Searching for Chang family roots in Samoa

[jozef]

Heya
I am tracing my ancestral roots back to China but I have reached a dead end.
My great grandfather "Chow Fuk Chang" married in Apia, Samoa and had 8 children.
What I am really looking for is his family line in China. The only thing I was able to find out was that he was originally from Hunan, China.
Born about 1872 and died in 1945. Married in 1897 Apia, Samoa and had his first child in 1918.
Other than that I have had no luck with tracing it on ancestry.com.

The only thing I can think of is that he may have been in hiding in Samoa during the repatriation period when Chinese laborers whom visited Samoa were ordered to return to their country when NZ took over administration hence the missing records of his passing.
All I need is some information on his birth place/date/family if he had siblings.
Any information would be helpful.
I will however see if I can look into Chinese birth and death records see if there is anything there anyhow.

Cheers,

Josh

[Henry]

jozef,

If you have any documents with Chinese characters related to your great grandfather - please post them here. Also, if there are Chinese characters on his gravestone, please post a clear photo. Usually, the Chinese characters on a gravestone may have the Chinese name & name of the village where he was born.

Also, the following may be useful in providing additional information:

Catching the Dragon‟s Tail: The Impact of the Chinese in Samoa

ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10092/4257/thesis_fulltext.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y


The Chinese in Samoa 1875-2015: The Dragon Came from Afar

www.goodreads.com/author/show/17404500.Nancy_Y_W_Tom

Henry

[Henry]

maika,

Please check your family documents for Chinese characters that can provide information about your family history.

The Chinese cemetery in Tuanaimato in Samoa is probably a good place to start. If there are Chinese characters on his gravestone, please take a clear photo of the gravestone and post it here - it may all the information you need.

This article describes the kind of information from overseas Chinese gravestones:

drive.google.com/file/d/1yAGRG55mENB_4wo9oQoGjCmEPX7Yddqu/view


Henry

[changman]

Hi Henry,

I too am a descendant of Phillip Chow Fuk Chang, I was able to obtain this last photo of a partial headstone. Unfortunately the headstone was damaged as they move remains to a new burial site.

Ae you able to make out anything from the symbols on this picture.

Thank you in advance.

Changman 

[jozef]

Hey Changman, any chance I could get a copy of your photo that you posted please. I can maybe see if I can get some kind translation from it.

Thanks.

[jozef]

Thanks Henry,

I have indeed read through those links to some extent to get some idea of Chinese beginnings in Samoa. Unfortunately so much of the knowledge of  who and where my great grand father was born was passed down to me by word of mouth.
I might have to visit Samoa one day when lockdown ends  see if I can find where he was originally buried.

P.S If anyone has any info that might be interesting or will help in my search please don't be afraid to reach out to me. Here is my email address if you need to send me anything: [e-mail]

Cheers,

Josh

[gckimm]

Hi:

Unfortunately, I don't see anything helpful on this bottom portion of the headstone. The line of characters in the middle says, "Grave of ____" but the name is on the missing top portion. The characters on the right are not entirely legible but say something about his village, which is typical for a Chinese grave. The characters on the left probably have to do with the year of death but again, the year is missing.

Please let us know if you ever manage to find the important missing piece.

Greg