Tong Wars
Page 2
The image of the Chinese quarter as a dangerous neighborhood perilous to outsiders has, to some extent, persisted even to this day, and it is, in the main, an injustice. Even during the height of the tong wars, the number of “highbinders”—a generic, and now archaic, term for Chinese desperadoes—was small, and the real dangers posed were to members of rival tongs, seldom to Chinese civilians, still less to non-Chinese tourists.
One other caveat is worth mentioning. Tongs battled in Chinatowns in many cities across the United States. The skirmishes were arguably fiercer in the cities of the West Coast where Chinese, and tongs, were far more numerous. In focusing on the New York tongs exclusively, I have consciously told only part of a larger story. I have included events in other locations, but only insofar as they were relevant to what was going on in New York, the center of gravity for Chinese in the East and the Midwest. I leave telling the story of the West Coast tong wars to others.
In his 1902 portrait of local Chinese residents, Bits of Broken China, William E. S. Fales, sometime attorney for many members of New York’s Chinese community, decried the tendency of Western writers to represent the Chinese as “monsters of iniquity and marvels of Machiavellian craft.” I have kept this danger squarely in mind and tried my best to present the various characters as they were: human beings with virtues and foibles who were trying to eke out a living in a foreign country with its own set of rules often at odds with their own values. Some were upright and others wicked; like people everywhere, most fell somewhere in between.
Scott D. Seligman
A NOTE ON ROMANIZATION AND CHINESE NAMES
Nearly all the Chinese people mentioned in this book were of Cantonese origin, most hailing from the Pearl River delta—generally the Taishan or Guangzhou area. In China, of course, their names were written in Chinese characters. But when they reached America, some form of latinized spelling was required. Although a standard romanization system for Chinese, the Wade-Giles system, was coming into popular use in the twentieth century, it was a transcription of Mandarin, a northern dialect very different from the ones spoken by these immigrants and therefore not of much use to them. There has never been a widely accepted spelling system for either the Taishan or the Cantonese dialect.
Rendering the names in letters was generally left to ship captains, immigration officers, court clerks, preachers, and journalists, few if any of whom spoke Chinese. The result was a hodgepodge of spellings, some more, some less true to the Chinese pronunciations. For purposes of clarity, I have adopted one consistent spelling for each name in this book, but I have not changed how the names are rendered in the quotations from historical documents that appear in these pages.
For personal and organizational names, I have employed spellings used during the period covered in the book. Where known, the equivalent in Pinyin—the modern, standard, Mandarin-based romanization system for Chinese—is noted in the Dramatis Personae section that follows for people and in the Glossary and Gazetteer section at the end for organizations. For Chinese place-names, names of dynasties, and other terms, I have generally relied on Pinyin, exceptions being traditional renderings like “Hong Kong” and “Manchu” and Cantonese terms such as boo how doy and pi gow. These are listed with Pinyin equivalents in the Glossary. Both sections also include the standard Chinese characters associated with the Chinese names and terms, where known. Simplified characters were not yet in use during the period covered in the book.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
All names appear in alphabetical order by presumed surname (or, if the surname is unclear, a given name). “Aliases” are listed for people called by more than one name or whose names were spelled in more than one way. Dates, organizational affiliations, standard Chinese characters, and Pinyin equivalents are provided where known.
Au Yang Ming (; Ouyang Ming)
(1838–1902)
First Chinese consul in New York. Served between 1883 and 1886.
Joab H. Banton
(1869–1949)
New York County district attorney from 1922 to 1929.
Theodore A. Bingham
(1858–1934)
New York City commissioner of police from 1906 to 1909.
Charlie Boston (; Li Guanzhang)
(1863–1930)
On Leong officer convicted of conspiracy to smuggle opium in 1911 and imprisoned at the U.S. penitentiary in Atlanta. Alias: Lee Quon Jung. Affiliation: On Leong Tong.
Bow Kum (probably ; Bao Jin)
(1888–1909)
China-born consort whose brutal murder caused a 1909 war between the On Leong Tong and the Four Brothers’ Society.
Nicholas Brooks
(1842–1925)
Captain of the Elizabeth Street Police Station from 1891 to 1892.
Emory R. Buckner
(1888–1941)
U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1925 to 1927.
Warry S. Charles
(1857–1915)
Senior Hip Sing functionary who headed the New York branch before decamping to Boston. Convicted of murder in the first degree in 1908. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Chin Jack Lem
(1884–1937)
On Leong kingpin who joined the Hip Sings and caused a multicity tong war in 1924. Affiliations: On Leong Tong, Hip Sing Tong.
Chin Lem
(1878–1914)
Laundryman who brought Bow Kum to New York and helped cause a 1909 war between the On Leong Tong and the Four Brothers’ Society. Affiliation: On Leong Tong.
Tai Yow Chin
(1878–?)
First wife of Mock Duck.
Chu Fong (; Zhao Huang)
(1864–?)
Proprietor of the Doyers Street Chinese Theatre. Affiliations: On Leong Tong, Four Brothers’ Society.
