No. 5736: Chin Ting
(1871-1962)
Within the field of anonymity that covers the Free Ground of the North Burial Ground lies the convict Chin Ting. The unrepresentative and bare tombstone– number 5736– provides no visual evidence of Ting’s quite notorious and long life. Ting was born in a small village in China in 1871 and immigrated to the United States in 1896. He landed a job at a small and failing restaurant located on Weybosset Street in Providence. After work he would go back to his room in a house located on Aborn Street.
During the mid-nineteenth century Chinese immigration to America was at a very obvious peak. This was mainly because the job market for Chinese workers was a profitable one. Most Chinese immigrants tended to work in gold mines, agriculture, or in factories for clothing. This was also the time of the California Gold Rush. However, Chin Ting most likely found himself on the east coast upon arrival into America. All available Federal Census records show him to be residing in Providence or Cranston, Rhode Island.
There are no records that provide information on possible family that Ting may have had. Based on a court case revolving around Chin, it seems that he spent most of his time at the restaurant or in his room. The owner of the restaurant, Chin Moon, had only two employees, Ting and a young English woman. Both of them worked every day. One Sunday morning, February 22, 1923, police officers received a call from a local man who was going to visit Chin Moon at the restaurant that day. He informed them that Chin Moon had been brutally murdered. When police arrived on the scene they saw Chin Moon lying dead by the entrance of the restaurant with around 34 wounds made by a knife or meat cleaver. One of the kitchen knives was found embedded in his throat. Back in the kitchen, police found Chin Ting laying on the floor with slight wounds.
Prior to this bloody morning, it was known that Moon owed Ting $500 in back wages, and in Ting’s mind at least, payment was overdue. Since the restaurant was projected to go out of business soon, Ting was becoming more than impatient with Moon. Ting’s young female co-worker testified in court that the two men were quarreling in the days leading up to that Sunday morning. There was “increasing friction” and Ting allegedly threatened to kill Moon if he did not give him his money. Because no one else actually witnessed the murder, most of the evidence at trial was circumstantial. Unfortunately for Chin Ting, that evidence pointed toward him as the prime suspect. The trial that would determine Ting’s fate did not take place until February 1927. The trial lasted for six days, resulting in a guilty verdict for the charge of murder in the first degree. Chin Ting repeatedly claimed and fought for his innocence, requesting a new trial more than once, but to no avail. Whether or not he really did commit the crime, life in America for Chin Ting did not turn out the way he likely expected.
Life as an immigrant during this time was not easy. The Chinese, especially, struggled to assimilate due to the Exclusion Act in place from 1882 until 1943. For Chin Ting, his life after immigration brought none of the promise of the American Dream, but rather a job that did not pay followed by many long nights in prison. On March 9, 1962, Chin Ting died at the State Prison of Rhode Island at 91 years old. Since he was a prisoner for so long, it can be inferred that he did not make much money. The 1940 Federal Census does show that he worked as a laundry man in the prison but it is clear that he never earned enough for a cemetery plot. Chin Ting lies in the North Burial Ground’s Free Ground, amongst the other anonymous numbered souls.
- Alana Perez, Undergraduate Student, Rhode Island College
Further Reading:
"Chinese Immigration and the Chinese in the United States | National Archives." National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
State V. Chin Ting, 136 A. 8. Supreme Court of Rhode Island. 7 Feb. 1927. Print. Available at the Rhode Island State Law Library
Waldinger, Roger David. Strangers at the Gates: New Immigrants in Urban America. Berkeley: U of California, 2001. Print.
During the mid-nineteenth century Chinese immigration to America was at a very obvious peak. This was mainly because the job market for Chinese workers was a profitable one. Most Chinese immigrants tended to work in gold mines, agriculture, or in factories for clothing. This was also the time of the California Gold Rush. However, Chin Ting most likely found himself on the east coast upon arrival into America. All available Federal Census records show him to be residing in Providence or Cranston, Rhode Island.
There are no records that provide information on possible family that Ting may have had. Based on a court case revolving around Chin, it seems that he spent most of his time at the restaurant or in his room. The owner of the restaurant, Chin Moon, had only two employees, Ting and a young English woman. Both of them worked every day. One Sunday morning, February 22, 1923, police officers received a call from a local man who was going to visit Chin Moon at the restaurant that day. He informed them that Chin Moon had been brutally murdered. When police arrived on the scene they saw Chin Moon lying dead by the entrance of the restaurant with around 34 wounds made by a knife or meat cleaver. One of the kitchen knives was found embedded in his throat. Back in the kitchen, police found Chin Ting laying on the floor with slight wounds.
Prior to this bloody morning, it was known that Moon owed Ting $500 in back wages, and in Ting’s mind at least, payment was overdue. Since the restaurant was projected to go out of business soon, Ting was becoming more than impatient with Moon. Ting’s young female co-worker testified in court that the two men were quarreling in the days leading up to that Sunday morning. There was “increasing friction” and Ting allegedly threatened to kill Moon if he did not give him his money. Because no one else actually witnessed the murder, most of the evidence at trial was circumstantial. Unfortunately for Chin Ting, that evidence pointed toward him as the prime suspect. The trial that would determine Ting’s fate did not take place until February 1927. The trial lasted for six days, resulting in a guilty verdict for the charge of murder in the first degree. Chin Ting repeatedly claimed and fought for his innocence, requesting a new trial more than once, but to no avail. Whether or not he really did commit the crime, life in America for Chin Ting did not turn out the way he likely expected.
Life as an immigrant during this time was not easy. The Chinese, especially, struggled to assimilate due to the Exclusion Act in place from 1882 until 1943. For Chin Ting, his life after immigration brought none of the promise of the American Dream, but rather a job that did not pay followed by many long nights in prison. On March 9, 1962, Chin Ting died at the State Prison of Rhode Island at 91 years old. Since he was a prisoner for so long, it can be inferred that he did not make much money. The 1940 Federal Census does show that he worked as a laundry man in the prison but it is clear that he never earned enough for a cemetery plot. Chin Ting lies in the North Burial Ground’s Free Ground, amongst the other anonymous numbered souls.
- Alana Perez, Undergraduate Student, Rhode Island College
Further Reading:
"Chinese Immigration and the Chinese in the United States | National Archives." National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.
State V. Chin Ting, 136 A. 8. Supreme Court of Rhode Island. 7 Feb. 1927. Print. Available at the Rhode Island State Law Library
Waldinger, Roger David. Strangers at the Gates: New Immigrants in Urban America. Berkeley: U of California, 2001. Print.