Living on our block was the Joseph Modi family. Although sons Ed and Paul were a few years older than I, I saw much of them when I was growing up. There were several things in their favor, one of the most important, at least in our young eyes, was their father's owning the Idle Hour Nickelodeon, an early movie theater. Located on the ground floor of the Masonic building on Clarksburg Street, the Idle Hour was something special.

For a nickel you could see far away places and exciting stories. There were segments of serials, which left you in suspense for a whole week, left you wondering if the heroine, last seen tied to a railroad track, or the hero, dangling perilously over a cliff, would be able to escape almost certain death in the next episode. As I became a little older I not only enjoyed the movies, but liked being with Ed Modi in his projection booth world, seeing how he kept the theater going mechanically and electrically. Ed grew up to become an electrical and mechanical genius.

In high school I played baseball and football with Paul Modi the year our high school educations overlapped. Continuing his formal education, Paul became a medical doctor.

Later the Lebanese brothers Fred and Philip Shine joined me in football efforts in high school, and Hamilton "Pete" Petres, a classmate, and I played basketball together. There were numerous young Lebanese in school, Anna and Blanche Petres and others.

One of them, Abdo Nassif, could have been a tremendous help, athletically, to Mannington High School if he hadn't dropped out of school, since he had strength and stamina far above the average youth. In the 1920s Abdo, fighting as a welterweight (between 142-147 pounds), along with Clarence Melat, Mickey O'Brien, Gerald "Doc" Elliot, "Shorty" Ney, and other Manningtonians, engaged in many boxing bouts in our town and neighboring towns and cities. Abdo worked as a bricklayer's helper in constructing a new high school building in 1924-25. One day he had his teeth pulled, but continued working. Two days later, after carrying bricks, sand, and cement up flights of stairs all day, he boxed that evening in Morgantown against a larger opponent and won by a knockout. "The only difficulty," reported Abdo's manager, Gerald Elliot, "was in keeping Abdo's mouth packed enough to stop the bleeding from his gums, as his teeth had been pulled only two days before."

Both Elliot and Clarence Melat, who trained with Nassif, declared Abdo hit with devastating force. "To be on the receiving end of one of his good punches was like being kicked by a mule." William Nassif, a younger brother of Abdo, said, "Once in a bout in Weirton, Abdo hit his opponent so hard the fighter spit out teeth."

In my childhood and youth the Lebanese were called Syrians, not Lebanese, as Lebanon then did not exist as an independent nation, but was an integral part of Turkish-ruled Syria. After World War I the English and French assumed mandated power of Syria. Then a few years later the northern area was subdivided into several political units, which were given the collective name of the "Levant States." One of those units was called Lebanon. At the close of World War I the Lebanon subdivision became the independent nation of Lebanon, and the other units were annexed by Syria.

The so-called "Syrians" in Mannington of my younger years were from what is now the nation of Lebanon. Almost all of them had come from a mountain town, Beit Meri (House of Mary), some six miles from Beirut; a few had migrated from Ein Saide, a neighboring village of Beit Meri; and at least one family was from Beirut.

It was interesting to learn why large numbers of Lebanese (Syrians from what is now Lebanon) came to America and went elsewhere in the latter portion of the 19th century and the early 1900s. While through the ages many emigrations have been due largely to economic causes, the unsettling conditions which prompted great numbers of Lebanese to uproot themselves and seek a new land were a mingling of economic and religious factors. In addition to those who eked out a living farming the poor soil of the Lebanon mountains, plains, and valleys, there were many traders, merchants and manufacturers, who bought, sold and exchanged merchandise, and manufactured products. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 dealt a severe blow to the Lebanese traders and manufacturers of silk products, because that waterway brought in strong Japanese competition. Economically many Lebanese were hurt. Mingled with that injury were the actions of the Turks, the Muslim rulers of Syria, who oppressed, discriminated against, and persecuted their subjects who were infidels--meaning all those who were not Muslims. Of all the Arabic groups in the Middle East, the people of Lebanon had by far the largest percentage of Christians among them and consequently felt the heavy hand of the rulers of the Ottoman Empire.

