| 12017/36337 and 36342
pp 1-4
In re: Application of TUNG LIN Leong for return
|
February
19, 1929
F. O. Seidle, Inspector in Charge. B. G. Barber, Stenographer, Mrs. Agnes Haviland, Acting Int'p (Duly Sworn). |
| MOTHER and WITNESS: | Sworn and admonished that if at any time she fails to understand the Interpreter to at once so sate; also advised as to the nature of and the penalty for the crime of perjury. |
Q. What are all
your names?
A. Mrs. Leong
Yee Chong and Leong Shee.
Q. How old are
you and when and where were you born?
A. 58, born in
China, I was born in TC 10-4-3, (May 26, 1871)
Q. Where in China
were you born?
A. Shuck Kee City,
HSD, China.
Q. When did you
first come to the United States?
A. I came here
when I was thirteen years old, I think it was in KS 9 or KS 10, (1883 or
1884) and landed at San Francisco on the SS "Dai Goo". (Unable to
give English name).
Q. What month did
you land in San Francisco?
A. The 12th month
in either KS 9 or 10, (Nov. or Dec. 1883 or 1884).
Q. Were you accompanied
by anyone at the time you entered the United States?
A. I came with
my mother Jung Shee.
Q. Have you made
any trips to China since coming to the United States in KS 9 or 10, (1883-84)?
A. No.
Q. What papers
have you, if any, in your possession showing your lawful residence in the
United States?
A. I have never
been questioned before so I have never had any papers.
Q. Did you obtain
a certificate of residence during the registration period of Chinese in
the United States in 1893 or 1894?
A. Yes, I got
a Chock Chee.
Q. When did you
get that Chock Chee, in 1893 or 1894?
A. In 1893.
Q. Where were you
at the time you obtained that Chock Chee?
A. At Madera.
Q. Where is that
Chock Chee at the present time?
A. It is in the
Superior Court in Madera.
Q. Why is it in
that court?
A. When I obtained
some affidavits for my children in 1903 when I was contemplating a trip
to China I surrendered my Chock Chee to the court at that time. The
court also has my husband's Chock Chee.
Q. Do you recall
the name under which you were registered?
A. Sun Ho.
Q. Under what name
was your husband registered?
A. Ah Bow or Leong
Ah Bow.
Q. Where is your
husband at the present time?
A. Dead.
Q. When and where
did he die?
A. He died in
Madera in KS 28-3-19, (April 26, 1902).
Q. Where was he
buried?
A. At Madera.
Q. Have you ever
re-married?
A. No
Q. How many children
have you ever had?
A. Seven.
Q. Name your children
giving their ages and places of birth?
A. Leong Quan
You or Leong Chong, son, age 40, born KS 15-11-30 (December 21, 1889),
born in Madera, California;.
Leong
Ah Mooey, daughter, age 39, born KS 17-3-9 (April 17, 1891), at Madera.
Leong
Quan Chew, son, age 35, born in KS 19-8-24, (Oct. 3, 1893), at Madera.
Leong
Ah Lin, daughter, age 34, born KS 21-11-10, (December 25, 1895) at Madera,
California.
Leong
Ah Sam, son, age 31, born KS 23-11-18, (December 11, 1897), at Madera.
Leong
Ah Bing, son, age 29, born KS 25-11-17, (Dec. 19, 1899) at Madera.
Leong
Ah Look, son, age 27, born KS 28-6-22, (July 26, 1902), at Madera.
Q. Did you ever
have any children who died?
A. No.
Q. Are any of your
children married?
A. Yes, three
are married.
Q. Name the children
who are married?
A. Leong Quan
You.
Q. To whom is he
married?
A. Leong Quan
You is married to a Look Family girl in San Francisco, he married her in
CR 3-11-24, (Jan. 9, 1915).
Q. When was the
next one married?
A. Leong Ah Mooey
was married to Sun Kow in KS 32, (1906), I don't remember the month or
day.
Q. When was the
next one married?
A. Leong Ah Lin
was married Chin Ah Oy in CR 1-4-10, (May 28, 1912), here in Sacramento.
Q. Were any of
your other children ever married?
A. No, just the
three.
Q. How long did
you continue to reside in Madera?
A. When I came
to the United States I lived in San Francisco for three years then after
I was married my husband and I moved to Madera and I resided there until
CR 4, (1915), then I moved to Isleton.
Q. Where did you
live in Madera?
A. There was no
name to the street, we had a shop and lived in Chinatown.
Q. What did you
husband do in Madera?
A. He had a shop
there a general merchandise store.
Q. What was the
name of his store?
A. Yee Chong Company
Q. Did all of your
children attend school in Madera?
A. Yes.
Q. How old was
your youngest child when you moved from Madera to Isleton?
A. About eight
years old.
Q. Had that child
started to school in Madera before you left there for Isleton?
A. No.
Q. In what cemetery
was the body of your husband buried?
A. A Chinese cemetery
called Boodin (phonetic) was the foreign name for the Chinese cemetery.
Q. How far was
the cemetery from Madera?
A. Three miles.
Q. In what direction?
A. I don't know
the directions but it was on the right side going from Merced to Madera.
Q. Did your children
accompany you to visit the grave of your husband and their father while
you lived in Madera?
A. Yes
Q. During the time
that you resided in Madera did you always reside in the same house with
your children, that is, at the same location?
A. Always the
same house.
Q. What was right
next door to the Yee Chong Company on the right in Madera?
A. Nothing there.
Q. What was right
next door to the left on the Yee Chong Company in Madera?
A. Very close
to the right when going in the Yee Chong Store there was another store
called the Man Wah Store.
Q. How far was
that store from your store?
A. It was right
next door, but there is a little alley-way between our store and the Man
Wah Store.
Q. Were there any
stores to the left of your store right close?
