Story of Elias Makhoul Khoury's Death

In late 1956 early 1957, Elias Makhoul was walking down the main street of Derdghaya when he encountered my grandfather Najib Boulos and another man possibly Eid Raad. He asked the men to go to a certain place where he owned land and dig his grave by the road; the men were startled at such a request and enquired why. Elias Makhoul replied he is getting his affairs in order as he would be dying tomorrow.

Elias Makhoul left the men to their task and kept walking along the road as he was on his way to Neffakiye to collect money from a man that had borrowed a sum from him. Elias Makhoul was quite well off as he had spent a few years in America working and once he came back to Lebanon he was also quite successful in business. Later in life he lent money to people at interest.

Once he got to Neffakiye he was unable to obtain the money so went on his way to Maaroub where another man owed him money. He was also unsuccessful here as well and returned to Derdghaya. 

On his return to Derdghaya he was approached by my grandfather and told that the spot he had chosen was not desirable as anyone passing by on the road could stop and urinate on his grave as they passed. He informed my grandfather of another spot to dig the grave and that when he was finished to come to his house.

Later Elias Makhoul gathered his family around him, his wife Nasra (Nifaji) had already passed by this time. My grandfather attended Elias Makhoul’s house where he was paid a sum of money for his work. Elias Makhoul gave directions to his children of what he wanted done and who they still had to collect money from.

After giving his children his directions he sat back on his lounge looked up and seen two doves flying towards him. He started saying “Ijit Nifaji, Ijit Nifaji” (translated Nifaji is here, Nifaji is here). As the doves reached the house his voice lowered still saying “Ijit Nifaji” the doves reached the house and he went peacefully to be with his beloved Nifaji.

To this day his grave still stands where he asked to be buried

Bridge Building

In Derdghaya they predominantly worked the land as farmers. But as the village grew they became well known for their work as blacksmiths and stonemasons. At any one time there could be found six blacksmiths shops and several stonemasons’ quarries.

Sometime in the 19^th century a bridge needed to be built over the Litani River near the village of Qaaqaait el Jisr. The Litani River was the border between the provinces of Saida and Akka. The Governors of both provinces wouldn’t give in to each other so they both sent stonemasons to build the bridge. Each set of stonemasons would work from their side of the province and meet in the middle. As Derdghaya was in the Akka province their stonemasons were requested to do the work on Akka’s part of the bridge.

Both groups of stonemasons started their work but only the men of Derdghaya could get a start on the bridge, every time the men from Saida would lay their stones in the river they would be swept away by the strong current. But so skilled were the Derdghayans they were able to finish their side of the bridge within a week and not a spot of mortar being used because of the precise cutting of the stones in male and female ends. 

The Governor of Saida demanded the Derdghayan men finish the bridge but they refused as the Governor of Saida wouldn’t pay them. They demanded to be paid the same as they had received from the Governor of Akka, one gold piece. The Governor of Saida complained to the Governor of Akka but was met with a response that they have to be paid the same. Eventually the Governor of Saida relented and paid the men and the bridge was finally built. To this day the bridge still stands over the Litani River…..

Derdghaya's History

There is a couple of different versions of how Boulos Rizk came to Derdghaya....this is the story my father told me recently and in turn was told to him many years ago by Said Hanna Elia.

Boulos was the youngest of 5 brothers and had one sister. They lived in Forzol a village on the mountain slopes above Zahle in the fertile Bekaa valley.

Sometime in the late 18^th century Boulos’ sister was to marry. Lebanon of that time was ruled by the Ottomans and the local Wali (Governor) had passed a law saying he would be able to sleep with every bride on her wedding night. Boulos and his brothers objected to this and killed the Wali when he came to claim his prize. 

The family then fled. Boulos ended up in Maghdouche with his mother the rest of the family ended up in various parts of the South. In Maghdouche, Boulos worked the fields for people. The town at that time was predominantly Druze villagers. Here he had a problem with a Druze Sheikh who always accused him of pilfering his fig tree’s even though Boulos protested his innocence the Sheikh never believed him.

Upset by the constant accusations by the Sheikh, Boulos decided to move on from Maghdouche. Boulos loaded up all his belongings on his donkey, sending his Mum ahead telling her he had one more thing to do and would catch up with her before long. Boulos then back tracked to the Sheikh’s orchard and started picking figs, figuring if he was going to accused of stealing the figs he might as well take a share for himself.

