DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Pandit Mehar Chand, standing in Jefferson County. Now, some stories start with a man arriving somewhere. This one starts with a man arriving somewhere — and then the whole country trying to decide whether he belonged there.
Spoiler: he did. But it took a while for the paperwork to agree. Pandit Mehar Chand — P.M. to his friends — was born on May 18, 1894, in Mahilpur, Punjab, India.
As a child, he moved to Lahore, in what is today Pakistan. And in 1913, he crossed an ocean and immigrated to the United States. He wasn't done moving.
In 1918, he and his friend Kayaun Sing Joe — K.S. Joe — settled near Beaumont, Texas, working a rice farm. One year after that, Chand married Eulalia Torres, who went by Lola.
Southeast Texas. A rice farm. A new wife.
It was beginning to look like roots. In October 1921, P.M. Chand and K.S.
Joe took their next step together — they purchased a grocery store in downtown Beaumont, right on Crockett Street. Business owners now. Community members.
Men building something. So on February 14, 1923, Chand did what a man building something does — he filed a petition of naturalization to become a United States citizen. Reasonable.
Logical. Five days later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v.
Bhagat Singh Thind that Indian citizens were not white, and therefore could not be granted U.S. citizenship. Five days. Chand's application was rejected.
And it didn't stop there. In the early 1920s, a growing nationwide movement of white nationalism and xenophobia was making itself felt in Beaumont. In April 1923, P.M.
Chand and K.S. Joe were tried alongside three Black men for an interstate conspiracy to sell cigarettes. The sentence handed down: two years in federal prison at Fort Leavenworth.
Chand pled to stay with his wife and children. His sentence was reduced to a five-hundred-dollar fine. Now here is the thing about P.M.
Chand. He did not shrink. He participated in a Sunday school group, educating people about his Hindu faith.
He spoke out against school segregation. He kept the store on Crockett Street running. He kept showin' up.
Then in 1936, the immigration naturalization service notified Chand that they intended to deport him — based on that prior conviction. The community of Beaumont had been watching this man for years by then. They rallied to his defense.
And on April 26, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt officially pardoned Pandit Mehar Chand. The country was slowly catching up. In 1946, President Harry Truman signed the Luce-Celler Act, opening the door for Indians to apply for citizenship.
And on November 23, 1949 — more than thirty years after P.M. Chand first set foot on Texas soil — his second petition for naturalization was accepted. He became a United States citizen.
He kept that grocery store going until 1966. He died in 1977. The marker stands today because some arrivals deserve to be remembered — the rice farm, the store on Crockett Street, the five days between a petition and a Supreme Court ruling, and one community that decided, when it counted, to stand up for one of their own.
What the marker says
Born in Mahilpur, Punjab, India, on May 18, 1894, Pandit Mehar “P.M.” Chand was an early Asian Beaumont resident and business owner. After moving to Lahore (current day Pakistan) as a child, Chand immigrated to the United States in 1913. He and friend Kayaun Sing “K.S.” Joe moved to a rice farm near Beaumont in 1918, and one year later, Chand married Eulalia “Lola” Torres. In October 1921, Chand and K.S. Joe purchased a grocery store in downtown Beaumont on Crockett Street. He filed a petition of naturalization to become a United States citizen on February 14, 1923, but just five days later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v. Bhagat Singh Thind that Indian citizens were not white and therefore could not be granted U.S. citizenship. Chand’s application was thereafter rejected. In the early 1920s, a growing nationwide white nationalism and xenophobia movement manifested in Beaumont. In April 1923, P.M. Chand and K.S. Joe were tried, along with three black men, for an interstate conspiracy to sell cigarettes. Initially sentenced to two years in federal prison at Fort Leavenworth, Chand pled to stay with his wife and children, and his sentence was reduced to a $500 fine. Chand made efforts to build strong bonds in the community, participating in a Sunday school group educating participants about his Hindu faith, and speaking against school segregation. In 1936, the immigration naturalization service notified Chand they intended to deport him based on his previous conviction. The community rallied in Chand’s defense, and on April 26, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt officially pardoned Chand. In 1946, President Harry Truman signed the Luce-Celler Act, allowing Indians to apply for citizenship. On November 23, 1949, Chand’s second petition for naturalization was accepted and he became a U.S. citizen. Chand continued to operate his business until 1966. He died in 1977. (2023)