From the 1880s until World War I Lebanese migrated by the thousands, chiefly to North and South America and Australia. Probably the pattern of the migration was similar to that established by those coming to Mannington. One or a few energetic Lebanese would emigrate to a locality which looked promising, go to work, live economically, as they had been forced to do in Syria, save money, and send for relatives to join them in the new location. In all probability the first Lebanese came to our town because of the oil boom. When the first oil well, completed in the fall of 1889, was followed in the spring and summer of 1890 by a number of successful oil producing wells, word of the boom spread.

A Lebanese to arrive early in Mannington was Frank Cook (David). The story is that one day the Mannington B & O Railroad station master found Frank in the waiting room, unable to speak or understand English, and wearing a tag labeled "Mannington, W. Va." When the railroad employee told others of the foreigner's plight, a local family took the newcomer home, provided food and shelter, and helped him get started in his new country. It seems that Frank, wanting to come to Mannington, had debarked from a ship at a Virginia port, for the person or persons routing him to Mannington, W. VA., U.S.A., failed to distinguish between Virginia and West Virginia, as is often the case. Finally Frank arrived at his destination by train.

Harry Golden, author of Forgotten Pioneer, a book on the early peddlers in America, answered the question, "Why did many immigrant boys and men take to peddling?", By saying peddling was the quickest way for them to get started in this country as they couldn't speak the language and, often looking different, were handicapped in finding work. By peddling they didn't present themselves, but their goods, and in the process they learned the language as well as supported themselves.

Frank Cook began by peddling, made a living, and after a while saved enough to send money to Lebanon for a relative to come to Mannington. Later he and his brother, Joe David, had a store. Sometime afterward Frank had his own store. Unfortunately he never learned to read or write English, and that, along with his readiness to extend credit to customers, some of who took advantage of him, eventually hurt Frank economically.

Many of the young male Lebanese peddled on foot, taking merchandise from Mannington to people in isolated country areas. In their early days here a few Lebanese women also peddled. One of these was Mrs. Abraham (or Abeland) Shannon, who came here at the beginning of the oil boom. Often after a period of back peddling the men bought a horse or mule and a wagon or buggy and expanded their peddling business. Later some of them opened stores or other business establishments.

Abraham D. Modi, a West Virginia University graduate, who taught industrial arts at West Fairmont High School and operated an upholstery business in Fairmont, gave me a good account of his father's early experiences:

"My father came to Mannington in the early spring of 1899, coming to the little town of Mannington in the early oil excitement days. He began back peddling, bringing clothing and merchandise to the people in the country back of Flat Run, over to Fairview and on to Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. He stopped at many little farms and stayed overnight. His pack consisted of dry goods, mostly cut yardage, and clothing, shirts, work clothing, socks, pants, and underwear. These he carried in one large pack weighing 200 or more pounds. The pack was supported by a strap, which went over his left shoulder, and although the strap was rather wide, it rubbed his shoulder enough to make a calloused place. The callous remained on his shoulder until his death, many years after he quit peddling on foot. In addition to the large backpack, he carried a hand grip, which held combs, thread, needles, and all such notions that women and men would need, like shaving soap, straight razors, and just about all the non-toiletries the farm folks would need. The women would ask him for powder, combs, needles, thread, and such.

"My father came to Mannington in the early spring of 1899 and, being a cousin to A. K. John, and Joe Modi, they helped him start by subsidizing him, getting him merchandise, as they were in business themselves. His route consisted, as I mentioned, of going to Fairview, Waynesburg, and so forth. There weren't any roads of any consequence, as it was the early oil excitement time, and often the mud was up to the wagon axles, and sometimes horses became bogged down in the delivery of oil supplies into the hills. Often his contact with the people was their only contact, as few farmers ever went to the towns, and so sometimes he also would carry newspapers to them.

"When he started peddling he didn't know any English, so he had difficulty making himself understood. Yet the people would catch the idea and help him along. Many evenings when he was in the farm homes the children, who attended the country schools on the ridges, would be in the house doing their homework. They had slates, McGuffey Readers, and little books such as nursery rhymes, and while they were preparing their schoolwork, my father would learn English, reading, and writing and what he called ciphering but which we today would say simple arithmetic. By constant contact with the children on his route throughout the whole territory, and with his own efforts, he was able to get what might have been a fourth or fifth grade educations. It being a matter of necessity, he had to learn it, and he did.