While picking the figs the Sheikh caught Boulos and attacked him with a stick. Boulos over powered beat him and threw him in a ditch partially covering him with rocks.Boulos told him that if it was lucky day he would get himself out of the ditch or someone would find him otherwise he would die in the ditch.

Sometime later Boulos caught up with his mother in the coastal village of Sarafand. They continued on to Safad al Batikh. In Safad Al Batikh, Boulos and his mother decided to settle for a while. Boulos took on some construction work. One day while digging a house foundation Boulos and his fellow workers uncovered an old clay pot, the rest of the workers threw it to Boulos and told him to give it to his mother to use. Boulos took great offense to this and threw it back at the workers smashing on the ground. When it smashed on the ground gold coins came raining out of it.....Boulos ran over to gather up the coins but his fellow workers wouldn’t allow him to touch them saying it was his bad luck.

Shortly after this incident Boulos decided he was having no luck in Safad al Batikh so moved to Tibneen. In Tibneen, Boulos built a house and got married. He married his cousin from Taibe. Boulos’ house is still standing to this day. After an unspecified time Boulos moved to Derdghaya and hence the village was started.

Boulos and his wife had many children legend has it he had one boy and several girls. To grow the village every time one of his daughters married Boulos wouldn’t allow it unless the newlyweds settled in Derdghaya. Boulos would give his daughter and her husband a plot of land to build on. Legend also had it that the husband had to be a Batal (Brave fighter) or they wouldn’t be allowed to marry.

From this humble beginning the village of Derdghaya grew….

Thirty Years....

When my Dad was here in October he spoke with his sister for the first time in thirty years. Its not like they were lost to each other as we always knew where she was, its just that because Lebanon and Israel are still in a state of war since 1948 they cant speak to each other.

Like a lot of people from South Lebanon my Aunt Hasiba and her husband Chafik Atmeh lived and worked in Palestine. Now most of my uncles did the same prior to 1948 as did most people from Derdghaya. One of the reasons they worked there was the Palestinian Lira was worth eight Lebanese Lira's. Most people came back when the war started but there is a lot of people that couldn't make it back to Lebanon and remained in Israel. Most live in Haifa, Jish and Nazareth.

My Aunts family were one of the ones that never made it back. My Aunt came back but was put into a Palestinian camp in Tyre. With a new born and her husband staying in Haifa she decided to be reunited with him as life in the camp was hard. She made contact with the Red Cross and they took her back across the border to Haifa where she was reunited with her husband.

My Dad and Aunts story isn't one of not knowing about each other and meeting for the first time but of siblings torn apart by war and not having a lot of contact. My dad has been lucky as he has seen or spoken to Hasiba several times over the last 60 years, where as my other Aunts and Uncles haven't had that luxury as they have always lived in Lebanon.

As we live in Australia contact through the 70's and 80's was always there. I remember as a child the 3am wake up call from my Aunt. But over time for one reason or another we lost contact then my father moved back to Lebanon in the mid 90's so there was definitely not going to be any contact because of the war in 1948.

A couple of years back when I started doing the family tree I got curious about her and her family but how was I to contact her or find someone that could help me. I came up with an idea that I might be able to contact her through the church in Haifa but as with most things it just sat on the back burner while I just plodded along with other things that were easier. While I was in Lebanon in 2010 my Dad believed she had passed away around 2000 as they had visited her husbands family in Ein Ebel and that's what they believed. I found it hard to fathom and I suppose I needed proof of that.

When I got back to Sydney I searched for a church contact in Haifa. My mum told me that her husband was Maronite so I emailed the Bishop of Haifa asking whether they knew of her or her family. Like with most things you don't get your hopes up, so I wasn't surprised that I didn't receive reply to even confirm they had received the email. Maybe 3-4 months later I had someone add me on Facebook with a message saying they were my Aunts granddaughter. I nearly fell over.....

Messages were hard to understand as they were in Arabic written in Latin fonts. Eventually I spoke with Aunts grandson via MSN and learnt they had received my email via his wife's brother who was a priest. I was so stoked to have spoken to one of them I was also over the moon to learn my Aunt was still alive and well though she was bedridden since taking a fall in 2000. I eventually spoke on the phone to my Aunt on New Years day 2011 and all she was worried about was making sure her brothers and sister were ok especially my Aunt Hichmeh as they are the only girls.

