Hong Neok Woo, one of at least 10 Chinese men who served in the Union or Confederate armies during the American Civil War, worked as a pressman for a Lancaster newspaper before returning to Shanghai in 1864 and becoming a priest and medical assistant.
The Scribbler is relating the unusual story of Wooâs life today because on Tuesday, Lancaster Countyâs commissioners are poised to proclaim May as the first-ever Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in Lancaster County.
Wooâs personal heritage began Aug. 7, 1834, in a small town near the city of Chang Chow. When Woo turned 13, his father sent him to the Shanghai Mission School, where he apparently did not distinguish himself.