"On his walking route, which took him about six weeks, there were times when he traveled in terrible weather. Sometimes the snow was knee-high. Wearing only felt boots which didn't have any insulation, in the winters his feet would freeze. He would go into a farmhouse and they would help him. On his regular round of peddling he would earn, after all expenses, about $25, and he would consider that a very good profit for his six weeks of work. After doing this for six years, from 1899 to 1905, my father was able to buy a horse and a spring-board wagon. Then he increased the amount of merchandise he carried.

"When he came in from his route, he would go to Wheeling on a train on a weekend and load up with enough merchandise for his next trip. After getting a horse and wagon he covered a larger territory; then consisted of going from Mannington to Waynesburg, then on to Garrison, Pennsylvania, and coming back to Route 250, and to Littleton, Hundred, and back to Mannington. On that route, up little hollows and in small country towns, like Wana, Buela, and the like, he would take care of the people's needs.

"If a man wanted a suit, he would take his measure, have the man describe what he would like, either blue serge or gray cloth--there wasn't much choice in those days--and my father knew the sizes. On his next buying trip to Wheeling, he would go to one of the clothing stores he knew well, and would get a suit to fit for $8.00, take it to the customer on the next trip on his route, sell it to him for $11.00, making $3.00 profit on the transaction. He took orders and sold hats and shoes the same way. These articles he could supply his customers after he had a wagon; when walking he couldn't carry that much. The horse and wagon helped him increase his business.

"He was single when he came to West Virginia. After being here a while he began bringing some of his family to this country. First he brought his sister Mary and she kept house for him; then he brought his brother Elias. After a period the two men working together were able to bring their brother William, and those three made it possible for their brother James to come. The rest of the family stayed in the old country.

"In 1910 he returned to the old country and married Melbina Dibus, a sister of Thomas M. Dibus. They had two children: me, Abraham, and a daughter Evelyn.

"When my father was in his route and Sunday came, he would go to church with the family in whose home he was staying, even though he was a Catholic and they were Protestant. Although at first he couldn't understand much of what was being said in the service, yet he would worship. He carried a little book of worship, which was in his language, and he would read it when he couldn't understand English. He was well treated by the people he called on when peddling, and made many friends, who helped him learn English and the American ways, for which he was appreciative."

Other Lebanese also benefited from the helpfulness of Americans. Mrs. Margery Norton says her grandparents, the McIntires, didn't charge the peddlers who stopped at the McIntires' home between Mannington and Shinston. Once when Mrs. McIntire was in Mannington to catch a train, she visited Mrs. Charles Ballous, who helped her brother-in-law, Joe Ballouz, in the snack bar the Ballouses operated in connection with their bakery. Mrs. Ballous served Mrs. McIntire a lunch, and when Mrs. McIntire attempted to pay her, Mrs. Ballous refused, saying she well knew the McIntires never charged the peddlers for food or lodging.

Pete Daniel was only 14 years old when he came from Lebanon by himself and began working in the local sanitary pottery, which began in 1904. Unlike Daniel, however, the majority of his male counterparts peddled by foot as their initial employment. Back peddling was a difficult and sometimes dangerous method of earning a living. The packs were heavy, although a beginner could carry a smaller load when he began foot peddling than he would later when he grew stronger.

Abraham D. Modi said his father often carried 240 pounds when starting on his route. The July 2, 1903 issue of the Fairmont Times carried an item: "Arrested Peddler- Sheriff Pulled an Asyrian [sic] in the County Today. Sheriff Joliff arrested an Asyrian peddler today and brought him in town to take out license. The peddler's pack weighed 250 pounds, but he carried it without any difficulty apparently…."

