PLACERVILLE, Calif. — When Jayson Lashley was around three years old, he was able to eat with chopsticks, much to the surprise of his mother, Andrea Lashley. The family would unexpectedly learn the potential origins of this skill 15 years later.

The Lashleys are newly discovered descendants of Kuninosuke “Kuni” Masumizu, one of the first 22 Japanese colonists in the United States. In 1869, a group of people from Aizu Wakamatsu, a city in Fukushima Prefecture in Japan, sought a new life during the turbulent era of the Meiji Restoration and settled in Placerville, Calif. to found the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony.

The Lashley family jokingly attributes Jayson’s chopsticks skills to their ancestor.

Andrea, 42, grew up on the East Coast believing she was Caribbean and East Indian. In 2019, Jayson wanted to learn his roots for his 15th birthday, so Andrea sought the genealogy services at Search Angels, a nonprofit organization that assists people who want to learn about their biological roots.

Andrea learned of her grandmother, Beatrice Claire Herriford, a great granddaughter of Kuninosuke Masumizu, who was known to have married Carrie Wilson, who was said to be of mixed Native American and African heritage. She also learned of her aunt Barbara Jean Gibson and cousins Penny Gibson and Aaron Gibson, sixth-generation Japanese Americans who were then believed to be Masumizu’s last known kin.

“He (Penny Gibson) sent me … these pictures, (and told me) you know, you’re a descendant of this. And I’m like, what the hell was he talking about,” Andrea, who now lives in Hayward, Calif., recalled of the phone conversation with Gibson.

Andrea visited her grandmother, Herriford, for the first time in 2022, and learned about her great-grandfather Harry Charles Elbeck, a grandson of Kuninosuke Masumizu. Herriford told Andrea that Elbeck took her to the Wakamatsu Farm when she was young and talked about Masumizu.

On July 27, 2024, mild temperatures and sunshine welcomed Andrea and Jayson for their first visit to the Wakamatsu Farm in Placerville, which is now managed and protected by the nonprofit American River Conservancy.

They toured the farm with the guidance of Herb Tanimoto, a Wakamatsu Farm docent. The tour ended at the gravesite of Okei, a colonist who is believed to be the first Japanese to die on United States soil.

“It is so beautiful that you have reserved (the site of Wakamatsu Farm) and I am grateful that you have kept the history and do the tour and keep it alive. I was fascinated by the story,” Andrea, who has three children and two grandchildren, said. “I am grateful that this legacy will move on to even people after me such as my grandchildren. I can share that with them.”

“It is like a place to be and be welcoming,” said Jayson, a seventh-generation Japanese American, who is also of Scottish, German, Caribbean and Indian descent.

“It is natural for history to eventually get lost and then die. It is only up to the younger generation to keep it and preserve it.”

Melissa Lobach, the ARC development director, was “surprised and excited” when she heard that Andrea had contacted the nonprofit for a tour.

“Living descendants of the first Japanese colonists are special people, and we deeply value these connections,” said Lobach, who has worked for ARC for the last seven years and witnessed the 150th anniversary of the Wakamatsu Farm in 2019.

“For me personally, I feel fortunate that I am in the right place at the right time to watch history unfold. It brings me a lot of joy to connect people to places that ARC has protected forever. I hope it helps us find more Wakamatsu Colony descendants.”

According to San Francisco’s Alta Daily News, 22 Japanese colonists arrived in San Francisco on May 20, 1869, with 50,000 mulberry trees and six million tea seeds. They established the Wakamatsu farm. This colony spurred further Japanese immigration, leading to significant contributions to California agriculture by 1900. Two colonists returned to Japan, introducing wine making and canning techniques.

The colony was led by Prussian diplomat John Henry Schnell and his Japanese wife Jou, under the patronage of Katamori Matsudaira, a daimyo from Aizu Wakamatsu province. After losing a battle in the Boshin War, Katamori funded Schnell’s escape to California. Schnell purchased a farm from Charles Graner and led the colonists there. Despite initial success, including winning prizes for their tea, a severe drought in 1871 led to the colony’s collapse. The farm was sold to the Veerkamp family, and Okei died of a fever that same year.

Kuninosuke Masumizu, Matsugoro Oto, and Sakichi and Nami Yanagisawa are the only colony members remembered by their descendants. Not much is known about the other members, including the Schnells who vanished, but Masumizu’s legacy is noted alongside Matsugoro and the Yanagisawas, whose descendants in Japan were discovered in 2014 and 2021, respectively.

After the colony collapsed, Matsugoro and Sakichi Yanagisawa worked for the Fountain Grove Winery in Santa Rosa, led by Issei pioneer Kanaye Nagasawa, the “Wine King of California.” Matsugoro later returned to Japan, where he taught wine making and tomato canning, becoming a pioneer in Japanese wine.