Preserve the Roots

In 1995, we had a combined Salomon family reunion and 50th wedding anniversary for my grandparents (John Salomon & Widad Isaac) in Flint, Michigan. With the help of my great-grandmother and others, my cousin Nora Moncada, put together a Salomon family history book. She was able to get stories from older family members and record them in English & Spanish.

I'd like to share this story about my great-great grandparents, Juan (Hanna) & Miladeh, taken from the book:

The picture that was used on the ID of Baseel Issa Ishaq. The date of this picture is unknown, but this is the oldest picture we have from Baseel. Baseel was most likely born in Beit Sahour about 1898. His father is Issa Salameh Ishaq and his mother is Nemeh Ibrahim Khoury.

Baseel attended a few classes at the Greek Orthodox school of Beit Sahour. He learned to read and write in Arabic and English. He also spoke some Greek.

He married "Labibeh Issa Hannoneh" about the year 1919 and had eight children (three daughters and five sons).

"Baseel Issa Salameh Ishaq" was most likely born in Beit Sahour about 1898. He married "Labibeh Issa Hannoneh" about the year 1919. Labibeh was born about 1906. They had eight children (3 daughters and five sons) who survived to become adults and at least a daughter and a son who died as children. Baseel died in Beit Sahour on 23 December 1973 and Labibeh died on 15 June 1991. Both are buried in the Greek Orthodox cemetery in Beit Sahour. The picture was taken in Amman, Jordan at a wedding of one of the sons of "George Nicola Yousef Ishaq".

I have been thinking of a contribution to this site for some time, until our cousin Isam Isaac suggested that I might share some important family documents I already shared on Facebook last year. But for the sake of documenting our oral history in detail, I will share some of them with some description. These documents were preserved by my grandmother Suad Khalil Isaac (Maiden name: Abuaita) the wife of my late grandfather Nimer Nicola Issa Salameh Isaac.

The last name Issac or Ishaq from Beit Sahour stems from a common ancestor which also includes these last names- Habbas, AbuAitah, Salem, Qassis, Ibrahim, among others. If you trace the Ishaq ancestor back to 1630 you come to Dawoud Al-Qazaha. My grandmother's maiden name and her mother's maiden name is Ishaq. But on my grandfather's side, his mother's maiden name is Habbas, descending also from Dawoud Al-Qazaha through the branch of AbuAitah.

If you are reading this post, then it’s highly likely we are cousins to some degree. After discussing Ishaq family history with Isam for quite some time, he asked me to be a guest blogger on the site. I thought I would begin by introducing myself.