8. Dong On, Chan Shee, & Dong Hin (1867)

In a sense, our story really begins in Loo Jow on October 13, 1867 with the birth of Dong Hin (鄧 賢; Pinyin, "dèng xián") to our forebears Dong On and his wife Chan Shee. Unfortunately, we know nearly nothing about Dong On, Chan Shee, or life in Loo Jow. Concerning his parents, Dong Hin told an immigration inspector in 1921 that " my father, Dong On died about two years after I arrived in the U.S. [in 1891] and my mother, Chan Shee died about four months before my father."
(1a) Dong Hin's Chinese name from an application for immigration visa (May 22, 1925, NARA); (1b) Dong Hin's English signature from a 1921 immigration application (March 16, 1921, NARA)

A few notes about names. "Dong" (鄧; Mandarin, Pinyin : "dèng"; "deng4"; Cantonese, Yale: "dang6"), as you know, is the family surname. The name "Hin" (賢; Mandarin, Pinyin : "xián"; "xian2"; Cantonese, Yale: "yin4") translates as "virtuous, worthy, good, or able." In several immigration documents, Dong Hin reported that he went by two other names as well: "Dong Gin Chong" and "Dong Wai Lum." It was the common practice of the time to have a family name "Dong," a generational name that all siblings would share ("Gin" or "Wai"), and a personal name ("Chong" or "Lum"). As for Chinese female names, married women were typically referred to by their maiden name ("Chan") and the character ("Shee") to indicate their marital status in the same way "Mrs." is used in English. Hence, Dong Hin's mother was from the Chan family.

Little is known about Dong Hin's childhood, though anecdotally we believe he may have had an older brother and a sister. If so, Dong Hin would certainly have been influenced by the exploits of his older brother, who is thought to have been a sailor. Family stories suggest that Dong Hin’s brother was the first member of the Dong clan to make his way to America. However upon returning to China, he advised his younger brother not to come to the United States. Dong Hin’s brother eventually was lost at sea.

Apocryphal?

Perhaps. But there is no question that China had a very rich maritime tradition and that many Chinese were sailors, not just cooks and stewards, onboard nineteenth century ships. G.R. Worcester, a British authority on junks and sampans wrote in "Sail and Sampan in China" (London, 1966):

"The Chinese sailor appears to fluorish not only in his own country, but abroad. The emigrating portion of the Chinese maritime population comes, strangely enough, from a relatively small area in the provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien; but wherever they go, they never fail to adapt themselves to their environment, whatever it may chance to be. Some Chinese were employed very successfully as sailors by the early East India-men; so they were initiated to the foreign style of ships and gear a very long time ago... Their courage and skill in navigating and handling their own junks about the China seas is well known. Such work for generations past amid perilous conditions has evolved a hardy race of seamen, whose skill and resourcefulness is second to none in the world."

(1) Historically, the Chinese have contributed several essential advances to shipbuilding and design including the rudder, sail rigging, bulkhead hulls, and the use of the compass for navigation. The junk Keying (above) travelled from China to the U.S. and to England between 1846 and 1848 (wikipedia).

For more information about Chinese sailors of the nineteenth century, I heartily recommend checking out Robert Schwendinger's article "Chinese Sailors: America's Invisible Merchant Marine 1876-1905" in California History magazine.

Links
NARA (National Archives Pacific Region)
China Connection by Jeanie W.C. Low
"Chinese Sailors: America's Invisible Merchant Marine 1876-1905" by Robert J. Schwendinger in California History 62, no.1 (Spring 1978): 58-69.
Chinese seafarers (Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding, UK)