters for your ancestral village. You probably saw this Wiki on How to Start Your Chinese Family Heritage Research^click

As a reminder, most mainland Chinese read and write simplified characters. Your G grandfather wrote in traditional characters. Older people might be literate, or you might find someone from Taiwan or Hong Kong to read the characters. You alluded to the fact that the curator translated some of the information, so there might be notes on his file.

Happy researching. Again, as I said, you have a lot more information to start than most other forum posters.

IMHO
Doug

[baksha]

Hi Klou79,
RE: Your GGfather

" ... The museum curator revealed that my great-grandfather’s name was Jo Fung Sheng, born March 25, 1860 in Guangdong Province outside of Hong Kong. My great-grandfather arrived in the U.S. around 1890 in Boston, MA. Upon arriving to the U.S. my great-grandfather’s name was Americanized to suit western ears and his name was changed to Joe Sing. Following his arrival, he landed in New Orleans, LA., finally settling in Austin, Texas. "

My reply : Do a census search on : Joe Sing and Jo Fung Sheng (Boston, New Orleans, Austin). When found, his record would show where he resided, age, occupation, others in his household, year when he immigrated or years in the U.S. and possibly if he was a naturalized US citizen. You'll want to know the man behind the photo.

baksha