By Marjory J. Sente

In May 1899, when a fire swept through Jerome’s business district, Charley Hong lost his restaurant. One of twelve Chinese restaurants reported to be destroyed, Hong’s loss was estimated at $1000 according to the May 20, 1899 San Francisco Call.  

He leased land, constructed an adobe building with a stone foundation and quickly reestablished his business. Hong’s new restaurant, later called the English Kitchen (now Bobby D’s BBQ), was open and serving food before many other businesses in Jerome could rebuild. By August 1899, an ad in the Weekly Journal Miner stated that his was the place for a good meal when in Jerome. He was also in charge of feeding miners working at the United Verde Copper Company’s Iron King Mine at Equator Hill and providing meals for prisoners held in the Yavapai County jail in Jerome.

In addition to the restaurant in Jerome, Hong owned a cattle ranch in the Verde Valley and ran restaurants and boarding houses in some of the surrounding mining towns and smelters. In 1901 he received a contract to clean Jerome’s streets. At one time, Hong was one of the biggest property owners and payer of taxes in Jerome.

He did business with the Bashford-Burmister Company, located in Prescott. From a notation on an envelope sent from Hong to the B-B Co., it appears that he paid them $100 on his account. The company frequently extended a line of credit to business owners and individuals.     

However, life was never easy for Hong and his restaurant employees because people tried to take advantage of them. A restaurant customer would eat a meal and say he did not have money to pay for it. Hong frequently gave the person the meal and told him not to return unless he could pay. However, the individual usually returned, saying that Hong had extended him credit or that he could eat for free. One incident reported in the December 29, 1900 Arizona Republican described the ensuing fight between Charley’s employee Lee Hong and Scott Shannon after Charley told Lee that he had not extended credit to Shannon. Shannon hit Lee with a syrup pitcher, cutting his face so badly that it required medical attention. Shannon was jailed in Prescott and bound over for the grand jury with a bond of $1000. The reporter observed, “Too many men attempt to impose upon the Chinamen because they are Chinamen.” He also noted that Shannon would likely spend time in the territorial penitentiary in Yuma.

Hong endured a rough year in 1909. In May Cayatano Lopez, a Mexican employed by the United Verde Copper Company, dynamited Hong’s restaurant, wrecking it. Speculation raised two possible motives: Lopez attempted to murder the president of the Western Federation of Miners, or he was upset over losing a fight in the restaurant. Lopez was convicted of the crime, receiving a ten-year sentence in the territorial penitentiary.

Hong’s restaurant remained open, but soon he was subject to ill-favored news when a new restaurant had the backing of the Jerome Mining News, a local newspaper edited by Bill Adams.  Editor Adams claimed that Chinese men were stealing discarded meat and serving it in their restaurants. Then a headline in the October 2, 1909 Jerome Mining News read: “Found Maggots in Soup in Hong’s Restaurant”.

In July Hong was ordered to be deported to China. He had visited his homeland, leaving through San Francisco, a registered port, but had returned through Guaymas, an unregistered port of entry for aliens. His attorney successfully appealed the deportation order, and in December 1909, Hong received word that he was allowed to stay in the United States. He stated that he would live in the United States forever, but sometime after 1910, Hong permanently returned to China.

“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at archives.sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles/1 The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org Please contact SHM Research Center reference desk at 928-277-2003, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.