Unexpected History: Henry Keene's Flag

by Susan Zehnder, Education Director

This fall, I’ve been teaching students about the American flag. Almost 400 Elmira City School District first grade students have colored the United States flag and created a flag that represent themselves, and they are now hanging in our entry way. I encourage you to drop by to see them before we change exhibits in early January.

During my research into our museum's flag collection, I came across a flag that dates to the mid-19th century.

At first glance, it’s not very remarkable. The blue field of 34 stars is haphazardly printed, while the red and white stripes have been sewn together by hand. Any repairs, of which there are a few, are hand-stitched. What caught my attention was the story that goes along with it—the story of a man who experienced major parts of American history, from the Civil War to westward expansion and the building of railroads, before settling in Elmira, where he would be a prominent citizen for over forty years. 

 

The flag belonged to Henry L. Keene, born in 1847 in Erie, Pennsylvania, the son of Galen D. Keene and Anna B. Tierney. When he was young, his family moved to Buffalo, NY, where Henry attended public school. He was thirteen years old when the Civil War broke out, and at fifteen, he joined the 16^th New York Volunteer Calvary. Throughout the war, his unit fought alongside the Army of the Potomac and saw action in more than twenty notable battles, including Gettysburg. They also helped to pursue and kill John Wilkes Booth, President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin. Members of the same regiment later stood guard at the prison where others connected to the president’s assassination were held. It was spring 1865.

 

In August of that year, Henry, now 18, was discharged from the Army. He returned to Buffalo and took a job with the American Express Company, then in the business of moving freight. In 1873, he married Catherine E. Dorst. When the westward push into the continent began, American Express, along with the Wells Fargo Express Company, put considerable effort into enlarging the country’s railroad system. Henry was sent to Kansas, where he worked on expansion and construction of a rail line between Kansas City and Denver. Some of Henry’s duties involved handling land skirmishes and “Indian fighting.”

 

During this period, he spent time at Cheyenne, Wyoming, and at Fort Hayes in Columbus, Ohio. It was at Fort Hayes that Henry became acquainted with General George Armstrong Custer and other U.S. military leaders. In 1876, the year Custer died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn (also known as the Battle of the Greasy Grass), Henry returned to Buffalo. In 1877, his and Catherine’s son Frederick was born, the first of their six children.

 

In 1887, Henry was appointed city agent for the Elmira, Cortland and Northern Railroad (later renamed the Lehigh Valley Railroad) and moved his family to Elmira. They lived at 550 West Washington Avenue.  

When he retired from the railroad, Henry took a job as chief clerk of records at the Reformatory, working under Zebulon R. Brockway, the institution’s influential superintendent. In this capacity, he worked with clerks at the Nappanock and Auburn prisons. His reputation for trustworthiness became widespread and well known. 

 

Henry was appointed Supreme Court crier for Chemung County, in charge of court business and order. He proudly served in the position until the political administration changed. 

 

He also maintained ties to the military and other veterans. He worked actively with the Grand Army of the Republic and served as the commander for the Baldwin Post, No. 6.  He was appointed trustee of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home in Bath, NY, and served as president of the home for more than five years. In 1924, he was elected commander of the Department of New York’s annual encampment at Schenectady, an honor he called one of his greatest achievements.

Henry and Catherine had been married for fifty-one years when she died in 1924. Four years later, Henry, now 81, died from surgical complications. His daughter, Edna Keene Goodwin, held his funeral at her home at 262 Lyon Street in Elmira. It was common practice at the time to put the dead on display in the parlor for friends and family to pay their respects. The Rev. Albert Cornwell of The Park Church officiated, and Henry L. Keene was buried next to his wife in Woodlawn Cemetery. The newspaper noted the loss of one of Elmira’s prominent citizens.

 

The flag in question was donated to the Chemung County Historical Society in 1989 by a relative, H. Frederick Goodwin. While it is somewhat tattered, the story connected to its owner is remarkable.

