Early Chinese arrivals left lasting area impact
Among Gilroy’s earliest settlers, numerous Chinese immigrants
arrived in town when tobacco crops, the cigar industry,
viticulture, seed production and row crop farming was in its
infancy. For a time, 135 years ago, the Chinese community made up
nearly a third of the population before moving on to larger cities
where shop keeping and professional jobs were more plentiful. But
over the years, descendants of several of Gilroy’s Chinese arrivals
have stayed and prospered. Among them, the Young and Low families
claim roots to two pioneers from China who made a lasting impact on
the community and its economy.
The Young family story begins with Fook Lee Young, who was born
in China in on Sept. 18, 1855. He left Canton as a student and
merchant in 1878 at age 23 setting sail not for Angel Island in San
Francisco Bay, as did most Chinese immigrants, but instead for
Nanaimo, Canada, a city located on Vancouver Island in British
Columbia. From there, he worked his way south toward California.
Earning his living by odd jobs and field labor, he apparently came
to the Santa Clara Valley by way of Soquel, where he had been
working in a restaurant.
Early Chinese arrivals left lasting area impact
Among Gilroy’s earliest settlers, numerous Chinese immigrants arrived in town when tobacco crops, the cigar industry, viticulture, seed production and row crop farming was in its infancy. For a time, 135 years ago, the Chinese community made up nearly a third of the population before moving on to larger cities where shop keeping and professional jobs were more plentiful. But over the years, descendants of several of Gilroy’s Chinese arrivals have stayed and prospered. Among them, the Young and Low families claim roots to two pioneers from China who made a lasting impact on the community and its economy.
The Young family story begins with Fook Lee Young, who was born in China in on Sept. 18, 1855. He left Canton as a student and merchant in 1878 at age 23 setting sail not for Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, as did most Chinese immigrants, but instead for Nanaimo, Canada, a city located on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. From there, he worked his way south toward California. Earning his living by odd jobs and field labor, he apparently came to the Santa Clara Valley by way of Soquel, where he had been working in a restaurant.
In the Gilroy area, he learned to speak English while working at various jobs. It wasn’t long before he grasped the impact of the South Valley area’s rich and growing farming potential. Already, Gilroy boasted the beginnings of what was to become a vast prune, walnut and grape industry. To the south of town, vast farmlands were ripe for planting large crops.
After saving his money, Fook Lee returned briefly to China in order to marry. His new bride, Lee Suey, was from Macao, an island colony near Hong Kong, where her parents were in the silk business. Mr. and Mrs. Young returned to the Gilroy area in 1884. Because Chinese were not allowed by law to own land, he went to work as a share crop farmer for the Miller and Lux Land Company, with headquarters in San Jose.
The family soon settled south of Gilroy to farm at a ranch on Bolsa Road near Bloomfield Road. Over the years they had 9 children, six sons (Hong, Ning, Elmer, Jimmy, Sam and Tom) and three daughters (Oy who died at age 20, Mary and Katherine.)
Family members give Fook Lee Young the distinction of being the first pioneer Chinese farmer in the Santa Clara Valley, a place where he grew produce nearly all his life.
In 1903 Mr. and Mrs. Young wanted to visit their relatives in China. As non-United States citizens, (Chinese immigrants at the time were prohibited from becoming naturalized,) they were required to request re-entry into the country. To do so, they had to file an affidavit with local authorities stating their business interests and address in Gilroy. At the time, Mr. Young was a salesman and partner in a merchandise company called Quong On Lung and Company, located at 137 S. Monterey St. The pair were required to make out a financial statement giving the value of their shares in the company and declaring the company’s total assets, which at the time came to $11,000.
Since the Young children had been born in the United States, their citizenship was established by birth. Once the oldest child came of age, the family was able to purchase their own farm through his citizenship. In 1932, they bought a ranch on Bolsa Road. Work was always steady, with family members helping out. Over the years, according to family patriarch Tom Young of Salinas, the Youngs grew strawberries, yellow globe onions, potatoes, and Chinese specialty vegetables. Ning Young, the second son, was an early Gilroy garlic grower. His older brother, Hong, managed the business.
Family stories of the early farming days refer to the use of horses to plow the fields. Horse teams and spring wagons were also used to transport the produce to market. While running a “shuttle” of sorts, carrying cartloads of fresh strawberries to San Jose, Fook Lee and his brother often passed one another at Morgan Hill, one headed north, the other back to the ranch. When he needed extra hands during growing season, Fook Lee participated in a personal type of guest worker program, bringing over field laborers from China for temporary periods to cultivate his crops. In later years, he also employed Filipinos. On occasion he also sponsored relatives who wanted to immigrate to America.
Although he gave up farming and retired when automation entered the agricultural scene, Fook Lee always loved gardening and kept a plot at home to cultivate his own produce.
Several of the Young children remained in the area after reaching adulthood. Besides Hong and Ning, who lived and worked at the family farm, Elmer went into the sign business in Gilroy, and Tom lived nearby in Salinas, where he went into the produce brokerage business following overseas duty during World War II. Sam for many years owned a Shell Station in downtown San Francisco, while the daughters married and for a time moved away.
Fook Lee Young died in Gilroy at the ripe old age of 100 on March 14, 1956. His funeral was observed in the traditional Chinese fashion, with a cortege led by a marching band and a procession of limousines. Enroute to the cemetery, mourners passed by shuttered Chinese-owned shops on Monterey Street, the area he had first worked as a young man. Lee Suey Young outlived her husband, dying at age 94 on June 30, 1964. Both are buried at Gavilan Hills Cemetery.
As with the Young family, Gilroy’s Low family patriarch, Low Dan moved over from Watsonville, arriving in 1879 at age 17. Also known as Fook Dan Low, he was born in China on July 26, 1862. Known for decades as the unofficial “mayor” of Gilroy’s Chinatown, his was a strong and respected presence. Low Dan and his wife, Lin Oy, had six children, sons Fook, You Low, Quong Joe, and Way; and daughters Que Foy and Lee Low.
For many years he operated an apple dehydrator located on the west side of Monterey Street between Ninth and 10th streets (approximate site of newly relocated El Grullense Taqueria.) His son Fook later joined him in the business. In 1950, son Fook built the Victory Market (now Apatzingan Market) that he operated in conjunction with family members.
In the early years of the 20th Century, Tong wars sometimes caused trouble in Gilroy’s Chinatown, when rival gangs from San Jose or San Francisco would arrive and attack locals. A tragedy hit Low Dan’s family in 1926 when 11 members of the rival Hog Sing Tong pulled up in two high-powered automobiles in front of Low Dan’s Quen Hing Chinese Store, located at 131 S. Monterey St. They entered with guns blazing. When 12-year old son, Low You Dan ran to warn his father of the attack, he was gunned down. Four others were shot during the incident. A well-liked young man and Boy Scout, Low You’s funeral was attended by a procession of 100 local Scouts.
When Low Dan passed away on Oct. 1, 1945 his funeral was attended by hundreds. His funeral procession was led by two bands and 20 limousines, as a mark of honor and respect for his position in the community.
