Labor

• [1850] A lascar (perhaps South Asian?) was among the crew members of a ship called the Frolic, bound from Canton to San Francisco, which sunk off the Mendocino coast in July 1850. The captain abandoned the ship, the but the lascar stayed aboard. He may not have survived.
• [1852] The California State Census lists a 40-year old laborer from Calcutta named Mahomet. [California State Library; Sacramento, California; 1852 California State Census; Roll #: 3; Repository Collection #: C144:3; Page: 66; Line: 32]
• [1856] A ship of lascar sailors arrived in San Francisco and attempted to escape or find some kind of justice after they were forced to endure rotting food and scurvy-causing conditions. The local newspaper printed a fascinating example of two highly contested accounts of the same incident, with the writer stepping in to editorialize on behalf of the South Asian workers. [Sacramento Daily Union, 14 July 1856, p4, col1, "The Ship Tartar Affair"]
• [1860] A group of Indian and Indonesian sailors from Calcutta, Bombay, and Sumatra were living together in San Francisco, per the census. Their names were (badly transcribed): Said Clee, Ab Dul, Abdel Draime, MA Martqurub, Ab Del, Abba Alle, Shoka Maden, Ab Dal Brannin, Said Brannin, Mahonet Salle, Ab Dul Salle, Thomas Salle, Marille Salle, Menzo Salle, Bucharel Salle, Shaw Sin, and theyw orked as mariners, stewards, and sail makers. [Ancestry household record; Census Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M653; Residence Date: 1860; Home in 1860: San Francisco District 4, San Francisco, California; Roll: M653_68; Page: 1224; Family History Library Film: 803068]
• [1864] A group of five lascars arrived at San Francisco City Hall, seeking justice for their friend who was killed by the mate on their British ship, Passing Cloud. The local court said they had no jurisdiction, and the British consul offered to send the mate back to London to stand trial—an outcome the men saw as insufficient. [Daily Alta California, December 13 1864, p2, col 2, "Demanding Justice at the Door of the Temple"]
• [1869] The California Labor Exchange, a nonprofit employment service in San Francisco, reported that they helped find jobs for 4 "Bengalese" (i.e. Bengali) men. [San Francisco Chronicle, Jul 2 1869, p3, "CALIFORNIA LABOR EXCHANGE: Annual Meeting of the Trustees--First Annual Report"]
• [1881] An article in the Sacramento Daily Record-Union describes how a jute factory in Oakland was forced to hire cheap Chinese laborers so they could compete with jute factories in Calcutta. A fascinating document of labor, immigration, and global trade. [Sacramento Daily Record-Union, Sep 17 1881, p4, cols3-4, "A Case Illustrating Many Things"]
• [1882] A group of lascars escaped brutal conditions on a British ship called the Suez, only to be tricked back onto the ship by a San Francisco boarding house workers. [San Francisco Call, March 1 1882, p2, col 2, "The Case of the Suez"]
• [1884] A West Virginia paper says "Three Mussulman Hindoo sailors are in port in San Francisco." [The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, May 15 1884, p 2, col 1, "Breakfast Budget"]
• [1891] Three Desi Muslim men, presumably Bengalis, were living at 17 Hinckley alley in San Francisco. The city directory listed Abdul Shaik, H. Rahman Shaik, and Mockbull Shaik working as peddlers. This seems suspiciously like the first wave of Bengali Harlem, but it's unclear if these men came first to the East Coast, or directly to SF. This house is the same one where Syed Abul Hassan, the UC med student, was living the year before, who's described on the "UC Berkeley" page. I wrote a tweet thread about all of them. (Incidentally, Hinckley was then a diverse working-class street full of tamale vendors, a year before it become a hot new food nationwide and Afghan Muslims came to dominate that scene. Were these three men bystanders, or involved?) [1891 Langley SF City Directory, page 1243]
• [1894] A ship steward named Abdul Rahman was assaulted and had his elbow dislocated by the captain of his ship while traveling from Calcutta. He went to court, and got a $120 judgment. The British consul told him to get back on the ship to return, but he refused, fearing that he would be murdered. The newspaper described him as penniless and starving, wearing thin clothes and not having eaten for two days. The American judge subsequently referred him to the British Benevolent Society and the City and County Hospital.  [San Francisco Call, May 27 1894, p10, col 3, "Abdul Rahman's Case"]
• [1899] A South Asian man seeks work as a hotel porter or pantry worker in the pages of the San Francisco Call: "A young East Indian would like a position as porter in hotel or pantry work." [San Francisco Call, Dec 16 1899, p12, col 3, "Employment Wanted—Male"]
• [1901] Ad for a South Asian cook printed in the pages of the San Francisco Call. "WANTED— An East Indian who thoroughly understands the making and serving of curries; will pay good wages to experienced man." [San Francisco Call, Dec 11 1901, p11, "Help Wanted—Male"]
• [1905] A South Asian man advertises for work in the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle. "An honest East Indian, 26 years old, with fair education in Persian, Afghanese and Hindustani languages, and who reads, writes, and speaks English and Spanish, desires to work for a private family or U.S. office; understands something about English cookery and knows all about the Turkish and Persian cookery; is willing to do work of any kind in such a place. K. K., 607 California at. SF" [SF Chronicle, June 18 1905, p42, "Situations Wanted—Male"]
• [1907] A South Asian bookkeeper advertises for work in the pages of the San Francisco Call. "Position by an energetic and reliable East Indian A1 book keeper, with thorough knowledge of auditing; systematic and accurate at trial balances; good correspondent and general office man; can furnish best of references and bond, if required; prefer with bankIng corporation or wholesale house in city or country; salary no object to start with." [San Francisco Call, Aug 5 1907, p11, "Employment Wanted—Male"]
• [1910 ★] The US Census shows 30 Sikh railroad laborers, ages 19-39 and all with the last name Singh, lived in railroad construction cars on Henry Street in Berkeley. ["United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch ( 23 June 2017), California > Alameda > Berkely > ED 42 > images 35-36 of 36; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• [1910] The 1910 U.S. census lists "Jomiah Kahn," an Indian tamale peddler imprisoned in Oakland, California. (Am I the only one who wants to read a historical novel about a Desi Muslim tamale slinger in trouble with the law?) The census states that Jomiah Khan, was male, 31, born in "India Hindi," immigrated 1905, can speaks (but not read) English, white, and working as self-employed tamale peddler. Who was this person? There's an intriguing 1906 immigration record of a "Jarmal Khan," age 26, from Sultowah, Ludhiana, Punjab, India,  race East Indian, occupation farmer, headed to San Francisco — may or may not be the same person. [1910 US Census, CA/Alameda/Oakland Ward 5 / ED 122 / image 7/39] ["California, index to San Francisco passenger lists, 1893-1934," NARA microfilm publication M1389]
  
• [1911] A 25 year old worker named "Glam Mohammed" (sic) died at the California Powder Company in Stege, in present day Richmond. He had a brother working at Ocampo, near Stockton. [Oakland Tribune, 17 Oct 1911, p. 18, col. 3, "Hindu, Cigarette, Powder—Bang!!! Glam Mohammed Takes Sudden Departure from Stege to a Far Country"]