Two Syrian Survivors Lost to History

[MeganH]

Hello,

I stumbled upon this website while researching my family tree on ancestry.com. I was specifically interested in the Arab survivors. I realize that a lot of stories about unlisted survivors seem to be "tall tales", and that nearly all the survivors and passengers have allegedly been accounted for. However I have never been able to locate my great-grandmother or her brother on any survivor lists. Her name was Sadie Kassouf. I am not sure how well either sibling spoke English upon boarding, but I believe they must have had a limited knowledge in order to travel to England.

My great-grandmother was born in Zahle, Lebanon (then Ottoman Syria) into a prominent family. Her father, Shaheen Kassouf, was some sort of governor/politician. Sadie's birthday was August 8, 1894, and she was 17 years old when she boarded the Titanic. She and her brother were visiting relatives in NYC and planned to return to Zahle. In order to secure her brother's safety, due to the maritime code of "women and children first" she suggested that he wear a dress and disguise himself as a woman. I'm assuming he was younger than her, and probably had little to no facial hair. It's possible he was listed as a woman when they got to NYC.

My great-grandmother stayed in America (she remained terrified of the ocean all her life) and relocated to Scranton, PA. Her married name was Betress (Anglicized from the Arab "Butrus"). When she died in February 9, 1972, The Scranton Times Tribune ran a lengthy obituary the following day about how she was one of the last surviving passengers.

I know many people will probably think this is simply an unverified family legend. Most of this information comes from my dad and aunt. My dad was largely raised by his grandmother, and was very close to her. I know that it is not something she would have fabricated. I could go into a little more detail about what my dad told me, but for the most part, Sadie didn't want to talk about it. If anything about the Titanic came on TV, she would run upstairs and plug her ears. I believe she suffered PTSD her whole life, and I think this anxiety has been passed on down to later generations.

I would really like to add her name to historical passenger lists, and I wonder what steps can be taken to do so. Unfortunately, I do not know her brother's first name, only that he sailed back to Zahle. Even adding her story to this website would be helpful. I have some family photos taken in the 1940s and 1950s, and a copy of her 1972 obituary (the file to upload the obituary is too large, sadly).

Any help/guidance would be much appreciated.


Thank you.


Best,


Megan

 

[Steven Christian]

A list of the Syrian passengers on this site doesn't bring anything up thats close to your descriptions. But thats not definative. You can surf it here.

Syrian Titanic Passengers and Crew | Encyclopedia Titanica

Syrian Titanic Passengers and Crew Complete list of Titanic Passengers and Crew

www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

But in this article below it does list a couple of the books on the Syrian/Arab passengers. If you haven't read those books already they might be worth a go. This passage from the article might make you interested in them. "The first contribution by Elias is to provide the real names of the Syrian and Lebanese passengers on the Titanic. The lists of living and dead supplied by American and British authorities relied on phonetic spellings of non-Anglo names, and the results were often brutally wrong. As Elias writes, families in the Middle East reading these lists frequently couldn't even tell whether their relatives were on the ship. Arabic newspapers spent weeks sorting out names so that family members left behind could know whether to mourn a loved one or not." One of the things I find intersting about Titanic is theres always something new being discovered about her story. Good luck on your research however it turns out.

The Dream and then the Nightmare

Syrians on the Titanic...

www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

 

[Leila Salloum Elias]

Hi Megan,
If you'd like, I can talk to you about this - my email is [email protected] - sounds interesting and I'd like to help you solve the mystery.

Leila Salloum Elias

 

[Mary Jane Grimm (Shehadi)]

Hello,

I stumbled upon this website while researching my family tree on ancestry.com. I was specifically interested in the Arab survivors. I realize that a lot of stories about unlisted survivors seem to be "tall tales" and that nearly all the survivors and passengers have allegedly been accounted for. However I have never been able to locate my great-grandmother or her brother on any survivor lists. Her name was Sadie Kassouf. I am not sure how well either sibling spoke English upon boarding, but I believe they must have had limited knowledge in order to travel to England.

My great-grandmother was born in Zahle, Lebanon (then, Ottoman Syria) into a prominent family. Her father, Shaheen Kassouf, was some sort of governor/politician. Sadie's birthday was August 8, 1894, and she was 17 years old when she boarded the Titanic. She and her brother were visiting relatives in NYC and planned to return to Zahle. In order to secure her brother's safety, due to the maritime code of "women and children first" she suggested that he wear a dress and disguise himself as a woman. I'm assuming he was younger than her, and probably had little to no facial hair. It's possible he was listed as a woman when they got to NYC.