Chop Suey and Deportation

by Erin Doane, Senior Curator 

A long-time resident and owner of a local Chinese restaurant is detained by immigration officials. He is a well-known and respected member of the community, but he originally entered the United States illegally. After all legal avenues have been exhausted, he is deported. While this story could be one lifted from today’s headlines, it is actually from 1931. This is the story of Lee Hee, who opened the Peking Restaurant at 106 East Water Street in Elmira in 1926.

East Water Street, Elmira, c. 1932

When I first noticed the Peking Chop Suey sign in a historic photo of East Water Street, I had no idea where my research would lead me. I started by looking into when Chinese restaurants first appeared in the area and ended up with stories of immigration and prohibition raids.

An article in the Star-Gazette in 1899 declared that “Chinese restaurants are querious [sic] places” but by the early 1900s there were several of them in Elmira. That coincides with the “Chop Suey Fad” that appears to have swept the nation around 1902. The origins of chop suey are uncertain. The dish of meat and eggs cooked with vegetables in a thick sauce served with rice is thought to have been developed by Chinese Americans in the late 1800s, but some believe it actually did come from China. Either way, by the early 20^th century, it was a well-known dish in Elmira. 

There were already half a dozen Chinese restaurants specializing in chop suey when Lee Hee filed his paperwork with the county clerk in 1926 to operate the Peking Restaurant. Lee had been working as chef at Spaghetti Land, an Italian/Chinese restaurant on the second floor of the Lyceum Theater on Lake Street. His new restaurant was located on East Water Street across from the Regent Theater on the second floor above T.J. Connelley’s grocery store. It offered Chinese, American, and Italian food, including chop suey, from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day. The special businessmen’s lunch was just 40 cents. Over the years, the restaurant and Lee built a reputation for high class, quality food.

Elmira Star-Gazette, February 25, 1926

In 1928, the Peking Restaurant was the target of a raid by federal prohibition agents. They found eighteen bottles of high-powered beer on the premises and arrested Lee. He was released on $1,000 bail and seemingly continued on with his business. The next time he appeared in the local newspaper was in June 1930 when there was a catastrophic collapse of a temporary sidewalk at the Gorton Coy construction site. Two people, including a small girl, were killed in the incident. Lee was on the sidewalk when it collapsed but only sustained a slight injury to his right leg. 

On January 29, 1931, the Peking Restaurant was raided again, this time by the U.S. Immigration Department. It was one of dozens of Chinese businesses – mostly restaurants and laundries – targeted by immigration officials. Lee Hee was among several men who were not able to provide papers showing they were in the U.S. legally. Lee had been a seaman on a Chinese merchantman who had jumped ship in Seattle and entered the country without official documentation. From there he made his way to Elmira in the early 1920s. Lee seemed fairly nonchalant about the arrest telling the reporter that he was planning to return to China anyway and he didn’t mind letting the government deport him and pay the transportation costs. He had been in Elmira for about ten years at that time and had saved thousands of dollars working as an “unusually skillful chef and cook.” 

Lee was released on $3,000 bond and continued working as a chef and restaurateur while his deportation case made its way through the courts. In December 1931, Federal Judge John R. Knight of Buffalo, affirmed the earlier decision of U.S. Commissioner William W. Gregg ordering Lee’s deportation. His last appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was rejected and on August 25, 1932 he was taken into custody again. Finally, on September 6, 1932, nearly two years after his initial arrest, Lee was sent back to China. A year later, several residents of Elmira received Christmas greeting from Lee from his new home in Hong Kong.

Lee Hee (left) pictured with fellow deportee Chu Sun, Elmira Star-Gazette, September 9, 1932

Days before Lee Hee was deported, an advertisement in the Star-Gazette announced that the Peking Chop Suey Chinese Restaurant at 106 East Water Street was under new management. The new proprietor, Lee Tui How, had previously operated laundries on West Water Street and Baldwin Street. Whether from lack of experience running a restaurant or because of a prohibition raid in February 1933, the restaurant had closed for good by 1934.