德久 (松平) Matsudaira (1892 - 1967)

Born 23 Apr 1892 in 日本石川県金沢市

Husband of ほとる (梅田) Matsudaira — married 23 May 1921 in 日本石川県金沢市

Descendants

Died 12 Jan 1967 at age 74 in Seattle, King, Washington, United States

Biography

Tokuhisa (松平) Matsudaira migrated from Japan to Washington.

Matsudaira Tokuhisa was born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture on 23 April 1892, the son of Matsudaira Kumakichi. Through his father, he was a descendant of the fifth son of Matsudaira Yasusada, the founder of the Matsudaira family in Kaga Province. He first went to Seattle, Washington as a student of Kanazawa Daini High School and tourist on board the Aki Maru on 24 May 1909, having departed Yokohama on 12 May. A salesman, he represented his father's company as they went door to door selling kutani-yaki porcelain for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, along with fellow merchants Mōri Kōjirō and Kita Iwamatsu, who both returned to Japan after the exposition. Tokuhisa was therefore the only one of the three merchants who remained in Seattle after the exposition.

A baseball fan, Tokuhisa also played baseball as a pitcher with one of the first all-Japanese teams in the United States, even with his co-workers; he was known as "Golden Arm" during that time. He worked for Hardy Trading, a jewelry company, and as an elevator operator at Lincoln Hotel. However, his baseball career ended when he lost his left eye in an elevator accident sometime before his return to Japan in 1921, forcing him to wear an eye patch for the rest of his life. Even so, he was listed as living with the Kato family in Seattle according to the 1920 United States Census.

After returning to Kanazawa, Tokuhisa, who was still a merchant by then, met Umeda Hotoru through his relatives. They married on 23 May 1921, and they left Yokohama on the Katori Maru on July 6 before arriving in Seattle on 21 July. At that point, they began living with Nobusuke Sasaki and his wife Kaoru, who was Hotoru's sister.

Tokuhisa's first son, John, was born in 1922. Originally named Takehisa, John would go on to become a painter for the Northwest School. The next son, Michael, who was also named Yoshihisa, came in 1924; he later became a worker at Providence Hospital. Meanwhile, the Matsudairas lived in Seattle's Japantown according to the city directories of 1927.

As John and Michael were raised by Tokuhisa's family in Japan while attending grade school, Tokuhisa, who has began selling fur products, departed Yokohama again on the Alabama Maru on 13 March 1928, and arrived back in Seattle on 26 March, while Hotoru stayed behind in Kanazawa. He went back to Japan in 1929, as evidenced with his and Hotoru's departure from Yokohama on the Arizona Maru on 7 March and their arrival back in Seattle on 20 March. By then, he had also begun his contracting career.

That same year, both Tokuhisa and Hotoru converted to Roman Catholicism, and they adopted their baptismal names of Thomas and Theresa, respectively. That same year, Francis was born. Tokuhisa again went to Japan as a robot contractor in 1931, and left Yokohama again, this time on the Hikawa Maru, on 15 October, arriving back in Seattle on 27 October. One year later, a son, James, was born. A daughter followed, and a few months after John and Michael returned to Seattle, another son, Theophane, was born in 1936.

Before his visit to Japan in 1937, Tokuhisa also worked as a foreman for a salmon cannery company, Kodiak Fisheries Company, shipping salmon back and forth from Seattle to Ketchikan, Alaska. Outside of canning season, he would shuck oysters for his friend and a Native American reservation as a worker for a Japanese oyster company. He left Yokohama on the Hiye Maru, the same ship that John and Michael took back to Seattle in 1935, on 15 April 1937, arriving back in Seattle on 27 April. Later that same year, another son, Martin, was born. Martin, also known as Mich, would become an activist, fighting for reparations for the internment of Japanese Americans.

In 1939, Tokuhisa's next son, Joseph, was born. As Tom, he was living in Seattle with his family on 13 April 1940, according to the 1940 United States Census. A daughter, Mary Elizabeth, was born in 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Tokuhisa continued working until late March 1942. On 26 April, he registered for the draft, but along with other Japanese Americans in Seattle, he and his family were relocated to Puyallup Assembly Center on 18 May.

Tokuhisa entered Minidoka War Relocation Center with his family on 18 August, while his wife stayed at Puyallup to give birth to a daughter on 3 September, only to arrive at the same camp on 5 September. While the Matsudairas were incarcerated at Minidoka, another son was born in 1944. They finally left for Seattle on 13 March 1945. Upon returning, they discovered that the house they left to a Filipino sergeant and his family was empty, except for a light bulb and a hot plate. Tokuhisa had to sleep on the floor for three months after returning.

