Ah Wing

Ah Wing was the Stanford's butler, serving the family for nearly a quarter century. He was the only servant who was not dismissed by Jane Stanford during the time she operated under a limited budget due to the government's lawsuit, spanning the years from 1893 to 1898, as the funds were not released from probate until 1898 even though the suit was decided in her favor by the Supreme Court in 1896. Ah Wing was left $1000 in Jane Stanford's will. He continued to live and work at the Stanford mansion on Nob Hill in San Francisco after Jane Stanford's death in 1905 but the fires that followed the 1906 earthquake consumed the mansion. On Monday, April 23, five days after the earthquake, Ah Wing boarded a train for Palo Alto, returning to the Stanford home there which had significant damage due to the earthquake. He was given a job at the Stanford Museum but the ruins of the two Stanford residences overwhelmed him and after a short time he returned to China.