Do you have a colonial family link to China?
In the 1800s entrepreneurs from America, Europe and elsewhere, sought to make their fortunes in Asia. Wool and cotton imports and exports, tea and spices, dairy products, tobacco, manufacturing, shipping, printed media are just a few of the enterprises they began. Besides building their businesses in China, they often built their families there too.
From Shanghai and Tientsin in the north, to Foochow, and Formosa, Hong Kong and southward into the Malay Peninsula, some of today's largest companies got their start in Asia. P&O Lines, Hong Kong Shanghai Bank and Cathay Pacific ( a division of the Swire Group ) all began with these adventurous men.
My own great grandfather was from Manchester, England, and sailed to China. He arrived in Foochow the day after Abraham Lincoln's death in April, 1865. He was 21 and had been employed as a tea inspector for the W R Adamson Company.
In my own research, I've discovered many connections I'd never imagined. Many well to do Chinese, sent their sons to school in England and the United States. Some even married and returned to China with their spouses. I was surprised to see how many children were send to the US and resided in such diverse locations as Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Tennessee.
So, my quest continues here with my search for the origins of my great grandMOTHER. Despite knowing most of her details, I can't find a trace of her origins.
Anyway, maybe someone reading this will take a second look at they information that they thought surely must be a mistake! After all, how could we have an ancestor from China when all our family came over on the Mayflower?
So please don't discard that erroneous information. It might just be true!
