Mini Guide
Mini Guide to Locating One's Chinese Roots
1. Talk to relatives and neighbors of ancestor. See their photos, scrapbooks, correspondence, etc.
2. Check for various names your ancestor was known by. For example Wong Aloiau was also known as Loiau, Ah Loy Yau, Wong Young Hong (his honorific name acquired at marriage). This "married name" is on his tombstone, portrait, See Dai Doo membership card, and on the family genealogy chart. You may find these characters on land documents, correspondence, or on the tombstone.
3. Check the U.S. Census of 1900. Ask for help at the Hawaiian Room, Public Library, main branch. The Census is organized by island and district, and usually family members are listed under the male head of household. You may find the following information in the Census:
a. Year of birth.
b. Year of arrival from China
c. Occupation
d. Whether he could read and write, or speak English.
e. Name of wife and number of years married.
f. Names and birth dates of children and of others living in the
same house.
4. Apply for Birth, Marriage, and Death Certificates at the Department of Health (fee). The certificates may contain the following information:
a. Dates of birth and death
b. Place of birth
c. Names of parents
d. Place of burial
e. Information on exhumation
5. Check tombstone, which may give --
a. Name in English and Chinese. Chinese name may be his
"married name."
b. His district and province of China.
c. Dates of birth and death.
6. Check older court records at Archives. Ask where more recent records are kept.
7. Check land records at State Conveyances Division. Search through indexes to Grantee Records and Grantor Records by island.
8. Check tax records at State Archives. More recent records are kept at the Circuit Court.
Source: Lai, Researching One's Chinese Roots. Hawaii Chinese History Center, Honolulu, HI. 1988.