of the Genealogical Forum of Oregon, Inc. Portland, Oregon VolumeVolume 59, 59, Number Number 1 2 SeptemberDecember 2009 2009 GENEALOGICAL FORUM OF OREGON 1505 SE Gideon Street • P.O. Box 42567, Portland, Oregon 97242-0567 voice or fax: 503-963-1932 • website: www.gfo.org OFFICERS THE BULLETIN Bulletin Editorial Team: President . Lyleth Winther Judith Beaman Scott, Carol Ralston Surrency, Vice President . Janet Irwin Secretary . .Gwen Newborg Susan LeBlanc, Mickey Sieracki Treasurer . .Jeanette Hopkins Column Editors: Directors-at-Large . Bruce Conrad, Cathy Lauer Eileen Chamberlin, Susan LeBlanc, Connie Lenzen, Endowment Committee . 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Ray Ashmun Genealogical Forum of Oregon The Bulletin of the Genealogical Forum of Oregon Volume 59, Issue 2 December 2009 SPECIAL FEATURE S The Chinese in Oregon ~ by Marcus Lee ....................................................................Page 3 GFO Writing Contest Winner: The Woman Behind the Veil ~ by Susan Saul ..........Page 5 REGULAR COLUMN S For the Record ~ Connie Lenzen CG Vital Records: the Records That Provide Correct Information — or Not ................Page 10 Oregon Snapshots ~ Alene Reaugh ‘Silpester Annoyer,’ the Eighth Governor of Oregon................................................Page 13 Written in Stone ~ Carol Ralston Surrency Kam Wah Chung: Golden Flower of Prosperity ......................................................Page 16 Relics ~ Harvey Steele Tiger Whiskey, Opium and Salmon Tins: the Material Culture of the Sojourners in the Columbia River Canneries .................................................Page 20 Story Teller ~ Judith Beaman Scott Grandma’s Photos on a Purple Ribbon, by Patricia Robison Turner, with source notes by Stephen W. Turner ..................................................................Page 23 State by State ~ Judith Beaman Scott Researching your ancestors in Illinois, by Kristy Lawrie Gravelin of Oregon and Illinois ...................................................Page 26 Extracts ~ Eileen Chamberlin 1943-1945 Naturalizations in Multnomah County, Oregon by Loretta Welsh and Jim Rogers .............................................................................Page 27 Book Reviews ~ Susan LeBlanc ..................................................................................Page 38 December 2009, Volume 59, No. 2 Page 1 The Bulletin Genealogical Forum of Oregon Letter from the Editor . In this issue, we continue with the theme of exploring governor, and life in the Columbia River canneries for the our ethnic heritages, with the focus on groups who came Chinese bachelors. Additionally, enjoy two stories, GFO early and played a role in the history and development of Or- Writing Contest second place winner, “The Woman Behind egon. The December Bulletin features Chinese immigrants the Veil,” and “Grandma’s Photos on a Purple String.” as they participated in Oregon’s “wild west” and carved out Finally, add to your genealogy research IQ with articles a place for themselves that continues today. on Illinois, vital records and immigration extractions. Explore their history with a feature article by Marcus We hope you enjoy this issue. Lee, and then meet two enterprising individuals in the col- — Carol Surrency umn “Written in Stone.” Learn about early attitudes about [email protected] Chinese immigrants through the eyes of Oregon’s eighth Letter from the President . Dear Members, Winter is here! Which means there will be lots of qui- We are so proud of our website! www.gfo.org has so et cold days when folks will be visiting a warm library, or much to offer the folks at a distance, as well as local mem- working on their family history at home. Plus it is a time for bers. Please take the time to check it out. Larry Sullivan the sharing of family stories at holiday gatherings. has worked hard to put features and links on the website Our new board has worked hard to get a few events off that will be useful to your research. There’s even a map of the ground. In August, we hosted an Open House and Sur- our location when you click on the address link at the top of plus Book Sale at the GFO headquarters. We owe a lot of the website and we have a new Insider Extra feature (on the thanks to those folks who volunteered to work the event and website) for late breaking news. host the guests. The second event was the hosting by our The Education Committee has planned Monthly Pro- group of the genealogy booth at the Oregon State Fair in grams as well as the Mini-Class series which will start again September. None of the eight team members had worked in February of 2010. Our volunteer extractionists’ great work such a booth, and found it to be an adventure. While pass- has brought pre-sale orders for the CD in process, covering ing out brochures and giving free guest passes, we exposed the Oregon Marriage Record Index--years — 1940-45. folks to our society and services. In October, we held our We hope you are finding plenty of resources at the GFO annual Fall Seminar with guest speaker, Beverly Rice of library, and encourage you to bring friends to check us out. Coos Bay, Ore. For their convenience, we continue to have a Free Monday Free Ancestry.com access, as provided by our society plus our Monthly Programs are open to visitors in our reading room, has brought folks back to our library. My best to you in your research, Being able to plug into our “Wireless” set-up on personal —Lyleth Winther laptops to access Ancestry (while in the library) has been a 503-658-8018 or bonus for researchers. If you’re not computer savvy, please [email protected] don’t let that sway you from coming in and working with one of our desk volunteers. Page 2 December 2009, Volume 59, No. 2 Genealogical Forum of Oregon The Bulletin The Chinese in Oregon By Marcus Lee Many factors brought the Chinese to the West Coast nese laborers sought work on the farms and ranches in the of America in the mid-1800s, but the major causes were po- area as cooks, laundrymen, cowboys, hog farmers, and litical, social, and natural disasters, including: the decline of sheepherders. Some found opportunity in established Chi- the Manchu Dynasty government; China’s loss to the Brit- natowns as merchants, labor contractors, and shopkeepers. ish of the first (1840-42) and second (1856-60) Opium Wars; The greatest opportunity for a vast number of Chinese im- the occupation of China and abuse of her people by foreign migrants however was with the development of the railroad powers; the loss of peasant farms to taxation, floods, and industry throughout Oregon. This drew large numbers of droughts, leading to severe famine, starvation, and disease; Chinese laborers from throughout the state, and especially and subsequent peasant rebellions including the Boxer Re- from Portland, where the railroads sought assistance from bellion, and the Taiping Rebellion of 1850-64. The rebel- Chinese merchants in recruiting workers, thus establishing lions which originated in the southern province of Guang- the contract labor system in Oregon with the local Chinese dong, and spread to the north and west, claimed 20,000,000 community. lives in southern and central China. While some railroads operated