A. No.
Q. Did Man Wah
have a family?
A. Yes.
Q. What were the
names of some of his children?
A. There were
no children.
Q. How many Chinese
families lived in Madera besides your family?
A. There were
only two Chinese families, my family and the Man Wah Store people.
Q. Then were your
children the only Chinese children that were in Madera while you lived
there?
A. Yes, mine were
the only ones.
Q. How many of
your children were living with you at the time you moved from Madera to
Isleton?
A. Five of my
children.
Q. Name those five
children?
A. They were all
living with me at that time except the daughters.
Q. Are any of your
children residing in Madera, now?
A. No.
Q. Did all of the
children who were residing with you in Madera just before you came to Isleton
move with you to Isleton at the same time?
A. Yes.
Q. Did any of your
sons go into business in Madera before they left there?
A. No.
Q. Name some of
the children, if any, who resided in Madera that played with your children
while you resided there?
A. There was one
girl there, I think her name was Ruby who used to play with my girls.
Q. Were there ever
any disasterous fires in Madera while you resided there with your family?
A. There was a
fire when the oldest boy was a little baby.
Q. When you moved
to Isleton from Madera what became of the Yee Chong Store?
A. There was no
business so we closed up.
Q. With whom do
you reside in Isleton?
A. With my daughter
and son-in-law, Sun Kow.
Q. Where did you
go to reside when you first moved to Isleton from Madera?
A. We went to
Beranni's farm.
Q. How long did
you continue to reside there?
A. I don't remember
exactly I lived there about six or seven years.
Q. Did the five
children who came with you from Madera to Isleton also live with you on
that farm?
A. Yes.
Q. Did your son-in-law
Sun Kow live on that farm also?
A. Yes.
Q. Now your daughter
Leong Ah Mooey or Mrs. Sun Kow and your daughter Leong Ah Lin or Mrs. Chin
Ah Oy and also your son Leong Ah Bing are applicants for determination
of their births in this country?
A. I have affidavits
which I had prepared for these children in 1903.
NOTE: (Presents affidavits of the three children to which are affixed their respective photographs. The affidavits are made a part of the present hearing.)
Q. Did you ever
obtain birth certificates for your children?
A. Yes, the births
of my children are recorded in Madera.
Q. When did you
obtain birth certificates for your children?
A. I don't know,
my children attended to that.
NOTE: (Files contain certificates of birth for the three above mentioned children which appear to be records establishing fact of birth obtained in the court in the County of Madera. These birth certificates were filed of record on May 9, 1927.)
Q. What is your
son Leong Ah Bing doing?
A. Working on
the
farm at Isleton on McCarty's farm.
Q. How long has
he been employed there?
A. Nine years.
Q. Is he your natural
blood son?
A. Yes.
NOTE: (Witness also presents in evidence two large family group photographs both of which contain the photographs of the witness and he applicants hereinbeforementioned together with a member of other persons who the witness states are other children of heresw and grandchildren also husbands of her two daughters.)
Q. Where is your
son Leong Quan Chew?
A. At Isleton.
Q. What is he doing
there?
A. He works on
the farm on the McCarty farm.
Q. Where is your
so Leong Ah Sam?
A. At the same
place.
Q. Where is your
son Leong Ah Look?
A. Also on the
McCarty's farm at Isleton.
Q. Did your sons
rent this farm?
A. Yes.
Q. Have they always
been employed there since you have lived in Isleton?
A. Yes.
Q. Which, if any
of your children, went to school in Isleton?
A. None of them
have gone to the Isleton school, they went to Sacramento school.
Q. Which of your
children have attended school in Sacramento?
A. Ah Bing and
Ah Look attend school in Sacramento.
Q. Did all of your
children come with you from Madera to Isleton on the same date?
A. Yes.
Q. How did you
travel from Madera to Isleton?
A. By train to
Sacramento.
Q. How did you
go from Sacramento to Isleton?
A. By night boat.
Q. Did Leong Ah
Bing attend school at all in Madera?
A. Yes.
Q. How long did
he attend school in Madera?
A. I forget.
Q. About how long?
A. About two or
three years.
Q. How long did
he attend school in Sacramento?
A. I can't recall
how many years you will have to ask my son.
Q. Well about how
many years?
A. About six years.
Q. Did he graduate
from high school in Sacramento?
A. No, he didn't
graduate he attended high school only about a year at Sacramento.
Q. Where did he
stay while he was attending high school in Sacramento?
A. He stayed with
my son-in-law Chin Oy.
Q. Have any of
your children ever made any trips to China?
A. No.
Q. Do you know
what school in Sacramento your son Leong Ah Bing attended?
A. No, I don't
know the name.
Q. Were any of
your children ever seriously ill while you lived in Madera?
A. No.
Q. Are there any
further statements you desire to make?
A. No.
Q. Have you understood
the Interpreter?
A. Yes.
NOTE: (Witness unable to sign her name)
12017/36337 and 36342 pp 12-13
| RECALL of MOTHER and WITNESS, Mrs. Sun Ho | Admonished she is still under oath, (testifies thru Interpreter). |
Q. You stated this
morning when testifying that all of your children were born in Madera.
Do you mean that they were born in the town of Madera?
A. Yes.
Q. Now were they
actually born in the town of Madera or were some of them born on ranches.
A. They were born
in the store in the town of Madera.
Q. I will ask you
the question, were they born in the town of Madera or Borden?
A. In Borden.
Q. Then why do
you state Madera?
A. Because everybody
calls Borden Madera.
Q. Now I will ask
you where was your husband's store located in the town of Madera or in
the town of Borden?
A. In the town
of Borden.
Q. Were any of
your children born on ranches?
A. Yes, four were
born on the Dorn ranch.
BK #13401 Pg's 112-115
End