My great-grandmother stayed in America (she remained terrified of the ocean all her life) and relocated to Scranton, PA. Her married name was Betress (Anglicized from the Arab "Butrus"). When she died in February 9, 1972, The Scranton Times Tribune ran a lengthy obituary the following day about how she was one of the last surviving passengers.

I know many people will probably think this is simply an unverified family legend. Most of this information comes from my dad and aunt. My dad was largely raised by his grandmother, and was very close to her. I know that it is not something she would have fabricated. I could go into a little more detail about what my dad told me, but for the most part, Sadie didn't want to talk about it. If anything about the Titanic came on TV, she would run upstairs and plug her ears. I believe she suffered PTSD her whole life, and I think this anxiety has been passed on down to later generations.

I would really like to add her name to historical passenger lists, and I wonder what steps can be taken to do so. Unfortunately, I do not know her brother's first name, only that he sailed back to Zahle. Even adding her story to this website would be helpful. I have some family photos taken in the 1940s and 1950s, and a copy of her 1972 obituary (the file to upload the obituary is too large, sadly).

Any help/guidance would be much appreciated.


Thank you.


Best,


Megan

Hello,

I stumbled upon this website while researching my family tree on ancestry.com. I was specifically interested in the Arab survivors. I realize that a lot of stories about unlisted survivors seem to be "tall tales", and that nearly all the survivors and passengers have allegedly been accounted for. However I have never been able to locate my great-grandmother or her brother on any survivor lists. Her name was Sadie Kassouf. I am not sure how well either sibling spoke English upon boarding, but I believe they must have had a limited knowledge in order to travel to England.

My great-grandmother was born in Zahle, Lebanon (then Ottoman Syria) into a prominent family. Her father, Shaheen Kassouf, was some sort of governor/politician. Sadie's birthday was August 8, 1894, and she was 17 years old when she boarded the Titanic. She and her brother were visiting relatives in NYC and planned to return to Zahle. In order to secure her brother's safety, due to the maritime code of "women and children first" she suggested that he wear a dress and disguise himself as a woman. I'm assuming he was younger than her, and probably had little to no facial hair. It's possible he was listed as a woman when they got to NYC.

My great-grandmother stayed in America (she remained terrified of the ocean all her life) and relocated to Scranton, PA. Her married name was Betress (Anglicized from the Arab "Butrus"). When she died in February 9, 1972, The Scranton Times Tribune ran a lengthy obituary the following day about how she was one of the last surviving passengers.

I know many people will probably think this is simply an unverified family legend. Most of this information comes from my dad and aunt. My dad was largely raised by his grandmother, and was very close to her. I know that it is not something she would have fabricated. I could go into a little more detail about what my dad told me, but for the most part, Sadie didn't want to talk about it. If anything about the Titanic came on TV, she would run upstairs and plug her ears. I believe she suffered PTSD her whole life, and I think this anxiety has been passed on down to later generations.

I would really like to add her name to historical passenger lists, and I wonder what steps can be taken to do so. Unfortunately, I do not know her brother's first name, only that he sailed back to Zahle. Even adding her story to this website would be helpful. I have some family photos taken in the 1940s and 1950s, and a copy of her 1972 obituary (the file to upload the obituary is too large, sadly).

Any help/guidance would be much appreciated.


Thank you.


Best,


Megan

Megan
I grew up in Scranton, PA and can help you with your questions about the brother and sister Syrian passengers. I, too, am a relative of the Sadie Butrus, "Betress."
She visited my family in Throop, PA when I was a child, and i distinctly remember her and attended her funeral in 1972.. There's no doubt that she was indeed a Titanic survivor and would like to see her and her brother rightfully added to the passenger list.

Feel free to contact me about Sadie.

Sincerely,

Mary Jane Grimm (Shehadi)

 

[George Jacub]

The woman in question is listed in the book "Who Sailed On Titanic?" under the name Zahie Maria Khalil (P. 117) and Miss Zahic Khalil (p. 169). On one official list of passengers her age is put at 20 years old. The lists show that she travelled on ticket 2660 with Betros Khalil, age 25.