After the war, Tokuhisa searched for a new job, only to find signs that are targeted against Japanese Americans. Seeing those, he went to the office operated by the War Relocation Authority for assistance in seeking employment. He ended up becoming a furrier, cleaning fur coats at a shop. Later in 1945, another daughter was born. In 1948, the youngest child, a son, was born. However, Tokuhisa's daughter, Mary, died in 1949 due to a heart condition. Also, his only child born in Japan, Akira, died in infancy.^[1][2]

Tokuhisa was eventually employed at one of the restaurants in Seattle. While his wife Hotoru became a United States citizen in 1948, he became a United States citizen years later. In 1955, he was living in Seattle with his wife. He died in Seattle on 12 January 1967, at the age of 74. His body was interred at Holyrood Catholic Cemetery on January 14.

Research Notes

It is known that Tokuhisa's father Kumakichi lived in the vicinity of Kanazawa from at least 1909 to 1937 as detailed on the Seattle passenger lists that Tokuhisa was mentioned in. However, no details about his father's age and his family, especially his mother, were given. A koseki might be needed for full details about Kumakichi's family at Aokusa-machi in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1909 and for Kamiomi-cho from at least 1921 to 1937.

Sources

1. ↑ Ogawa, Yuriko. "The Matsudaira Family of Seattle." The North American Post. Accessed 1 Jan 2020.
2. ↑ Ogawa, Yuriko. "シアトルで受け継がれる松平家." 北米報知. Accessed 1 Jan 2020.

• "Washington, Seattle, Passenger Lists, 1890-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KYKR-JLK : 12 March 2018), Tokuhisa Matsutaira, 1909; citing Seattle, King, Washington, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1383, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; FHL microfilm 1,454,946.
• "Washington, Seattle, Passenger Lists, 1890-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KYKR-JGX : 12 March 2018), Tokohisa Matsudaira, 1909; citing Seattle, King, Washington, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1383, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; FHL microfilm 1,454,946.
• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHF1-1J8 : accessed 10 March 2020), Takshisa Matsudaiso in household of Chikara Kato, Seattle, King, Washington, United States; citing ED 278, sheet 5B, line 71, family 138, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1929; FHL microfilm 1,821,929.
• "Washington, Seattle, Passenger Lists, 1890-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KY2S-7WK : 12 March 2018), Tokuhisa Matsudaira, 1921; citing Seattle, King, Washington, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1383, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; FHL microfilm 2,266,047.
• "Washington, Seattle, Passenger Lists, 1890-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDZ4-6Z6 : 12 March 2018), Tokuhisa Matsudaira, 1928; citing Seattle, King, Washington, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1383, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; FHL microfilm 2,266,121.
• "Washington, Seattle, Passenger Lists, 1890-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDZH-MKJ : 12 March 2018), Tokuhisa Matsudaira, 1929; citing Seattle, King, Washington, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1383, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; FHL microfilm 2,266,132.
• "Washington, Seattle, Passenger Lists, 1890-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDZC-3XT : 12 March 2018), Tokuhisa Matsudaira, 1931; citing Seattle, King, Washington, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1383, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; FHL microfilm 2,266,158.
• "Washington, Seattle, Passenger Lists, 1890-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDZ6-FTM : 12 March 2018), Tokuhisa Matsudaira, 1937; citing Seattle, King, Washington, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1383, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.; FHL microfilm 2,266,209.
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K93H-D4W : accessed 8 May 2018), Tom Matsudaira, Tract K-5, Seattle, Seattle Election Precinct, King, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 40-186, sheet 10A, line 18, family 223, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 4379.
• "United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJT-NT9G : 14 October 2017), Tokuhisa Thomas Matsudaira, 1942; citing NARA microfilm publication M1936, M1937, M1939, M1951, M1962, M1964, M1986, M2090, and M2097 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "United States Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1942-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KX25-9Y3 : 12 December 2014), Tokuhisa T Matsudaira, 1942-1946; citing Minidoku (Gooding), person number 12099A, file 506419, NARA NAID 1263921, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
• "Washington Death Certificates, 1907-1960," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N3YK-Q5S : 10 March 2018), Thomas Matsudaira in entry for Mary Elizabeth Matsudaira, 20 Jan 1949; citing Seattle, King, Washington, reference 606, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Olympia; FHL microfilm 2,032,780.
• "United States Public Records, 1970-2009," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJN6-H1HX : 16 May 2014), Thomas T Matsudaira, Residence, Seattle, Washington, United States; a third party aggregator of publicly available information.
• "Washington Death Index, 1965-2014," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLWM-B6T6 : 13 July 2017), Thomas T Matsudaira, 12 Jan 1967, King, Washington, United States; from the Department of Health, Death Index, 1907-1960; 1965-2014, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives (https://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Collections/TitleInfo/472 : n.d.); Citing Washington State Department of Health.
• "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JG9J-SNP : 20 May 2014), Thomas Matsudaira, Jan 1967; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
• Find A Grave: Memorial #71968221