Charles K. Shue, who lived in Boston’s Chinatown, was a wealthy merchant, restaurant owner, and the first Chinese-American justice of the peace in the United States. He would also be the first Chinese-American man in the U.S. to win a nomination to public office. He was also known as Chin Shue, Chin Quong, and Chin Que Shue. No matter the name, his tale is a fascinating and inspirational one.
Shue was born in Seattle, Washington around 1874, and came to Boston almost twenty years later, about 1893. The first mention I found of Shue was in the Boston Globe, July 3, 1893, where it was mentioned that he had been baptized, with three other young Chinese men, at the Bromfield Street Methodist Church.. In 1899, Shue married a “pretty California girl,” proposing to her on only the “third day of their acquaintance.” She was the daughter of a missionary, Lee Tong Hay of San Francisco, who was also a member of the Methodist conference. She was born in the U.S., and was the first Chinese child baptized by an American bishop as well as the first Chinese child admitted to public schools. The Boston Evening Transcript, April 4, 1900, noted that the Mrs. Shue gave birth to a son, who was named Russell Bates Shue Chin, in honor of Lieutenant Governor Bates. Bates himself was unable to attend the christening of the baby, but he sent his wife and daughter to the event.
A lengthy article in the Boston Herald, April 29, 1909, reported on Shue’s major accomplishment. “The first Chinese justice of the peace in the United States was created yesterday afternoon, when Gov. Draper signed a commission for Charles K. Shue, a well known resident of Boston’s Chinatown.” Interestingly, Shue’s powers as a justice of the peace allowed him to “take oaths, issue writs and take depositions” but he wasn’t permitted to perform marriages. The article didn’t explain why this power was omitted. “There is demand,…, for a Chinamen who is authorized to take oaths and depositions, and it is to meet this that Mr. Shue was commissioned.” The article also mentioned that Shue owned a Chinese restaurant on Washington Street, “one of the largest and most ornate of its kind in the city,” although it wasn’t named. It continued that Shue “holds a commanding position as one of the chief merchants of Chinatown.” Shue lived on Harrison Avenue, with his wife and 2 children, and “maintains of the of the most sumptuous homes in the district.”
However, less than two months after becoming a justice of the peace, Shue was arrested for allegedly assisting in smuggling 33 Chinese into Massachusetts from Newfoundland aboard a boat. Shue proclaimed his innocence and the matter eventually went to trial, with some witnesses, mainly crewmen on the boat, placing Shue at the scene of the smuggling. Fortunately, Shue was found not guilty by a federal jury.
Over two years later, Shue sought public office. The Fitchburg Sentinel, September 26, 1912, stated that Shue was the first Chinese to seek public office and he was nominated as a Representative in the primaries by the Republicans in Ward 7. However, it was also mentioned that Ward 7 had never elected a Republican before. Shue faced a formidable challenge. The Boston Globe, September 26, 1912, provided more information, stating Shue was the “only man of Chinese parentage who has ever won nomination to public office in this country.”; He was the Republican candidate in the primaries for the House of Representatives from Ward 7, which included all of Chinatown. He would oppose John L. Donovan in the election, and it would be a very difficult battle. “Ward 7 is one of the smallest in the city and has so few Republican voters that the politicians call it a walkover Democratic ward.” A definite formidable challenge. Shue subsequently lost the election, which was expected in that Democratic stronghold, but it helped to pave the way for other Chinese to seek public office.Then came more legal troubles for Shue. The Boston Evening Transcript, September 14, 1915, reported that Shue, the “so-called mayor of Chinatown,” was arrested by Federal authorities as a fugitive from justice. Shue was indicted on charges of “unlawfully receiving, buying and selling and unlawfully facilitating the transportation of two tins of smoking opium in December 1914.” It was alleged that Shue desired to open a Chinese restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island, and wanted to force Edward Wong out of business, the owner of a Chinese café on Weybosset St, So, it was alleged that Shue hired two private detectives to conceal opium in Wong’s restaurant but the restaurant was raided before that happened. The two detectives were caught with the opium on them. Eventually, Shue was found guilty and sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $300 for conspiring to facilitate and conceal the transportation of smuggled opium.
Shue remained largely out of the newspapers for the next eight years, except for a brief mention in Boston Globe, May 27, 1924, noting that Shue was the president of a chain of Chinese restaurants. Shue died on December 23, 1926 and in his obituary in the Boston Globe, December 27, 1926, it was stated Shue, who had lived at 19 Harrison Avenue, had been one of the wealthiest Chinese merchants in Boston, owning Chinese restaurants in Boston, Chicago and Providence. He had been a pioneer in some respects, paving the way for future opportunities for the Chinese in the U.S. As a businessman, he was quite successful, having arrived in Boston penniless.
SAMPAN, published by the nonprofit Asian American Civic Association, is the only bilingual Chinese-English newspaper in New England, acting as a bridge between Asian American community organizations and individuals in the Greater Boston area. It is published biweekly and distributed free-of-charge throughout metro Boston; it is also delivered to as far away as Hawaii.