Chu Gong (; Zhao Ang)
(1869–1907)
On Leong Tong treasurer nearly assassinated by Hip Sing hatchet men in 1905. Aliases: Joe Gong, Ji Gong. Affiliation: On Leong Tong.
Chu Lock (; Zhao Le)
(1869–1919)
Gambling house owner who attacked Mock Duck in 1897 and who was sent to Boston in 1909 to hire hatchet men in the Four Brothers’ War. Affiliations: On Leong Tong, Four Brothers’ Society.
Thomas C. T. Crain
(1860–1942)
Court of General Sessions judge from 1906 to 1924; district attorney of New York County between 1930 and 1933.
Dong Fong
(1873–?)
Bayard Street merchant and interpreter charged with felonious assault in 1897 who pleaded guilty to wounding On Leong Lee Yu in 1905. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
William Eggers
(1867–?)
Acting police captain who headed a bureau charged with investigating police corruption and who was given jurisdiction over Chinatown briefly in 1905.
Eng Hing
(1894–1915)
Hip Sing gunman convicted and executed for the 1912 killing of Lee Kay, Tom Lee’s nephew. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Eng Ying Gong
(1885–after 1935)
National Hip Sing Tong officer who authored a tell-all book on the tong wars in 1930. Alias: Eddie Gong. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Richard E. Enright
(1871–1953)
Acting captain of the Elizabeth Street Police Station in 1910 and New York City commissioner of police from 1918 to 1925.
John L. Falconer
(1873–1945)
Captain of the Elizabeth Street Police Station from 1913 to 1915.
Ah Fee
(1857–1900)
Newark tailor murdered by Hip Sing operatives in New York in 1900. Affiliation: On Leong Tong.
Warren W. Foster
(1859–1943)
Court
of General Sessions judge who mediated disputes between the tongs in 1906, 1910, and 1913.
Michael J. Galvin
(1870–1910)
Captain of the Elizabeth Street Police Station in 1909.
Gin Gum
(1863–1915)
Longtime right-hand man to Tom Lee and stepfather-in-law of Mock Duck. Aliases: Jim Gun, Charlie Lee. Affiliation: On Leong Tong.
Ha Oi
(1901–?)
Half-Caucasian adopted daughter of Mock Duck and Tai Yow Chin who was removed from their custody in 1907. Alias: Helen Francis.
William H. Hodgins
(1856–1912)
Captain of the Elizabeth Street Police Station in 1910. Alias: Big Bill Hodgins.
Ah Hoon
(1874–1909)
Chinese Theatre comedian shot to death in 1909. Affiliations: Four Brothers’ Society, On Leong Tong.
Huie Fong
(1864–1905)
Hip Sing operative shot to death on Mott Street in 1905. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
William T. Jerome
(1859–1934)
Associate counsel to the Lexow Committee between 1894 and 1895. New York County district attorney from 1902 to 1909.
Francis J. Kear
(1858–1908)
Captain of the Elizabeth Street Police Station between 1904 and 1905.
Ko Low
(1880–1922)
National president of the Hip Sing Tong in the early 1920s. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Lee Dock
(1882–1915)
Hip Sing gunman convicted and executed for the 1912 killing of Lee Kay, Tom Lee’s nephew. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Frank William Lee (; Li Jinlun)
(1884–1956)
Son of Tom and Minnie Lee. An ordained Baptist minister who immigrated to China, where he worked as a missionary and government official.
Lee Loy (; Li Lai)
(1860–?)
Secretary of the On Leong Tong and cousin of Tom Lee. Affiliation: On Leong Tong.
Minnie Rose Kaylor Lee
(1860–1917)
Tom Lee’s wife, an American of Scotch-German extraction.
Lee Sing (; Li Sheng)
(ca. 1848–after 1929)
Boardinghouse keeper who bested Tom Lee in a street brawl and testified against him in an extortion case. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Lee Sing
(ca. 1872–?)
Massachusetts laundryman who shot Mock Duck on Pell Street in 1904. Affiliation: On Leong Tong.
Tom Lee (; Li Xiling)
(ca. 1849–1918)
Merchant and longtime “mayor” of New York’s Chinatown who headed the On Leong Tong and was a deputy sheriff of New York County. Alias: Wung Ah Ling. Affiliation: On Leong Tong.
Lee Toy (; Li Cai)
(1852–after 1906)
Nephew of Tom Lee who served as his enforcer. Alias: Black Devil Toy. Affiliation: On Leong Tong.
Sam Lock
(1850–?)
President of the Four Brothers’ Society. Affiliation: Four Brothers’ Society.
William McAdoo
(1853–1930)
New York City commissioner of police from 1904 to 1906 and later chief of the city magistrates’ courts. Defended the police department against sniping from the Parkhurst Society.
Thomas L. McClintock
(1865–after 1940)
Longtime superintendent of the Parkhurst Society, Hip Sing ally, and critic of the New York Police Department.
John H. McCullagh Jr.
