From Phoenicia to the United States & Beyond...
Welcome One And All, "My name is Jessica Marti Youness (Maalouf)and I have been involved with genealogy for several years. I have had the privilege of knowing many of the relatives from Minnesota (where I was born) to Michigan (where I lived for over 30 years) and beyond. I now reside with my family in Virginia Beach, Virginia."
"Through this website, I would like to share basic information, so it is not forgotten and may be passed on to our children and our children's children and so on... "
"By sharing this family information, 'you will never be alone,' there will always be a family member to connect to, even if it is through memories of a loved one who has passed. So come with me on a journey through time and visit the history of our family..."
Written and quoted by Jessica Marti Youness (Maalouf), author, genealogist and 'researcher of many subjects...'
A brief history of our Youness Maalouf Family
I would first like to begin by explaining the spelling of our last name of "Maalouf," (which is now spelled many different ways). My cousin Georges Maalouf (now passed) and I, would often have very long conversations about genealogy, ancient cultures and civilizations, that pertained to our family history. He told me many times, that the correct spelling of "Maalouf" was as such and how he continued to spell our last name the correct way. Some of the Maalouf family that lives in the United States have since changed the spelling of our family name to "Maloof."
"The picture above and to the left, is a picture of my great grand parents, Khalil (Charles) Youness Maalouf and his wife Hanna Bunijm Maalouf, (known as Anna). "
" When Khalil arrived to the United States alone in 1896, he went through processing at Ellis Island, the people there dropped the last name of "Maalouf." I am not so sure that my great grandfather realized what this meant at the time, because he really did not understand English and the people at Ellis Island were not courteous or respectful of immigrants and many people would do anything to be allowed into America, giving up a family name was one of them. "
"He then traveled to Rugby, North Dakota, (being promised free land by the government) by way of wagon, selling goods along the trail to earn money to bring his family to America, these men were called "Prairie Peddlers." The land the government was giving away to immigrants and homesteaders, was Native American land. Most of the people who would homestead the land, did not know the government was giving away Native American land, that was forcibly taken away from them, which caused a lot of fighting and unrest for all. This is where my great grandfather and many others settled and began homesteading what was to become the family farm."
"In 1898 my great grandfather sent for his eldest son, Sam, (my grandfather) and his brother Joe, traveling to America with them, were Joe and Nick Azar."
"In November 1901 my great grandfather sent for his wife Anna and their three younger children, Rose, John and Mike, along with Rachel Bunijm Howard and her son Fred. They had to endure more problems, fore John got very sick and they had to get off the boat in France. When John was well enough to travel the family realized someone had switched their tickets and they now had a longer journey getting to America. They could not speak English and eventually were reunited with their family in North Dakota."
"Around 1904 my great grandfather Khalil, his wife Anna and their 4 younger children moved to the town of Williston, North Dakota, and my grandfather Sam moved into the original family homestead in Rugby, North Dakota with his beautiful new bride, my grandmother, "Zaheya" Jessica Sawaya Youness."
"In 1907 my great grandfather Khalil and his wife Anna and their four children moved to a farm in Williston, North Dakota and homesteaded it. Unfortunately because of World War I and the bad crops, the farms were not productive and the family suffered many hardships and around 1912 Sam, Jessica and their children moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, looking for work."
"In 1923 Khalil passed away in Williston, leaving behind a large family. He wanted a better life for his family, a life of equality, and free from the constant wars of the old country, he died with a dream of hope and safety for his family. "
"Shortly after his death, Anna and the children moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. By this time, my grandparents Sam and Jessica had 6 children of their own, Jane, James, Violet, Charles (my father), Mary and Philip. "
"Unfortunately life for them, continued to be very hard and in 1925 my grandfather Sam, passed away, leaving Jessica and 3 children under 18, out of their 6 children, to take care of."
"Anna," was extremely grief stricken, first her husband passes and two years later, her beloved eldest son, Sam, my grandfather passed away."
"The families pulled together as best as they could and with the help of their Orthodox church and other family and friends they survived."
"This is but a small fraction of our family's story. What we do with this information is up to us, but one thing we must all do, is remember what our forefathers gave up, to have their children and their children's children have a better life, a safe life, a life free from war, a life to choose how they live and the opportunity to evolve into something better, fore they gave us this chance, which we must never forget."
Written by Jessica Marti Youness (Maalouf), daughter of Charles Youness (Maalouf), son of Samuel Youness Maalouf, eldest son of Khalil Youness Maalouf and so on and so on...
"I would like to thank my cousin Beverly Youness Maalouf Zien Zaine for always wanting our family to be connected and loved, she is a beautiful person inside and out, and who I affectionately call Aunt Bev., this website is dedicated to her." Forever and Always~ Jessica~