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Christian Michael Brand was born on March 9, 1988. He and Sarah Skaff were married on May 10, 2015 in Charleston, WV.

Leo Lanham Brand was born on February 6, 2020 in Charleston, WV.

Karen Frances McDaniel was born on November 15, 1966 in Charleston, WV. She and Christopher Thomas Sadd were married on November 18, 2014 in Charleston, WV.

Patrick Purcell was born on November 26, 1977. He and Christine Louise Ellis were married on October 11, 2008 in Chatham, MA.

Lena (Numnum) Saba was born on April 16, 1887 in Ain-Arab, Lebanon. She and William Elias Haddad Ellis were married on July 9, 1903 in Sioux City, IA. She died on March 8, 1956, at age 68, in Charleston, WV.

Lena is a descendant of the Attiyeh Family and there is much oral tradition concerning the members of this Christian Arab tribe, which ruled the Southern Syrian Desert in the eighth century A.D. Here is the story of what is generally thought to be the background of the Attiyeh Family.

When the wave of Islam spread through the area, many were converted, stayed in the desert, and became Bedouins (desert-dwelling nomads). There still resides a tribe called the Atiya in northern Saudi Arabia. The Christians left seeking refuge in what is now Syria and Lebanon, and eventually to Ain-Arab (now part of Lebanon, but at the time was part of Syria, which in turn was a part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.)

Attiyeh (used as his 1st name too) was Lena's great-grandfather and was considered to be the revered patriarch of the family. He and his brother, Nimmer, were the first to settle in the Ain-Arab area, and he became Mayor of the town. The Ottomans had opened up this area for the people to settle in. What attracted Attiyeh and Nimmer to the area was the plentiful water--three springs. As anyone in the Middle East knows, water is life itself.

Many of the Attiyehs immigrated to the U.S. during the 1890s because of the promise of America. The route from Lebanon was typical: by horseback from Ain-Arab to Beirut, by steamship from Beirut to Marseilles, France, and then by train across France to either Cherbourg or Havre (two northern French ports), then again by boat to Ellis Island in New York harbor, and finally by train to the Midwest. Others came by way of New York, Veracruz, and Mexico City to the Midwest.

Many Attiyehs came first to Iowa (Sioux City and Cedar Rapids), and then to North Dakota, which included the Saba family. Lena, her sister Marina Saba (Mrs. George Abodeeley), and her brother, Mike Saba, were in a group of many families who eventually farmed in the Denhoff, ND, area.

Today, the Attiyehs number over a thousand in the New World.

William Elias Haddad Ellis was born on April 12, 1884 in Jib Jannine, Lebanon. He and Lena (Numnum) Saba were married on July 9, 1903 in Sioux City, IA. He died on January 22, 1954, at age 69, in Charleston, WV.

William immigrated to the U.S. in 1898, married Lena Saba in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1903, and had eight sons and one daughter. Two of the sons died as infants and not much is known about them. After moving the family to Charleston, WV in 1924, William and Lena peddled merchandise in the Cabin Creek area of Kanawha County. They bought their merchandise from Guthrie Morris Co. and Thomas Field Co., and pursued this venture together. Many immigrants were peddlers, and they would hawk their wares wherever they could, carrying their businesses on their backs.

Later he became a barber and then opened a grocery store at 710 Court Street. In 1931-32, he moved the store to Washington and Bradford Streets, and in 1937, he moved it to Washington and Morris Streets. During this time, there were about 28 grocery stores owned by Lebanese/Syrian immigrants located on Washington Street between the Elk River Bridge and the Kanawha City Bridge. Finally, after his sons, Floyd and Russell, returned from World War II, the three of them opened a grocery store on Main Street, the West Side of Charleston.

In their early years, they lived on Margaret Street, but eventually moved the family to Washington Street.

According to their cemetery headstones, William and his brother, George, report birthdays that make them only 3 months and 12 days apart. However, after checking the Courthouse Records, a "duplicate" Death Certificate was filed by son, Russell, several weeks after the first one was filed by wife, Lena. The only difference was the name of the "Informant" and the date of birth. On the second death certificate, Date of Birth was listed as April 10, 1884, so maybe this solves the mystery of when William was born. However, his cemetery headstone was not corrected, and still lists the 1882 date.

Sierra Marie Jones and Rachel Kathryn Holstein were married on January 27, 2014.

Miriam Mary Abdo died (__.)

Alma Kathryn Abodeely was born on February 24, 1918 in Cedar Rapids, IA. She and Saba William (Sr) Ellis were married on May 5, 1940 in Cedar Rapids, IA. She died on April 28, 2003, at age 85, in Madison, WV.

George Abodeely died (__.)

Harrison (Harry) Asher Adams was born on January 26, 2012 in Columbus, OH.

Henry Ray Adams was born on November 24, 2009 in Columbus, OH.

Troy Daniel Adams was born on February 18, 1977 in Jeffersonville, IN. He and Laura Ellis McClure were married on May 8, 2004 in Madison, WV.

Abdallah Attiyeh died (__.)

Abdullah (father=Nimmer) Attiyeh died (__.)

Abraham Attiyeh died (__.)

Abraham (father=Nimmer) Attiyeh died (__.)

Attiyeh Attiyeh died (__.)

The Attiyehs are the descendants of a Christian Arab tribe which ruled the Southern Syrian Desert in the eighth century A.D. When the wave of Islam spread through the area, many were converted, stayed in the desert, and became Bedouins. There still resides a tribe called the Atiya in northern Saudi Arabia. The Christians left seeking refuge in what is now Syria and Lebanon, and eventually to Ain-Arab (now part of Lebanon, but at the time was part of Syria, which in turn was a part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.)

Attiyeh (father=Abraham) Attiyeh died (__.)

Attiyeh Hanna Mahfouz Attiyeh died (__.)

Mayor of Ain-Arab. The Attiyehs are the descendants of a Christian Arab tribe which ruled the Southern Syrian Desert in the eighth century A.D. When the wave of Islam spread through the area, many were converted, stayed in the desert, and became Bedouins. There still resides a tribe called the Atiya in northern Saudi Arabia. The Christians left seeking refuge in what is now Syria and Lebanon, and eventually to Ain-Arab (now part of Lebanon, but at the time was part of Syria, which in turn was a part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.)

After obtaining a piece of land, he and his brother, Nimmer, began to cultivate grapes and wheat, and built presses for the grapes and mills for the flour.

Attiyeh and his wife had seven sons and 39 grandchildren, all born and reared in Ain Arab.

Della Attiyeh died (__.)

Eesa Attiyeh died (__.)

Elias Attiyeh died (__.)

Farris (father=Nicola) Attiyeh died (__.)