1910 Census Shows Georgiana Township Was Incredible Mix of Cultures!

I have pondered for several years now, trying to figure out how many people fled to Locke after the Walnut Grove fire in 1915. No one has given a set number of people, but over the years there have been outrageous claims that there were hundreds of displaced Chinese that moved to Locke after the fire. This simply isn't possible, and I will explain why.

First, you have to go back as far as you can with primary sources, and then comb over those sources to give yourself an idea of how things were there, back then. Guessing is not an option, and speculating isn't any better. No, the only way we can have an accurate estimate is by doing the actual math and then we can form our opinions.

Before we get to that, let me tell you something, the Delta region in Sacramento is one of the most beautiful areas in California (In my humble opinion). There was also a huge need for workers in the area, whether it was building levee's, working on farms, in factories or on the railroad lines. It is no wonder then why so many people from all over the world flocked to this one particular little place known as the Georgiana Township.

The Georgiana Township was established on August 14, 1854. Prior to that, the area was considered within the boundaries of the Sutter Township. It consists of the Sacramento Islands, including the "southern portion of Sutter Island, almost all of Grand Island, all of Andrus, Tyler, Twitchell, Brannan, Sherman and Wood islands. There are about 110 miles of levee in the township." -- An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, Winfield J. Davis.

So the areas of Courtland, Walnut Grove, Isleton, Grand Island, Ryde and the area we know today as Locke, were considered to be within the Georgiana Township. In fact, the Georgiana Township goes all the way up to the southern part of the Franklin Township, which is pretty far north east.This is very important to remember, because by counting all the people listed on the 1910 census for this township, you get an idea of just how diverse this area along the Delta was.

According to Census records of 1910, there were:

338 Caucasians living in the Georgiana Township of those 338; 127 consisted of European immigrants. The rest of the 211 were American Citizens of all states within the U.S. (Caucasian). The European immigrants consisted of: 53 Portuguese, 22 Italians, 9 Germans, 5 Danes, 5 Dutch, 10 English, 14 Swedish, 1 Irish, 1 Welsh, 1 Polish, 1 Yiddish, 2 Russian, 2 Norwegian, 1 Scottish, and 1 Spanish.

There were also 337 Chinese living in the township as well as 335 Japanese, too. The other residents consisted of: 20 - East Indian (Hindu), 1- Puerto Rican, and 1-Mexican.

This information, especially in regards to the population of Chinese in this area, is vital to give us an idea of how many people might have moved to Locke after the Walnut Grove fire in 1915. Now remember, this amount of people is not the people in Walnut Grove, but is a total of all the people within the entire township that covered many hundreds of square miles, so that covers an even larger area in the region.

So now you have an idea of how many people lived in the Delta area of the Georgiana Township just before the fire in Walnut Grove that displaced many Chinese and Japanese. And now we know that there were not hundreds of people who came to Locke, but perhaps only a fraction of that amount. We also see how diverse the area was at the time, with people from all over the country and all over the world, all working near one another in such a beautiful region.

As time goes on I will be posting even more documentation I have found in my research on Locke's history to provide the public with real facts, and real history.

(Copyright 2017 - J'aime Rubio  www.jaimerubiowriter.com)

Sources:
United States Census, California, Sacramento, Georgiana Township, 1910.
Illustrated History of Sacramento County, Winfield J. Davis.

Early Voting Registries Tell A Different Story

I have been researching the history of the town of Locke for quite some time now. Over the course of my research, I have found that the presented history that you find in books and online in regards to Locke, only tell a one-sided part of Locke's past, and that isn't fair.

Historians cannot simply on one hand omit pieces of  history and then on the other hand claim that they stand for preserving the origins of the town.  The plain and simple fact is documented, Locke had many residents, some Chinese, some Caucasian, some Japanese and some Portuguese. As time went on the population also had East Indians, Italians, Spanish, Russian, etc. These are the facts.

I have found no concrete evidence that shows that the Chinese "founded" the town, although it is evident they made up a large portion of it. The person who owned the land, George G. Locke (and his heirs) were the ones who allowed commercial buildings to be erected and later residences to form the town of Lockeport/Locke. The town is named after the Locke family who owned the land the town was built on.

