The story so far....

I started this blog nearly 5 years ago feeling brash, that I could conquer this quest to find out who I think I am. How wrong could I have been....well I do know who I am and where my roots are. But I've found its a never ending quest and more branches keep popping up of families long thought of having disappeared.

One of the biggest discoveries was where our families originated from. Derdghaya is probably about no more than 240 years old. I had always known that we came to Derdghaya from Forzol in the mountains above Zahle and before that from the Houran district in Syria but never knew the village name. Over the past couple of years I've come to know we are originally from a village named Khabbab in the Houran district. From Khabbab I know that the Rizk/Khoury family, the Badawi family and Raad family originated. I've always felt that it was important to know where the various families had originated. People had told me along the way "who cares where we are from or where they are from" but I've always wanted to know for myself as I think where you are from shows in your character traits. Plus like the saying goes "you don't know who you are, unless you know where you have been."

On my trip last year to Derdghaya I found out about a lot of history about the families and the village by just talking to people and swapping stories and information. I was starting to think there wasn't many people interested but through the Facebook and interacting with people I have found most Derdghayan's are interested but really didn't know where to get the information as there wasn't many of the older generation left. Unfortunately we are too busy with social media to worry about interacting with people on a personal level where the information is.

Having some of the most beautiful women: we have married our daughters far and wide. In modern times I can understand this as most people from the 1940's onwards have mainly lived in Beirut due to work and educational situations. But when I started looking at families I found this trend had started from the beginning of Derdghaya, where Boulos Rizk the founder would marry his daughters off on the proviso that the new son in law moved to Derdghaya. But when I started researching I found many a daughter of Derdghaya had been married off far and wide....Tibneen, Ain Ebel, Jezzine, Safad El Batikh, Rmeich, Marjeyoun, Zahle and as far as Deir El Ahmar in North Lebanon.

It is through these external marriages that I have been able to have the most fun researching. Even though the family may not be from Derdghaya there is a link that needs to be explored. Families like Farhat, Haddad, Rizk, Farhood, Ferris or Atmeh have all been associated with Derdghaya through marriage. The hard thing is linking some of these woman back to parents in Derdghaya. I have also come across families that were thought to be lost or non existent if you will, but through a slice of luck with research have found a link to them. Some of these families I didn't know of until I had looked through the church records in Derdghaya.

The church records were a fountain of information. I found when and where my great grandmother was born and baptised and where her family had lived. I found out what the proper name for some of the families originally was after having changed over time and when the smaller families arrived in Derdghaya. Most of these smaller families were farmers in places like Ter Filsay, Froun or Twairy. Not only did some of these families work these farming areas but so did our own families so this is how they met and married.

So this is the story so far....

Farhat Family

Recently while researching I have kept coming up people marrying into the Farhat family from Tibneen. Over the years I have found there has been a close bond between families from Derdghaya and Tibneen, Farhat, Rassey, Khoury and Rahall families just to name a few.

So I figured to make my life a little easier I'd start working on the Farhat family....I think I was kidding myself. I knew that they were a big family but figured how many different Farhats could be in Michigan where I was researching. Like the Khoury's in Derdghaya they are all cousins related through grandfathers and great grandfathers.

I started digging through birth and death records...then onto census records. The glory I had was that the Farhats I was looking at were all from Tibneen. I linked a few families but every time I thought I was getting there I'd run into a road block. I think two guys were brothers then realise they were cousins....onwards and upwards.

In the end I decided it was going to be too hard and have just left it for another time....

Lebanon Trip

I'd been thinking about visiting Lebanon since my last trip in 2010, so when my cousin decided she was getting married I decided that I would kill two birds with one stone. Attend the wedding and do some research.

There was only so much research I could do online and talking to the elders, I needed to get hold of some church records or the 1932 Lebanese Census records which are kept in Tyre.

One of the first things I did when I arrived in Derdghaya was I went for a walk with my daughter around the village looking at all the old ruins and taking pictures of them. I posted a few of these on Facebook and started getting responses from people saying it was their ancestral home, others started asking if I could find their ancestral home. So I decided part of my daily ritual was to go for a walk a couple times a day seeking these houses out. My Dad came along on these walks, giving me the history of the houses and who had lived in them. From the original owners to the current owners to how long some had laid in ruins. It was fun learning the histories of these old ruins, if only the stones could talk.

I stayed in Lebanon for almost three weeks and one of the things I enjoyed the most was the constant stream of people that just popped in for a coffee and a chat at my Dads or at my Uncles. I got to meet people like the Moukhtar and the Head of the Municipality who were very insightful and free with the knowledge they had about Derdghaya's history and people.

The most valuable resource I got was the church records. I managed to get copies of the old church registries. For legal reasons I didn't copy anything newer than 70 years old as I know that's the standard for most legal documents. This way I also didn't impinge on any living persons privacy. The church records weren't totally accurate as pre 1920 they are only a collection of memories as the church was burnt down in 1920 and the records lost in the fire. Post 1920 you have the date of birth as well as the date of baptism.

These records were personally fulfilling as they listed both my grandparents date of birth. Since my last trip there had been a lot of conjecture about when they were born. Some said my grandfather was born in 1895, other 1900 and some 1905. Well it turned out he was born 2nd February 1902. My grandmothers date of birth was listed as 1910 on her tizkera (Lebanese ID card) but was born in 1906. I was also able to glean a lot of information like when my great grandmother was born and died and who her parents, siblings and uncles were. This was all unknown to me let alone my other family members. Now I have another avenue of research that I will eventually look into.

The other thing these records have done is give me a lot of information that I didn't have. I have whole new branches that I didn't know existed and will probably keep me researching for the next few years. A lot of the miscellaneous families that I didn't know who they were related to, have now been merged into the branches where they should be.

So in the end it was a trip well worth while....

Lack of Blogs

I just realised that since I started this blog in 2011 that each year I have written less and less. I don't know why because I have so much to write about, must be just laziness. I also think it might be the fact I think certain things might need to be kept private.

I try my best not to mention individuals as I think they should be kept private. I also have been told plenty of stories and tales of valour or misdeeds and think it is better not to tarnish a person or their family as who am I to judge someone over something that may have happened a century ago.

Also looking back at some of the earlier blogs, so much has changed. What I know now contradicts a lot of what I knew then and shows the journey that I have taken in the four years the blog has been alive. The thing I have enjoyed most about this blog is that it has introduced me to a lot of new family members and enlightened a few others into looking into their family roots.

I'm hoping 2015 will bring more inspiration to write many more blogs....