As a young girl, she was sold by her father for only a few dollars and brought to San Francisco around 1907, where she was purchased for $3,000 by Low Hee Tong.
Tong, a high-ranking member of the Hip Sings and Four Brothers, lived with her for four years until he was arrested by police.
When he was unable to produce a marriage license for Bow Kum, she was placed with Christian missionaries under Donaldina Cameron, a Scotswoman who spent much of her life helping young Chinese slave girls escape from tongs.
[1] Bow Kum eventually married Tchin Len, a truck gardener and member of the On Leong Tong, who took her back to New York as his wife.
A few days later, a Tong hatchetman slipped into the Mott Street residence of Tchin Len on the early morning of 15 August 1909, and brutally murdered Bow Kum.