It is evident that a large population of Chinese came to Locke in early 1916 after the Walnut Grove fire that occurred on October 7, 1915. There is also evidence claiming that the Japanese approached Mr. Locke first in regards to building a "new living quarter," in Locke before the Chinese had the idea. Apparently, things didn't work out as expected for the Japanese, although several families did move to Locke anyway.  It is also fact that there were some people already living in Locke (Lockeport) before the Walnut Grove fire, although most of the buildings were originally for commercial use.

Searching For Clues...

While researching primary sources, I fell upon the voting registries of the area. I could not find a voting registry prior to 1916 that had the name Lockeport or Locke in it, but  I did find several dating from 1916 and up. Below is a list of "registered voters" listed as living in Locke or Lockeport.  I have printed two of the voting registries for 1916-1918, 1920 & 1926, and I am still not finished yet.  From that documentation alone, I find evidence that Locke was multi-cultural, not just one set group of people.

In the 1916-1918 Sacramento County, California Voting Registry I found an anomaly. There were two lists, although the page headings were almost identical, but the names were different. I checked the registry, and both had the same dates, and were from the same microfilm.  The first one listed on page 538, and the second one on page 1135. Both state "Precinct 54" of "Assembly District 15."


First List of Registered Voters in Lockport [SIC]:

1.       Chew Lum Chan, Merchant
2.       Kai Chan, Merchant
3.       Lam Choy, Farmer
4.       Yut Kin Chun, Merchant
5.       Chan Lin Dung, Merchant
6.       Mar Fook, Merchant
7.       Jee Gee, Farmer
8.       Lum Ho, Farmer
9.       Low Jung, Farmer
10.   Low Kim, Merchant
11.   Ow Young Kow, Merchant
12.   Mar Leong, Merchant
13.   See Too Quong, Merchant
14.   Joseph Parry Rowland, Carpenter
15.   Sear Choy Son, Farmer
16.   Bing Choy Soon, Farmer
17.   Toy Soon, Farmer
18.    Lee Wing, Farmer
19.   Sim Yuen Wong, Merchant
20.   To Young, Farmer
21.   Chan Yuen, Merchant
  
(all residents listed as "Republicans" except for Joseph Parry Rowland, whose party was left blank.)

Second List of Registered Voters in Locke:

1.  George Carlton , Proprietor
2. Gan Moon Chew , Merchant
3.  John Henning, Clerk
4. James Hunter, Wharfinger
5.  Chun Kam, Salesman
6.  Chin King, Merchant
7.  Alice Locke, Housewife
8. Clay Locke, Farmer 
9. Lloyd Locke, Farmer 
10.  Martin  Malley, Laborer
11. Grace Melbourne, Housewife
12.  Mat Reese, Laborer  
13. John Rhine, Laborer
14. Francis Riley, Drayman
15. William Turner, Bridge Tender
16. Wong Fin Yuen, Bookkeeper

( 11 listed as "Republican", 4 listed as "Democrat" and one declined to state).

Why Two Lists?

Are these two registries for two different years, being that the registry covers from 1916-1918? That is quite possible. 

Another question that popped in my head was "could it be possible that Lockeport and Locke were at one time two different communities in the same place?"  This is just a thought I have pondered, but at the present time I have no conclusive evidence showing this. Either way, it does not take away from the fact that on that land, in that town there were residents of all walks of life, not exclusively one race or ethnic group. 

It also shows there was a lot of registered voters living in Locke or Lockeport, and the Chinese listed in both registries could NOT be listed as registered voters without paperwork showing they were Citizens. If they were "paper sons" and they had documentation saying they were born here, whether the papers were fraudulent or not, it would have given them the right to vote, to own businesses and also own land.  That is a very important point to make here being that one of the biggest arguments you will find in books and online was that the Chinese immigrants were denied rights to own property or have basic rights back then. 

Although that is true, that the Alien Land Law of 1913 forbid the owning of property by Japanese, Chinese, Korean and East Indian immigrants, the law only prevented immigrants, not citizens.  These directories are a crucial piece of evidence that show that not only were many Chinese listed as registered voters, but legally they could not have been listed had they not proven citizenship (legal or not).


In upcoming blog posts I will go further in depth into more of these voting registries.

(Copyright 2016- J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com)