So now with the help of Skype we are always in contact and Dad and his sister got to talk and see each other through the wonders of the Internet..... 

Boulos and Latife

I Spoke to my dad about how his Grandfather Boulos Geryas Khoury met his grandmother Latife Sawaya as she wasn’t from the Derdghaya. In those days the villagers predominantly married from their own villages.

Her family were farm hands and were working in a nearby village named Mazraat el Twairy which is between Srifa and Ghandouriye. This village was run by a rich Christian family called Bayt el Machahbar.  Boulos met Latife there and they married in Derdghaya.

Boulos worked as a builder and was working for the Machahbar family when he met Latife. The Sawaya family are originally from Kfarhouna near Jezzine and were working in Mazraat el Twairy as ploughmen.

Later when my Grandfather Najib was about 3-5 years old maybe even younger, Boulos travelled to America to raise money to buy some camels. A man that owned a couple of camels in those days was considered well off. Camels were used like trucks are used these days for transporting produce between ports. This was in the early 1900’s. No one can give me an exact date and I can’t find his immigration papers in America.

In America he died working on the rail road’s from the cold in winter. Around that sort of time frame a lot of the villagers were either moving to America permanently or going there to work for a year or 2 and coming back with the money.

After Boulos passed Latife was left as a single mother. Unlike today where single mothers are looked after, woman had no way to earn a living so she remarried fairly quickly. She married a man Daoud Zarka. Together they had another 4 children. My grandfather was still very young, around 5 years old.

Daoud Zarka from what I understand also died young. My father tells me he was either drafted into the Ottoman Army not as a soldier as he was Christianbut virtually as a slave. He died during that time or was killed when Derdghaya was attacked by bandits in 1919.

Latife lived a long life of 105 years having many grandchildren

Camille Chamoun

Camille Chamoun was President of Lebanon from 1952 - 1958. What I didn't know was that we had a connection to him. I'm not related to him, but he was my Grandfathers Geryas Salibi's lawyer and became a family friend.

As the story goes.....it was 1939 and there was a dispute in Souk El Gharb over a woman. A Syrian man had taken up with one of the local girls. Her family was against this and threats were made from all parties involved. There was also a bad element stirring the pot from both sides.

The Syrian came to the town centre armed with a knife and stabbed two men, one from Souk El Gharb and the other from Bekheshtay. The Syrian started shouting where are the brave men from the Salibi family, my grandfather was nearby. He took a walking stick from an old man and hit him across the arm disarming him of the knife, at the same time another man pulled a pistol out and shot the Syrian man.

During the investigation my Grandfather was questioned and not wanting to be involved denied he was in the town centre, but there was several witnesses that had sworn he was the one that disarmed the man with the knife. Because he had lied he was thrown in jail. The shooter fled and was hidden away from authorities for a few years before he was able to make his way to Africa.

My Grandfather was thrown in jail for 4 months before he was able to be released on bail. Investigations seem to take a while and in 1941 he again was thrown in jail when they reopened the investigation. He again spent a few months in jail. These were hard times on his young family as he was the only bread winner and had 3 children under 6 years old.

It finally made it to court and he was found innocent of all charges. I don't know what he was actually charged with as my Mum was only about 7 years old and cant remember. But my claim to fame is that Camille Chamoun got my Grandfather out of jail.

John Smith Urquhart

Recently while visiting her brother my mother in law was told that some one has done a family tree and written a book about her family from her paternal side. We already knew that there was a book about her maternal side...the Foley family tracing them back to the First Fleet.

The book is called John Smith Urquhart...No longer a man of Mystery. I started doing a search for the book but haven't been able to locate any where to buy it from. It wasn't published by a publishing house, it was printed in a Xerox shop. I have rang said shop and got the authors name and I'm pretty sure I have messaged the right person on Facebook so the wait begins.

While searching for the book I ran a search on Ancestry.com just in case they had a Family Tree on there. I found several but not the authors one. But from the ones I seen a couple of people have spent a lot of time and money gathering information as the tree goes back to the early 1600's which makes me quite envious. I actually really appreciate the work some people have put into there tree's as I personally know how much time it takes.

Other than Urquhart I found that my mother in laws family from the Stokes side had a tree that went even further to the 1400's. I wish I was able to track the Khoury's back that far.