6. SAM LEE LAUNDRY


The thread of Sam Lee and associated laundries is more tangled than that of Charlie Hing Laundry. There was a Sam Lee of Sam Lee & Co. and later, Sam Lee Laundry but no Sam Lee -- just an intentional transliteration (see Post #7).

SAM LEE & CO.

From 1909 to 1919, SAM LEE had a laundry on the east end of Queen Street. Although his business noted "& Co." from 1909-1913, the 1911 census reports only one worker, QUEN PERT who worked 60 hour weeks all year long to earn $210 for the year. Given that Sam Lee had only been in business in Niagara Falls for a year and was less established than Charlie Hing, it is not surprising that Hing's employee earned $50 more for the year than Lee's. Regardless, Quen Pert must have left Niagara Falls since his name is absent from subsequent city directories.
Sam Lee (without the "& Co." notation) moves or starts again in 1916 at 72 Queen Street, remains present until 1919, and then his name disappears for over a decade.

In 1921, there is no Sam Lee at 72 Queen St. (or in Niagara Falls).  Instead, the census reports:
C. WONG (b.1894, imm.1912) as head/laundry; C. WONG (b.1897, imm.1917) lodger/laundryman; Y. SEING (b.1889, imm.1917) lodger/laundryman; C. SUN (b.1873, imm.1917) lodger/laundryman; and M. SHENG (b.1889, imm.1916) lodger/laundryman. All men were "single" and living at 72 Queen St.

A Chinese laundry continued to be located at 72 Queen St. until 1926 but the laundrymen associated with it have not been identified.

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