On August 9, 1785, the first three documented Chinese men landed in America in the port of Baltimore. Ashing, Achun and Aceun, from Guangzhou were sailors on the merchant ship, Pallas. Captain John O’Donnell, who commanded the ship, neglected to tell the men that this was his final voyage. With their captain now retired, the sailors were stranded in the U.S. Their signatures appear on the records of the Continental Congress in a petition to be sent home.
According to CHSA co-founder, Thomas Chinn, "[i]t is not known whether these unfortunates ever left these shores and returned to their ancestral land. This was the first recorded instance of Chinese in the United States." (citing Thomas La Fargue, "Some Early Chinese Visitors to the U.S." T'ien Hsia Monthly (Dec.-Jan. 1940-41). This squib was updated in 1984 (at least my copy of the CHSA syllabus). Perhaps additional research in the last four decades has uncovered more of the story.
Fascinating that the others include South Asian names and that most of them could not write/sign their names, though 亞成,亞全 and 亞官 managed to do so more or less intelligibly.