Russell Fluharty, Mannington's well-known dulcimer player, reports a story of the great strength of Lebanese peddlers, which Rusell's grandfather, Conrad Fluharty, often told. One day the peddler, whose name was Joe, when returning to Mannington with an empty pack, stopped at the Conrad Fluharty's home on Mahan's Run and bought a large cast iron stove, with it's attached water container, for 25 cents from Mr. Fluharty. After being helped to get he stove tied onto his back, Joe carried it to Mannington without taking it off. He secured his needed rests by backing up to a fence and resting the load on the rails. The distance from the Conrad Fluharty home to town by road was about three and one-half miles, but Joe took a short cut, going through the fields and over a high hill and down into Mannington, reducing the distance by more than half. Evidence of Joe's strength and endurance was seen in his carrying over rough terrain the stove and water container, which weighted more than 500 pounds.

One hardship of peddling was the weather. Traveling in all seasons brought discomfort, heat, wetness, cold, snow, and in at least one case, death, as when Jess Zeiden froze to death while he stopped to rest on a cold day in Wetzel County.

There was danger of being robbed. A number of the Lebanese peddlers were set upon by people who thought peddlers carried much money, which often wasn't the case; and being foreigners it was thought they would be easy victims. This wasn't always true. William Nassif tells a story about his heavyset, powerful father, Gabriel Nassif, who had farmed in the old country. Once when peddling, he was attacked by two men; Gabriel backed up against a nearby building, flexed his muscles, and dared the hoodlums to come get him. On thinking over the situation, the two backed of and left him alone.

But many peddlers were not that fortunate; a number were robed and several even murdered. Mrs. Joe Francis says four or five of her fellow Lebanese peddlers from Mannington were killed. One was Monsour Slibie (or Salabe) who was murdered on his route to Wetzel County, as was John Shine (Shannon), a brother of Fudlolla John Shine. Another was ambushed and killed on the ridge road between Mahan's Run and Lewelyn Run.

Fred Sweeney says a Lebanese disappeared in the 1890s while peddling in the vicinity of Center Point in Dodridge County, then the Sweeney family's home county. The man's horse and buggy were found separated in a suspicious manner, probably to make it look like an accident, but the peddler's body never was discovered. While this occurred previous to Fred's birth, his mother told him of it. She firmly believed the Lebanese had been killed and his body buried, and she recited several bits of evidence to substantiate her conviction. I wonder how many peddlers were held up and murdered in our State through the years.

Yet all that happened to those on the road was not unpleasant or disastrous. The late Solomon Francis Modi illustrated the lighter side of peddling in his story about one of his fellow countrymen. After a period of back peddling, the Lebanese merchant bought a mule and a wagon. One day when driving up the old Clarksburg Road, which was an extension of Clarksburg Street in Mannington, his mule stopped. The driver unsuccessfully tried different methods of persuading the animal to start moving again. Remembering having heard that a balking mule could be made to move if one built a fire under the animal, he tried the method. Putting combustible material in a heap under the mule, the peddler ignited it. Sure enough, the heat caused the mule to start walking forward, but, alas, it went only a few steps, just far enough to pull the wagon over the flame. But the wagon caught on fire. Quickly the man thrashed around, attempting to put out he blaze.

A woman living near saw him jumping around, and noticing the mule and the fire, telephoned the police that a Syrian was roasting his mule and was going to eat it. A policeman, maybe Mannington's entire force, arrived and arrested the peddler. Frank Cook learned of his friend's arrest, secured W. M. "Mellie" Hess, an able, Lincolnese local lawyer, to defend the man when the case came before a Mannington justice of the peace. About all the accusing woman knew of the peddler was he was a Syrian and he wore a plaid shirt.

When the preliminary statements were made before the squire, she was asked if she could identify the accused peddler. She thought she could. Then "Mellie" Hess had the man and four other male Lebanese, all dressed in plaid shirts provided by one of the Lebanese clothing merchants in the room. When the peddler could not be identified, the case was dismissed.

Many Lebanese, after acquiring experience, a better command of English, and a backlog of capital, went into various forms of business. They opened grocery stores, dry goods and general merchandising businesses, restaurants, hotels, bakeries, confectionaries, a furniture repair shop, pool-rooms, a cleaning and pressing shop, ice cream factories, an ice cream cone plant, and even a pop plant.

