According to the Boston Daily Globe, August 17, 1902, Oong Ar-Showe was the first Chinese man to come to Boston, although the article is inaccurate on that point. However, Ar-Showe was one of the first to reside in Boston, and he became a very successful businessman, especially in the tea trade.
Tea was introduced into the American colonies during the mid-17th century. By the end of the century, it is said that more tea was being drunk there than in England. During the 18th century, tea spread throughout the colonies, becoming common for all social classes, and by the middle of the century, the average colonist was consuming at least one cup of tea per day.
After the Revolutionary War, when the United States was no longer part of the British Empire, they were finally able to begin their own trade with China, purchasing hundreds of thousands of tons of tea. During the end of the 18th century, about half the cargoes of American ships trading with China consisted of tea. Tea remained an extremely popular product throughout the 19th century.
In 1846, Ar-Showe and two other Chinese men worked on a ship, the Cincinnati, under Captain Ryan, and traveled to Boston. Ar-Showe was about 20-22 years old at this time and spoke only a little English. As the three men walked through Boston, marveling at the city, they were allegedly seen by Mr. Halliburton, one of the owners of Redding & Co., a tea store on Washington Street. He invited the Chinese into his home, offering them jobs, as Halliburton thought it would be beneficial to their tea store to employ a Chinese man.
Ar-Showe accepted a position in the company, while the other two declined. To assist Ar-Showe in learning English and assimilating into Boston, the company employed a German woman, Louisa M. Heuss, to work with him. Ar-Showe adopted an American name, Charles, as the name appealed to him and because it was also the name of Halliburton’s brother. Soon after, he was christened in St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church as Charles Ar Showe.
Ar Showe became very popular in Boston, drawing numerous customers to Redding & Co., and in his free time he could be seen flying Chinese kites on the Boston Common. Curiously, Ar Showe quit his job after five years, taking a job with P.T. Barnum, to accompany him to the World’s Fair as an interpreter for a Chinese family. Ar-Showe spent about 18 months traveling across Europe, before returning to Boston.
Why did Ar-Showe choose to leave the tea business and take a job with P.T. Barnum? Did he just want to see more of the world? Had he been made a significant financial offer? Was he bored of the tea industry? Unfortunately, those questions seem unanswered.
Upon his return, sometime in 1852, Ar-Showe returned to the tea trade, opening his own store to sell tea and coffee, located at 21 Union Street, between Hanover Street and Dock Square. The Boston Post, October 1, 1852, noted the opening, and praised Ar-Showe, stating, “He has had great experience in the tea business in China, and is called the best judge of teas in this country,..” He was an excellent businessman, eventually acquiring a significant amount of wealth.
In addition to starting his own business, Ar-Showe decided to marry, and a wedding was held on January 28, 1853. His bride was Louisa Heuss, the same woman who had been his attendant and tutor when he worked for Redding & Co. They must have formed a close bond, during those years he worked for that tea company.
The Liberator, January 28, 1853, wrote, “Oong Ar-Showe, the well known China tea merchant of Boston, was married at South Boston, on Sunday, to a young German woman. The bridegroom, for some time past, has discarded the Chinese dress, with the exception of the queue, which is kept beneath the collar of his coat, and at first sight, no one would suspect him of being a native of China.”
Ar-Showe and Louisa had a son, also called Ar-Showe though he was christened as Charles in 1854, and they would also later have two daughters. They lived in South Boston for a number of years and then moved to the Maplewood neighborhood in Malden, where another wealthy Chinese man, Ar Soon, lived.
He was naturalized as a citizen in 1860, probably the first Chinese ever to do so, and voted in every Presidential and State election afterwards. Unfortunately, his wife died in 1877 or 1878, and Ar-Showe moved back to China for two years. He returned to Malden, staying only a short time, before returning to China permanently, although his children remained behind.
Ar Showe was an extremely successful Chinese immigrant and seemed to face much less racism than the Chinese, who would come to Boston in the 1870s and later. That is primarily because he was one of only a handful of Chinese at that time, seen more as someone unique and fascinating, rather than as a threat to anyone’s livelihood. If only this viewpoint had continued for all of the other Chinese immigrants who came later and contributed to the growth of Boston.
For more information on Ar-Showe, you may read Richard Auffrey’s articles on Chinatown history at: https://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/2020/04/all-about-bostons-chinatown-chinese.html
To read this article in Chinese (Traditional), please click here.
