Once upon a time there was a small village in China. There are many small villages in China, but this one is called Toi San. In this small village, there was a girl named Wai Tse. She didn’t come from a wealthy family and life was hard for her poor family. Eventually it got so bad that Wai Tse was sold or given (my family’s historical records don’t say which) to a wealthy family as a governess. This position included immigrating to the United States. When she got there, she took on an American name as well as the surname of her host family, she became Mary Wong. The Wong family came to the United States in 1880 and moved to Deadwood, South Dakota. She struggled at first because she didn’t speak any English, she only spoke Toishanese. Mary came over in 1880, just two years before the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. It was hard for her being one of the last Chinese immigrants until the act was repealed. Furthering her struggle, she was one of the only ones who spoke the Toishanese dialect of Cantonese. She learned English in time and continued to work for the Wongs. Eventually Mary was able to settle down with a fellow immigrant named Hsaing Nuu Wong and eight kids, two of which died. The remaining six children all grew up. The line continued when Mary’s child, Pauline, married Winfield. They had two children, Winfield Jr. and Joe. Joe married Sara and had Elizabeth and Emily. Elizabeth married David, and voila, ME! I’ve looked back on the challenges that Mary faced, and her immersion wasn’t easy, but she endured. Mary Wong died in 1959, but I’m sure she’d be happy that her family has come so far from that little village in China.
Mary Wong as an old woman
Mary Wong just after her entrance to the United States
Mary with the Wong family. That’s her in the back.