By 1900, or maybe a year or two previously, Joe, John, A. K., and Mike Modi were operating a store, Modi Bros., Grocery, Bakery and Fancy Fruits, in the Snodgrass Building at the corner of Buffalo Street and Pyles Avenue. A little later they separated; Joe opened a grocery store in the Masonic Building, and after a few more years acquired the Idle Hour Nickelodeon in the adjoining room. John bought the Arlington Hotel on Railroad Street, and A. K. developed a large dry-goods and clothing business, retailing to the public and selling at wholesale to the Lebanese peddlers. After being in several different locations, A. K. Modi moved his business to a three-story brick building which he constructed in 1917 on Market Street. The building now is occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Snider, the florists. Mike Modi died in 1906

Some Lebanese moved from Mannington to other places offering opportunities--Sistersville, New Martinsville, Morgantown, Elkins, Shinnston, Wheeling, and elsewhere. Sometimes a man would return to Lebanon, generally to Beit Meri, to bring back a bride to share life with him in the new country. A few returned to their homeland to live. One of the later, Monsour Dibus, who had come here very early but decided to return to Lebanon, peddled all the way to New York City where he boarded a ship.

Almost all of the Lebanese coming to our town were Catholics, and they became members of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Parish. Although in their homeland they were Catholics, they belonged to their native Maronite Catholic Church, which numerically is the largest Christian group in Lebanon. While the Maronite Church is in union with the Roman Church, and under the pope, its spiritual head is the Maronite patriarch in Lebanon, whose title is "Patriarch of Antioch and all the East." The Maronites follow the Syro-Antiochene rite. Their church's language is Arabic, but its liturgies are in West Syriac (Aramaic). The only Maronite church in West Virginia is the Church of Our Lady of Lebanon in Wheeling. It has the right to use its own liturgy and its priests may marry, however, it is subject to the local Latin rite bishop, who works in collaboration with the Maronite patriarch.

The next largest Christian group in Lebanon is composed of the Orthodox. While there are some different ethnic Orthodox churches in West Virginia, in which Lebanese living nearby worship, there is only one Syrian-Lebanese Orthodox church in our State, St. George Orthodox Church in Charleston.

In Mannington during my youth there was at least one Lebanese Protestant, Mrs. Rose Modi, the wife of John Modi. Educated in an English-language Lebanese school established by Presbyterian missionaries in the 19^th century, she had become a Presbyterian. I remember her interesting talks on missions, education, and customs in the Near East, which she gave in our local Presbyterian church and others in the area.

The Lebanese who came to Mannington had difficulties to overcome and restricted opportunities. They were in a foreign country with its strange ways and a different language. Many of the newcomers did not know English nor were they highly trained. Yet the vast majority made a living, brought variety into our society, learned to communicate, became American citizens, contributed to the community, and made a place for themselves and their families. An number of them aided their children to have greater opportunities than they had. Some second and third generation northern West Virginia Lebanese have become teachers, nurses, businessmen and women, skilled artisans, lawyers, dentists, medical doctors, engineers, computer experts and other highly trained persons. We can only be grateful to the Lebanese who have enriched our town and many other communities in our country.

Webmaster's note:

Penny Raad Laufer's grandfather, Peter Moses Raad (1867-1945) was a peddler of dry goods in Mannington as described in the above article. He emigrated to the U.S. from Lebanon somewhere around 1915, bringing his wife, Martha, and son, Nader Petrus (Peters) over about four years later (1919). Nader Peters Raad (1900-1967), Penny's dad, operated a pool hall first in Shinnston, West Virginia and then in Mannington. Rev. Prichard referred to a pool hall owner in his article, a direct reference to Nader Peters Raad, Penny's dad. He later opened a Bar at the corner of Route 250 and Market Street (#118). It was this bar which made the headline news in 1961 when a Baltimore and Ohio engine (#4595) crashed through the back wall and into the bar room at 2:00 a.m.

Several years later(1970), the bar would be converted into a pizza parlor, "The Pizza Crust" operated by Penny's brother, Nader, and his wife, Pam. Nader used the back area of the restaurant (where the runaway train entered) as Raad's Barber Shop. In recent years the building passed out of family hands and is once again operated as a bar, named after the 1961 train incident, "Sidetracked".

Another of Penny's borthers is one of the successful "second generation northern West Virginians" referred to by Dr. Prichard in the conclusion of his article. Dr. Charles Raad is a dentist with a practice in Huntington, West Virginia.