CEM Connections - Tsao Ka Chuck

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Tsao Ka Chuck

Pinyin & Chinese characters	Cao Jiajue 曹家爵¹
Variant Spellings & Other Names	Tsae Kia Cheou Ts’au Kia Tsich Ts’au Kia Tsioh Tsao Kia Tsioh Tsao Kuei Cheong
Other Chinese Name(s)
Detachment	3
LaFargue No.	77
Date of Birth	1863
Place of Birth	Shunde, Guangdong
Age at Departure for US	12 (Lunar Calendar)
Date of Death	18 April 1875²
Place of Death	Hartford, CT, CEM Headquarters
Place(s) of Residence in US	(1) North Amherst, MA; (2) CEM Headquarters, Hartford, CT³
American Host Family/ies	(1) Charles H. & Mary W. (Adams) Kellogg, North Amherst, MA; (2) 34 Sumner St., Hartford, CT.³
School(s), with dates
Notable Activities/Awards in School
College/University, with dates
Notable Activities/Awards in College
Degree/Diploma Obtained (date)
First Assignment in China
Later Positions
Employment Sector(s)
Final Rank, if in Gov't Service
Father's Name
Mother's Name
Wife/wives
Family Relations w/ other CEM Students	Probably the elder brother or cousin of Tsao Ka Hsiang (Cao Jiaxiang 曹家祥III, 67). They are said to have been natives of the same village, Hengyu Cun 横圩村, in Shunde District 顺德县 of Guangdong.⁴
Children's Names
Descendants
Other	Tsao Ka Chuck was the first CEM student to die in the United States. At Yung Wing’s request, Reverend Joseph H. Twichell, Pastor of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford, officiated at Tsao’s funeral, held 20 April 1875. ”Cao’s body was to have remained in Hartford unless sent for by his family in China, but this did not come to pass, and he was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery—the first Chinese burial in the history of Hartford.”⁵
Notes and Sources	1. Personal name written 嘉爵 in Xu (1978), p. 41, and in student list compiled by Tong Yuen Chan (Tang Yuanzhan 唐元湛 II, 53); written 家爵 in Shen Bao 申报 (6 August 1874), in student list compiled by Won Bing Chung (Wen Bingzhong 温秉忠 II, 36), and in Yung Shang Him (1939), p. 28; Yung Shang Him (10/1939), p. 252. 2. Robyn (1996), p. 186, n. 272, citing Hartford Daily Courant, 20 April 1875, 2:4. 3. Residences and host: Rhoads (2011), p. 52, Table 5.1 (North Amherst, MA; Charles & Mary Kellogg); Hartford Daily Courant, loc. cit. (CEM headquarters, Hartford, CT). 4. As noted in student list compiled by Tong Yuen Chan; Rhoads (2011), p. 57. 5. Robyn (1996), p. 49, citing Hartford Daily Times, 20 April 1875, 3:4.