I been doing a little research the last couple of days and it hit me about how high the infant mortality rate was back in the early 1900's. Some families I looked at lost 3-4 children either at birth or shortly afterwards. My own Grandmother lost 2 children as infants. I suppose we take child birth in hospitals for granted these days compared to the early 20th century where it was done by midwifes with no formal training at home in the villages. Some times a hospital could be hours away.
Speaking to my Dad about one such midwife he was saying it was a trade passed down from one generation of female member to the next....something we find extraordinary but I suppose in those days it was an honour to hold such a position in the village.
I suppose other things that caused deaths in infants was influenza out breaks which I have found has coincided with many of these child deaths.
Even with the heart break of losing children they still kept on having children with families numbering 8-10 children very often compared with modern families where if they contained 4-5 children they are considered big.
One family member had 16 children that lived out of a possible 18. He married the first time and had 8 children and when his wife passed away remarried and had another 8 children with his second wife. His youngest child was born when he around 63 years old. All I have to say is thank god for TV.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Habib Family Rmeich
A while back I was doing some research into the Zarka family. I've compiled quite a family tree for them without ever being able to link all the families. While doing this research I came across two Zarka women who married into Habib family in Rmeich which is in the Bint Jbail area in South Lebanon. I wasn't really able to gain any information on them so they just went on the bottom of my list as unknowns needing further research.
Then last week I happen to be reading some history about villages in South Lebanon when I got to Rmeich. On their Facebook page they have the history of the village which was quite interesting. But what was most interesting of all was they listed where all the families in the village were originally from. Most families were from the Kesarwan region but low and behold the Habib family was listed from Derdghaya originally.....so now the question is what was the original family name as there is no Habib family from Derdghaya. I'm hedging my bet that they are originally Zarka.
I've contacted the admin from the Facebook page who was quite helpful and will speak to some people and find out for me.
24/12/11 As I found out recently the Habib family are originally Rizk family not Zarka
Then last week I happen to be reading some history about villages in South Lebanon when I got to Rmeich. On their Facebook page they have the history of the village which was quite interesting. But what was most interesting of all was they listed where all the families in the village were originally from. Most families were from the Kesarwan region but low and behold the Habib family was listed from Derdghaya originally.....so now the question is what was the original family name as there is no Habib family from Derdghaya. I'm hedging my bet that they are originally Zarka.
I've contacted the admin from the Facebook page who was quite helpful and will speak to some people and find out for me.
24/12/11 As I found out recently the Habib family are originally Rizk family not Zarka
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Its the little things......
Its amazing what you don't know about your family when you start your family research. I never claimed to know much but I quickly learnt that I knew absolutely nothing. I started with my grandfathers name and my grandmothers names, I even had my Grandmothers maiden name wrong.....I thought it was Rizk when it was actually Zarka.
I wrote in all my uncles and aunts their spouses and children. These were things I knew so didn't really have to ask anyone. The only gap I had was that of my aunt who lives in Israel who was never able to return to Lebanon after the war in 1948.
I then decided I wanted to go further back to my great grandfather easy enough as my Mum could answer that....they always called my grandfather Najib Boulos so his father was Boulos Khoury. My great grandmothers name was a little bit of a mystery but after a week my mum remembered her name but didn't know her maiden name.....quick email to my cousin and that was answered. I was starting to think this is easy......how wrong I was.
I asked my mum what were my grandfathers brothers and sisters names....."oh he was an only child" my mum answered. Well that messed every thing up as I had compiled a long list of Khoury's from Derdghaya using the last electoral roll from 2009. How was I to link all of them now.
Another thing I noticed was that between my oldest uncle and my aunt who was the second youngest there was a 6 year gap. This is some thing you dont see in families of that generation. Children were born every year or every 2 years never a gap of 6 years. On further discussion with my mother she said that my grandparents had a baby boy called Boulos that died as a baby. This was tied into a story that my grandfather never allowed any of my uncles or my father to name their children Boulos as the name was cursed. So in our branch of the family their isn't a Boulos Khoury to be seen, considering its the name of our founding father.
Well that filled one gap but my mother just figured there was a mistake in registering children's births. When I was in Lebanon I asked my father and he told me there was a baby girl that was born called Randa that also died as a baby. He didn't know how she died but baby Boulos had died when he was suffocated by his blanket.
