International Day of the Lebanese Emigrant 2016 at

International Day of the Lebanese Emigrant 2016 at SFU A Request to the Lebanese Diaspora: please help us in the search for Thomas family “roots” In loving memory of my wife Mary Frances Francis Saeed/Siad/Sayed/Sier/Seth George Siad Thomas Sackett By Beau Jon Sackett

Mary’s 1 st attempt to find her roots through LCS: 1998 Mary’s topic: “My Life as a Second Generation Lebanese in North America”

Meet Mary and her Thomas family Francis with all 3 kids in front: Mary, Michael, Theresa (picture taken by his wife, their mom) Theresa, still looking after Mary during her 27 year fight with cancer Theresa (3) looks after Mary (5) following her release from the polio hospital Mary, making bread with her feet

Thomas Grandparents Wedding Portrait: ~1897

Thomas Family, getting ready to leave Lebanon: late 1902, or early 1903 Unknown woman in middle rear “Beirut Nasr Aoun Photograph” Rear of photo

This is what we know, so far: Lebanon • Grandpa “Saeed” Thomas born somewhere in Lebanon: 1874 • Grandma Susan (Ferris) Thomas born somewhere in Lebanon: 1881 • Marriage in Lebanon: (date and place unknown) • George Thomas born to Saeed and Susan somewhere in Lebanon: 1898 • Victoria Thomas born somewhere in Lebanon: 1902 • Thomas family leaves Lebanon for the USA: (late 1903 or) 1904

Maybe they traveled on one of these ships? Port of Beirut: 1904

This is what we know, so far: USA • Thomas family arrives in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA: 1904 • 9 more Thomas children born in Worcester, Mass. , USA: 1905 -1920 (Mary’s dad, in 1919) • Grandma Susan Thomas dies in Worcester: 1922 • Grandpa “Saeed” Thomas dies in Worcester: 1924 • Family is split up (some kids went to an orphanage, others fended for themselves) – “Uncle Peter Ferris” adopted Anthony and Josephine • WW 2 starts, three youngest brothers joined US Army together, went to Texas for “boot camp”, never rejoined family in New England after the war

This is what we don’t know, and need help with • What village in Lebanon did the Thomas family come from? • What is Grandpa Thomas’ first name, in Arabic? • Is “Thomas” really “Saeed’s” family name? • How is Peter Ferris related to Susan Ferris? • When did Peter emigrate to Massachusetts/USA? • Did Susan Ferris have any (other) siblings? • What village in Lebanon did the Ferris family come from?

Lebanese Genealogy: Knowns and Unknowns Great Grandparents Peter ? ? Ferris Peter Ferris ? ? Grandparents 11) Alfred Thomas ? -? “Parents” 9) Anthony Thomas (Ferris) 1916 -? 10) Francis Anthony Thomas 1919 -1996 Mary Frances Thomas 1946 -2015 Esther Anthony George Siad ? ? Susan Ferris 1881 -1922 Martha Teckla ? ? Thomas 1874 -1924 7) Josephine Thomas (Ferris) ? -? 5) Walter Thomas 1909 -1945 3) Michael Thomas 1905 -1964 1) George Thomas 1898 -1970 8) Philip Thomas ? -? 6) Mary Thomas ? -? 4) Alice (Uid) Thomas 1908 -1985 2) Victoria Thomas 1902 -1968 ID uncertain Adopted Born in Lebanon

Maybe They Were From Bsharri? Clues cited so far: - Clothing styles in wedding picture - They were Maronites - The family emigrated to Worcester, Mass. , at the same time as Kahlil (Khalil) Gibran, and others from Bsharri Sectarian map of Lebanon

What is Grandpa Thomas’ first name in Arabic? “First Name” in American records Where it appears Note(s) Sier US 1920 Census It also notes he was illiterate (maybe only in English, though? ) Said Mary’s dad’s birth certificate (next slide) “Everyone” in the family called him “Saeed” Siad His gravestone (next slide) Sayed (nowhere – yet) Only a suggestion, because this is similar to Siad and is a common name in northern Lebanon Seth (sometimes: Seth Siad) Massachusetts family stories, from Alice (Uid) Thomas Alice’s name appears as “Uid” in the 1920 US Census.

Siad or Said (in official records)?

Is “Thomas” their real family name? • Yes: it is listed that way on US records and Grandma/Grandpa Thomas gravestone • No: family oral history – Siad: family name is sometimes shown this way (i. e. , “Grandpa Thomas” is called “Seth Siad” in some places) in family history documents.

Next Steps toward eliminating “What we don’t know” slide • I will: – Continue investigating North American genealogical records to fill in what can be found there. – Update this deck on the website when I find useful new information • If anyone knows how to access Ottoman Empire-era Lebanese Birth/Marriage/Death records, please help by making comments below, or by contacting me one of these ways: – email info@wlcu. org (international ) – Or LCSBC@wlcu. org (local) – Facebook: https: //www. facebook. com/wlcu. org/

Credits, so far …. Dr. Nick Kahwaji in 2012 with (Dr. ) Guita Hourani and Mrs. Liliane Haddad of Lebanese Emigration Research Center (LERC) at Notre Dame University – Louaize (NDU) Fr. Andraos Hannoun of http: //www. libanoamerica. com/ Thank you all for your help. We’ll probably be talking again, I hope.