(1842–1893)
Captain of the Elizabeth Street Police Station between 1883 and 1891.
Douglas Imrie McKay
(1879–1962)
New York City commissioner of police for five months between 1913 and 1914.
Mock Duck (; Mai De)
(1879–1941)
Head of the Hip Sing Tong, with a reputation for cunning and brutality. Aliases: Mock Sai Wing, Mark Tuck. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Frank Moss
(1860–1920)
Attorney and reformer who served the Parkhurst Society, the Lexow Committee, and the district attorney’s office. Champion of, and sometime counsel for, the Hip Sing Tong.
Edward P. Mulrooney
(1874–1960)
New York City commissioner of police from 1930 to 1933.
Reverend Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst
(1842–1933)
Presbyterian minister and social reformer who headed the Society for the Prevention of Crime and launched an attack on Tammany Hall and government corruption.
Eugene A. Philbin
(1857–1920)
District attorney of New York County between 1900 and 1901.
Edmund E. Price
(1834–1907)
Attorney who represented Tom Lee and other On Leong Tong defendants.
Dominick Riley
(1874–1930)
Captain of the Elizabeth Street Police Station in 1913.
Theodore Roosevelt
(1858–1919)
New York City commissioner of police from 1895 to 1897 and governor of New York State from 1899 to 1900. Later vice president and president of the United States.
Sin Cue
(1862–1901)
Suspect in a 1900 murder and potential witness against Mock Duck before his own assassination. Affiliation: On Leong Tong.
Sing Dock
(1862–1911)
Hip Sing gunman involved in massacres in New York and Boston. Alias: the Scientific Killer. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Meihong Soohoo (; Situ Meitang)
(1868–1955)
Founder of the Boston chapters of the Chee Kung Tong and the On Leong Tong and longtime national president of the On Leong Tong.
Sue Sing
(1861–after 1914)
Gunman condemned to life in prison for the 1900 murder of Ah Fee. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Joseph C. Thoms (; Tan Zuozhou)
(1861–1929)
Chinese physician and courtroom interpreter who worked with police to crack down on Chinatown gambling. Alias: Tom Ah Jo.
Frank A. Tierney
(1869–1936)
Captain of the Elizabeth Street Police Station from 1911 to 1913.
Patrick J. Tracy
(1867–1926)
Captain of the Elizabeth Street Police Station from 1905 to 1906.
Tuck Hop (; Huang Tian)
(1855–?)
Mott Street grocer and early antagonist of Tom Lee’s. Alias: Wong Tin. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Rhinelander Waldo
(1877–1927)
New York City deputy commissioner of police from 1906 to 1910 and commissioner of police from 1911 to 1913.
James Wang
(1848–?)
Former Methodist lay reader and high-ranking Hip Sing functionary. Alias: Jim Wang. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Charles S. Whitman
(1868–1947)
Magistrate who became district attorney of New York County between 1910 and 1914 and later governor of New York.
Wo Kee
(1849–?)
Early Chinatown merchant and community leader. Aliases: Wong Ah Chung, Wong Achon.
Wong Aloy
(1868–1922)
Hip Sing who provided information on Chinatown vice to the Committee of Fifteen. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Wong Chin Foo (; Wang Qingfu)
(1847–1898)
Chinese American journalist, editor, lecturer, and social activist. Close ally of Tom Lee’s.
Wo
ng Get (; Huang Jie)
(1869–after 1927)
Hip Sing strategist, merchant, and interpreter who testified against Tom Lee before the Lexow Committee. Alias: Wong Gett. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Yee Toy (; Yu Cai)
(?–1912)
Hip Sing gunman indicted for the 1906 murders of two On Leongs and involved in the massacres at the Chinese Theatre and Oxford Place, Boston. Alias: Girl Face. Affiliation: Hip Sing Tong.
Robert Young
(1836–1898)
Acting captain, and then captain, of the Elizabeth Street Police Station between 1895 and 1898.
Frances Toy Yuen
(1894–1945)
Second wife of Mock Duck.
Chapter 1
An “Army of Almond-Eyed Exiles”
New York’s Chinese colony was just finding its permanent home in lower Manhattan when Tom Lee arrived in 1878. Although small numbers of Chinese immigrants had reached New York earlier in the century, they began to come in a steady stream only after 1869, when work was completed on the transcontinental railroad and the laborers had to look elsewhere for work. The flow increased dramatically throughout the 1870s, because many white men out west, hobbled by economic recession and threatened by cheap Chinese labor, took to doing whatever they could to make the Chinese among them feel unwelcome and unsafe.
When California enacted laws in the late 1870s preventing Chinese from working in public projects and authorizing municipalities to relocate Chinese residents outside their city limits, and hoodlums in Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, California, and elsewhere in the West attacked Chinese businesses and homes in the 1880s, Chinese got the message. Many returned to China, but others headed east, where work might be found and where there was little violence against their kind. Most set their sights on the larger cities of the Midwest and the East like Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Boston. New York, America’s largest and most important metropolis, was the favorite destination.