These are just some of the little things that help connect the jigsaw together. There are more stories of murderers and wars against raiding bandits which I'll going into later.
I wrote in all my uncles and aunts their spouses and children. These were things I knew so didn't really have to ask anyone. The only gap I had was that of my aunt who lives in Israel who was never able to return to Lebanon after the war in 1948.
I then decided I wanted to go further back to my great grandfather easy enough as my Mum could answer that....they always called my grandfather Najib Boulos so his father was Boulos Khoury. My great grandmothers name was a little bit of a mystery but after a week my mum remembered her name but didn't know her maiden name.....quick email to my cousin and that was answered. I was starting to think this is easy......how wrong I was.
I asked my mum what were my grandfathers brothers and sisters names....."oh he was an only child" my mum answered. Well that messed every thing up as I had compiled a long list of Khoury's from Derdghaya using the last electoral roll from 2009. How was I to link all of them now.
Another thing I noticed was that between my oldest uncle and my aunt who was the second youngest there was a 6 year gap. This is some thing you dont see in families of that generation. Children were born every year or every 2 years never a gap of 6 years. On further discussion with my mother she said that my grandparents had a baby boy called Boulos that died as a baby. This was tied into a story that my grandfather never allowed any of my uncles or my father to name their children Boulos as the name was cursed. So in our branch of the family their isn't a Boulos Khoury to be seen, considering its the name of our founding father.
Well that filled one gap but my mother just figured there was a mistake in registering children's births. When I was in Lebanon I asked my father and he told me there was a baby girl that was born called Randa that also died as a baby. He didn't know how she died but baby Boulos had died when he was suffocated by his blanket.
These are just some of the little things that help connect the jigsaw together. There are more stories of murderers and wars against raiding bandits which I'll going into later.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Meeting new family....
When I started this journey I never knew where it would lead me but it was a journey I had to make. It has brought me into contact with some wonderful people I never knew and would never have known if it wasn't for my desire to know my family history.
On Facebook there is a page for our village Derdghaya. I once noticed a post on there from a gentleman named Emile John, he was looking for relatives from the Elia family. His father had emigrated to America sometime in the early 1900's. I didn't ignore the post but really knew no information at that stage.
Some months later I messaged Emile saying I would ask one of my cousin if she could find out some information as I had noticed Elia family on her friends list......this came to nothing as she couldn't garner any information about Emile's family. Some months later I was getting into some research and decided I'd make a trip to Lebanon to see me Dad and at the same time ask him some questions about the family and do as much research as I could in the month I would be there. I decided to contact Emile to let him know and get some information to use while I was there.
Well Emile had compiled a Family Tree with some help from his cousin Tamine. I had it emailed to me and to my surprise realised that a lot of Elias and Khoury's had married each other, though I had no idea who they were or if they were related to my Khoury's but logic told me they were.
Well the second day we were in Lebanon we headed off to my Dads place in Derdghaya for a couple of days. After dinner one night I broached the subject of the family tree with my Dad who seemed a little surprised at what I was doing but at the same time impressed at what information I had been able to garner on my own. I opened the subject of the Elia family and mentioned Emile's Grandmother Azizi to which my Dad straight away said that's your Grandfathers Aunt. Well not only had there been marriages between the Elia family and the Khoury's but we were actually blood relatives.
So from just an enquiring question on Facebook I ended up finding a cousin I never knew that I had. Today even though I have never met Emile I consider him a friend and have been able to share a lot of information together to make the family tree much larger than what it was to start with.
Moral of the story is when you are researching never disregard any information you come across and sometimes by helping others it broadens your horizons.
On Facebook there is a page for our village Derdghaya. I once noticed a post on there from a gentleman named Emile John, he was looking for relatives from the Elia family. His father had emigrated to America sometime in the early 1900's. I didn't ignore the post but really knew no information at that stage.
Some months later I messaged Emile saying I would ask one of my cousin if she could find out some information as I had noticed Elia family on her friends list......this came to nothing as she couldn't garner any information about Emile's family. Some months later I was getting into some research and decided I'd make a trip to Lebanon to see me Dad and at the same time ask him some questions about the family and do as much research as I could in the month I would be there. I decided to contact Emile to let him know and get some information to use while I was there.
