Immigrant Ships
Transcribers Guild

SS Mexico

I, HC Thomas, Master of the Steamship Mexico do solemnly, sincerely, and truly swear that the following List or Manifest, subscribed by me, and now delivered by me to the Collector of the Customs of the Collection District of San Francisco, is a full and perfect list of all Chinese passengers taken on board the said vessel at Port Townsend from which port said vessel has now arrived, and they have not landed at any foreign port or place during the voyage, and of all such passengers now on board said vessel, and that on said List is truly designated the names and other particulars, as shown by their respective certificates.So help me God. (signature) HC Thomas
Sworn to this 8th* day of Dec 1896, before me, (signature) Chas Miller, Deputy Collector of Customs

Separate List or Manifest of all the Chinese Passengers taken on board the Steamship Mexico whereof HC Thomas* is Master, from Port Townsend, burthen 1341 tons

COLLECTOR OF CUSTOMS, PORT OF PORT TOWNSEND, WASH
Sir:
I certify that the Mexico sailed Dec 8, 1896 for San Francisco via Victoria, B.C. with One Chinese passengers destined for San Francisco, as per manifest attached. (signature) _____, Deputy Collector

Subscribed and Sworn to before me, this 7 day of Dec 1896 (signature) JJ Tobin, Deputy Collector of Customs*

Columns represent: Number, No of Certificate, Name, Age, Occupation, Last Place of Residence, Height, Complexion, Color of Eyes, Physical Marks or Peculiarities and Facts of Identification, If accredited officers of Chinese Government, state facts*.

1, 78581, Wong Wo, 43y, Laborer, Seattle, 5'5", Medium, Dk Brown, 
          Small scar right & left side of head


Transcriber's Notes:

* An asterisk indicates an error on the part of the original recorder, not the  
  transcriber, or calls attention to additional information in the transcriber notes.

The Sworn Statement is dated Dec 8, 1896.  Written beside it is 6th. The cover sheet also says 
 Dec 6th.  There are two stamped sworn statements, one dated Dec 7 and another dated Dec 9, 
 both signed by JJ Tobin and the letter to Director of Customs dated Dec 8.  It seems likely
 that the 6th is the date of departure and the 8th the date of arrival.
 
There is also a signature of ?? Mortensen, Commander. There is a Thos Mortensen who is captain 
 of the City of Para. HC Thomas is listed as captain of the Mexico when it arrived Nov 23, 1896.

The pages on this film are not numbered so finding a particular ship can be difficult.  
 However, there is a system of numbering the manifests that is a part of the National
 Archives file system on Chinese persons.  These numbers are included in the identification 
 of the film and reel numbers below.

The first two paragraphs above are printed as part of the form for this list.  The next 
 paragraph and its heading is a piece of paper attached to the page.  The following paragraph 
 is a separate stamp placed on the body of the page and then completed.  There are two imprints 
 of this stamp on the page, the second with the date of Dec 9, 1896.


The  following column had no entries:
 If accredited officers of Chinese Government, state facts

According to the National Archives branch in San Bruno, California it is possible that they
 have some information on any Chinese passenger who arrived in San Francisco after 1886.

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