Posted by JWC Low on February 17, 1999 at 20:53:56:
In Reply to: Surname MAH from Yong Kow, Soon Tak (Canton, China) posted by Richard on January 13, 1999 at 00:45:38:
First, ditto on the advice from Sihin Ho.
Second, Ask your wife's other relatives to see if they have done any family history or have a genealogical listing. If there is a ancestral home which is still being maintained in the village, there "might" be an ancestral listing on the second floor. The other thing to do is to interview all the elderly relatives who may have remember family stories passed down through the generations about certain relatives. Work backwards from your wife...check for government immigration records, census ... Records in China's ancestral village is not easy to come by unless there is a residual family connection and communications were maintained since 1870's. Also, each village averaged about 60 families with different family branches of the same surname. Good luck. I'm the author of "China Connection:Finding Ancestral Roots for Chinese in America."