Emigration...

In my search I have found family members all over the world. Obviously here in Australia and in Lebanon.....USA, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Chad, France and Great Britain.

What has amazed me is how far spread people can get. A lot of families from Derdghaya emigrated around the early 1900's. In those time Lebanon was ruled by the Ottomans and the Christians were probably dealt with a lot harsher than others as they were the only ones that paid taxes. So having said that a lot of the people not just from Derdghaya emigrated overseas with the USA and South America among the favorites.

Another reason that people emigrated was work save money and return after just a year or two. From some research I have done 1907 was a big time for people from Derdghaya go to the USA. On 0ne set of immigration papers I found at least 20-30 names from Derdghaya. They would leave Beirut by ship to France, land at Marseilles travel by train to Havre and then board another ship to Cuba. In Cuba they would either disembark and board another ship for South America, New Orleans or Mexico. The ones that stayed on board would then either got to Philadelphia or Ellis Island in New York. Ellis Island being the main point of arrival.

The majority of the travellers from Derdghaya returned but some of their fellow travellers stayed and made life for themselves in places like Detroit Michigan and Douglas Arizona being the favorites. They predominantly worked as peddlers, merchants or in the motor vehicle industry.

One of these emigrants was my Great Grandfather Boulos Geryas Khoury. I haven't been able to locate his travel papers yet but I'm still working on it. My father tells me that he travelled in the late 1890's or early 1900's. He travelled to work on the railways, save some money and come back and buy a couple of camels.....we may laugh at this idea but it was the way they transported stock around between villages and the ports like Beirut. There's a lot of conjecture about what happened to him but it seems he died while working on the railways but I've never been able to find any documentation of him arriving or being buried any where.

I have a theory that like most emigrants from Derdghaya they went through Mexico into the USA. I'm hedging my bets that he either died on the trip or died in Mexico......this is a mystery that I may never find out.