Chinese immigrant’s identity information

Chinese immigrant’s identity information

Chinese Immigrants
Identity Cards
gold mining
immigration

This notebook was owned by John Mason and contains a list of Chinese immigrants and their details. These details then matched identity cards each immigrant was required to carry. The large majority are males, mainly because women and children were restricted from travelling in comparison to the working males. The notebook gives them a number, states their name and a number that matches their identity card numbers. There is an “X” symbol which suggests this was used as a register type of record. There are ditto marks that suggest many of them had the same last name. However, it is commonly known that this was due to a combination of a language barrier and a lack of care from those recording the immigrant’s details. Their identity cards have more information that Mason recorded, for example they include physical features, age, death of birth and so forth.

John T. Mason, Downieville.

Article based on information from California Historical Society

http://chineseamericanhistorian.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/faces-and-places-of-chinese-miners-on.html

1894

Sarah Smith

California Historical Society
https://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/

English

Textual - handwritten

19th Century California