Well Emile had compiled a Family Tree with some help from his cousin Tamine. I had it emailed to me and to my surprise realised that a lot of Elias and Khoury's had married each other, though I had no idea who they were or if they were related to my Khoury's but logic told me they were.
Well the second day we were in Lebanon we headed off to my Dads place in Derdghaya for a couple of days. After dinner one night I broached the subject of the family tree with my Dad who seemed a little surprised at what I was doing but at the same time impressed at what information I had been able to garner on my own. I opened the subject of the Elia family and mentioned Emile's Grandmother Azizi to which my Dad straight away said that's your Grandfathers Aunt. Well not only had there been marriages between the Elia family and the Khoury's but we were actually blood relatives.
So from just an enquiring question on Facebook I ended up finding a cousin I never knew that I had. Today even though I have never met Emile I consider him a friend and have been able to share a lot of information together to make the family tree much larger than what it was to start with.
Moral of the story is when you are researching never disregard any information you come across and sometimes by helping others it broadens your horizons.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Derdghaya....
Derdghaya is the name of the village I come from. I t is in South Lebanon about 15 km east of Tyre. These days the village is no where near as full as most people live in Beirut or have emigrated around the world. There is around 800 registered voters on the electoral roll, though there could be more than twice that if all the emigrants had registered their children.
The village name is of the Syriac language like most village names through out Lebanon. It means a place of pure beauty and is written in Syriac as ܕܪܕܓܐܝܐ
Derdghaya was settled some time in the late 18th century by my Great great great grandfather Boulos Rizk......that's another blog by itself
Most of the villagers farm tobacco, olives, corn, lentils, worked as stone masons or a combination of both. The Church St Georges was built in 1911 so its century celebration was held in March this year. From what I understand there was only a small chapel before the Church was built.
There are around 6 prominent family names being Rizk, Khoury, Badawi, Zarka, Raad and Elia. These families are either related by blood or through marriage generations ago. So if you you from one of those families its likely we are are cousins. The story I was told was that if you married a girl from Derdghaya you had to be a brave strong man and had to move to the village. This is how the village grew.
The village name is of the Syriac language like most village names through out Lebanon. It means a place of pure beauty and is written in Syriac as ܕܪܕܓܐܝܐ
Derdghaya was settled some time in the late 18th century by my Great great great grandfather Boulos Rizk......that's another blog by itself
Most of the villagers farm tobacco, olives, corn, lentils, worked as stone masons or a combination of both. The Church St Georges was built in 1911 so its century celebration was held in March this year. From what I understand there was only a small chapel before the Church was built.
There are around 6 prominent family names being Rizk, Khoury, Badawi, Zarka, Raad and Elia. These families are either related by blood or through marriage generations ago. So if you you from one of those families its likely we are are cousins. The story I was told was that if you married a girl from Derdghaya you had to be a brave strong man and had to move to the village. This is how the village grew.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Today I received a reply to an email I sent. I must have a 1000 or so emails or Facebook message out in world wide web some where, so its always nice when I receive a reply....especially when it has some information I didn't have.
I was sitting up late last night cruising the net hoping to be able to pluck some thing out of the ectoplasm that could be useful in helping me fill the gaps in the tree. Nothing was able to be found so I decided to message someone I thought was related to my Grandmother.....I had been putting it off as I haven't had much luck lately getting a response to my messages or emails......low and behold I wake up this morning and realise I have mail.
Well as it works out he wasn't related to my Grandmother but the information I got helped fill a hole in the tree. I also realised today that I really should learn some French because the email came back in French....God bless google translate.
So now the hunt continues for the relatives in West Africa. Suppose I will send a few more messages and emails out there and see if I can catch a little fishy....
I was sitting up late last night cruising the net hoping to be able to pluck some thing out of the ectoplasm that could be useful in helping me fill the gaps in the tree. Nothing was able to be found so I decided to message someone I thought was related to my Grandmother.....I had been putting it off as I haven't had much luck lately getting a response to my messages or emails......low and behold I wake up this morning and realise I have mail.
Well as it works out he wasn't related to my Grandmother but the information I got helped fill a hole in the tree. I also realised today that I really should learn some French because the email came back in French....God bless google translate.
So now the hunt continues for the relatives in West Africa. Suppose I will send a few more messages and emails out there and see if I can catch a little fishy....
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