Lisa See, the author of Shanghai Girls and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan tells her family’s story in On Gold Mountain. In 1867, her great-great-grandfather arrived in America and set up shop prescribing herbal remedies to immigrant laborers. Her grandfather was a successful businessman who married a Caucasian woman, in spite of laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Lisa herself grew up playing in her family’s antiques store in Los Angeles’s Chinatown, listening to stories of missionaries and prostitutes, movie stars and Chinese baseball teams. It’s a fascinating story, one that encompasses racism, romance, secret marriages, entrepreneurial genius, and much more, as two distinctly different cultures meet in a new world.
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My family on my mother’s mother’s father’s side the McGee’s came from Ireland to Emporia Virginia, where someone married an Indian of the Nottaway Tribe. The McGee’s arrived with servants and such and were buried in a private grave outside of Emporia, Virginia.
One of the neatest things I found out searching our family tree was that my great great grandfather was apeddler who sold
elixirs, housewares and such from his horse drawn wagon.
My Daddy chased my Mama,she had long red curly hair&big brown eyes,he had black curly hair & blue eyes…they were both sassy and he chased her and caught her,loved each other for over 50 yrs,even after death of one…they were talented,she had American Indian in her,his people were part English and Irish..she was beautiful and shapely after 7 kids,and she could use a hickory on us if needed,he patted us more,but we all loved them so and miss them everyday we live…ps..they loved to argue
My parents had a practice of giving each other nicknames. My favorite has always been my father’s for my mother. He called her “Hinges” because she was “something to adore (a door).” My mother wasn’t quite as inventive. She just referred to my dad as “the man.”
We have a pirate in our ancestry! He was French and sailed the waters off the coast of VA. He married a British woman and had many children. I don’t want to give out too much info as I’m an aspiring writer and I want to write a story about him.
Came here from Ireland 32 years ago for 1 year, started a family and still here.
My family was Italian and came over in the early 1900’s from Italy to New York and stayed a few years there and moved on to Pittsburgh, PA.
Great-grandfather was a talented carpenter but loved to chase women. His family told him to go to the United States because he had been chasing after a married woman and her husband was going to kill him. So he picked a bride and brought her with him. They had many children together in the United States but one day he left her and went back to Italy for 3 years and was running with other women, his wife died while he was in Italy. He was a scoundrel!
nice book i think i would like to read and share with my mother