Presented Wednesday November 5th, 2008
(5-7 Minutes)
To realize dreams; To change the world; To worship God in peace. These are some reasons why my ancestors left the Old World behind and made America their new home.
One hundred years ago, Christians in Syria were being persecuted and oppressed by Muslim fundamentalism and Turkish rule. Christians were treated as inferior citizens, yet they were forced to pay higher taxes. Intolerance between religions grew into an uprising. The details of my Syrian people are not completely known. But I do know that I had a great-great-great grandmother named SABATH (YAZIGI) LADHANI, and that she was a young Christian girl living in Damascus when on a Sunday in July of 1860, Muslim men began demonstrating in the street against the local Christians by drawing crosses on the ground and then stomping and spitting on them. What followed the next day was hell on earth.
Here's an account from the Banner of Liberty Newspaper published in Middletown, New York in August of 1860:
"At two PM three hundred of the lowest Moslems of Damascus, rushed, armed, into the Christian quarter, crying Slay the dogs of Christianity and immediately the work of plunder, burning and murder commenced." "four thousand Christians, it was calculated, had been murdered, all in cold blood" "In Beyrout the panic among the native Christians has been something fearful... They are embarking by hundreds in the different merchant steamers" "Syria has had a blow from which she will not recover for sixty years."
Instead of putting a stop to the violence, the Turkish army joined in the killing. Forty years later in 1899, Sabath was 55 years old when her name appears here on line 11 of this passenger record for a French merchant ship called the S.S. La Normandie. Sabath was shown traveling with her husband Nesrala, five children, one daughter-in-law, and two grandsons. They settled in a Syrian colony in Jacksonville, Florida, where they changed their last name from Ladhani to David, and became business owners. It has been said that a person could earn in two years in America what it took two generations to earn in Syria. And the David Family was finally free to worship God in their own way.
While great-great-great grandma was seeing things no young girl has any business witnessing, a young man was embarking on his own journey.
HAYO EBERHARDT THADEN, a great-great-grandfather of mine, emigrated from Prussia at age 19 in 1862. In America he became known as Herman and he settled in Atlanta, Georgia where he had many occupations, including florist, gardener, and inventor. He invented many different useful things, but in 1910 he patented an airship. Yes, I mean a flying machine. This is a copy of the actual patent from the United States Patent Office, and I would like to read this little bit aloud to you: "This invention relates to improvements in air ships, and particularly to air ships having lifting means and sustaining planes cooperating with propelling means..." Pass this around and be sure to flip to the back where the diagrams are located. Here also is a photo of the flying machine from an Atlanta newspaper.
While great-great-granddad was inventing airships, a poor Sicilian family was saying goodbye to their only son.
GIUSEPPE ROMEO, my great-grandfather, wanted nothing more than to be a musician, but his father was a farmer and did not consider music to be a very wise career choice. Farm life in Sicily was hard work, and there were limited opportunities for anything different, making Giuseppe determined to leave Sicily behind for good, which he finally did at the age of 16. In America, Giuseppe became known as Joe, and Joe became a percussionist in a small marching band. Joe was volunteered to join the U.S. Army during the First Great War and he played percussion in the Army band. When he returned from Europe, Joe settled in Washington, D.C. and became a business owner, while he continued playing music. In 1930 Joe founded his own band, the Holy Rosary Catholic Church Band. He directed this band until his retirement in 1978, at the sweet young age of 85. Here are some pictures of Joe directing his band:
Everyone in this room is descended from immigrants who chose to come here for a better life than they were looking forward to in the old country. There are even some immigrants here among us who chose to leave their homeland behind to start a new life. I encourage each of you to discover your ancestors to learn why you are here instead of somewhere else. Find out what sort of opportunities drove your people to come to America. And never forget to follow your dreams.
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