Legal Troubles and Domestic Strife in Tacoma
A Chinese missionary arrested under the Geary Act and a father's charge of vagrancy against his daughter.
Thomas Sing, the Chinese missionary, arrived today in charge of Deputy Marshal Shanahan, of Chicago, and was held in $500 bail to appear before the United States court for violation of the Geary law. Peter Larson today preferred a charge of vagrancy against his 14-year-old daughter, who has been leading a fast life for several months, in spite of all he could do.
“Thomas Sing, the Chinese missionary, arrived today in charge of Deputy Marshal Shanahan, of Chicago, and was held in $500 bail to appear before the United States court for violation of the Geary law.”
The Geary Act was a federal law requiring Chinese residents to register for residency certificates or face deportation. This record captures the cold, administrative enforcement of racial exclusion in the 1890s, juxtaposed with the harsh disciplining of family members during a time of extreme moral anxiety.
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