She appears under the name Mrs. Zahiyah Badr Abu Tannus on a plaque, which lists the lost in the disaster, in a Titanic Memorial Garden in Belfast, dedicated in June, 2020. Her companion appears as Mr. Butrus Al-Khuri. Titanic Memorial, Belfast - Wikipedia

The memorial lists a third person with the surname Khalil---Mr. Sulayman Atallah Khalil---who doesn't appear in "Who Sailed on Titanic?".
Her obituary in the Scranton Times-Tribune, Feb. 10, 1972, reads:

Titanic Survivor, 77, Dies 60 Years Later
Mrs. Sadie Betress, 77, of 1101 Scranton St., who is believed to be one of the last surviving passengers of the Titanic disaster in 1912, died Wednesday in Community Medical Center, where she had been a patient three weeks.
Mrs. Betress was 17 years old when the huge passenger ship struck an iceberg in the Atlantic the night of April 14, 1912. There were 2,200 passengers on the maiden voyage of the supposedly unsinkable liner. The estimates of dead in the disaster range from 1490 to 1517. Approximately 705 persons survived.
Mrs. Betress was born in Zahle, Lebanon, daughter of the late Shaheen and Cecilia Moussof. She lived in this city 60 years.
She was a member of St. Joseph's Melchite Church and a member and past president of the Syrian Women's society.
Surviving are three sons, Charles, Peter and Michael, of this city; two daughters, Mrs. Joseph Garrison, Wilkes-Barre, and Mrs. Marie Hein, of this city; 11 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

 

[Steven Christian]

The woman in question is listed in the book "Who Sailed On Titanic?" under the name Zahie Maria Khalil (P. 117) and Miss Zahic Khalil (p. 169). On one official list of passengers her age is put at 20 years old. The lists show that she travelled on ticket 2660 with Betros Khalil, age 25.

She appears under the name Mrs. Zahiyah Badr Abu Tannus on a plaque, which lists the lost in the disaster, in a Titanic Memorial Garden in Belfast, dedicated in June, 2020. Her companion appears as Mr. Butrus Al-Khuri. Titanic Memorial, Belfast - Wikipedia

The memorial lists a third person with the surname Khalil---Mr. Sulayman Atallah Khalil---who doesn't appear in "Who Sailed on Titanic?".
Her obituary in the Scranton Times-Tribune, Feb. 10, 1972, reads:

Titanic Survivor, 77, Dies 60 Years Later
Mrs. Sadie Betress, 77, of 1101 Scranton St., who is believed to be one of the last surviving passengers of the Titanic disaster in 1912, died Wednesday in Community Medical Center, where she had been a patient three weeks.
Mrs. Betress was 17 years old when the huge passenger ship struck an iceberg in the Atlantic the night of April 14, 1912. There were 2,200 passengers on the maiden voyage of the supposedly unsinkable liner. The estimates of dead in the disaster range from 1490 to 1517. Approximately 705 persons survived.
Mrs. Betress was born in Zahle, Lebanon, daughter of the late Shaheen and Cecilia Moussof. She lived in this city 60 years.
She was a member of St. Joseph's Melchite Church and a member and past president of the Syrian Women's society.
Surviving are three sons, Charles, Peter and Michael, of this city; two daughters, Mrs. Joseph Garrison, Wilkes-Barre, and Mrs. Marie Hein, of this city; 11 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

Good post. Interesting info. I was there the day they dedicated the garden section in 2012. I will have to look at my pics and see if I got her name on the plaques. It's a really nice memorial and worth seeing. I think you meant 1920 when the first part was dedicated. I do typo's all the time so I know how that goes. Cheers

 

[George Jacub]

The plot thickens...

Both Khalils (Butrus and Zahiyah) are mentioned in the book The Dream and Then the Nightmare by Leila Salloum Elias. They are described as newlyweds en route to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Their story is that they wanted to marry but couldn't afford a wedding. They planned to elope, but when their parents discovered their plan, they were given a religious cermony of marriage "just a few hours" before leaving their town on their journey to America. The book says one Hardin resident, interviewed in 1998, said that others from their village on the Titanic gave them a wedding celebration aboard the ship. Mrs. Khalil refused to leave her new husband even as she was offered a place in a lifeboat. "They died together in each other's arms," is how the story ends when survivors told it to villagers in Hardin, according to Elias.

 

[George Jacub]

There's a twist...

Sulayman Atallah Khalil is also mentioned in The Dream and Then the Nightmare. He was about 26, a journalist from Ottawa, Canada, and was returning home after spending three years in Syria where he had married and fathered a son. He was intending to eventually send for his family.
He is not related in any fashion to the other Khalils. But...he was travelling with his aunt Mariyam Assaf, also of Ottawa. While Sulayuman died, his aunt survived. However, she couldn't be Mrs. Sadie Betress because Mariyam was 45 at the time.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Both Khalils (Butrus and Zahiyah) are mentioned in the book The Dream and Then the Nightmare by Leila Salloum Elias. They are described as newlyweds en route to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

According to ET (which I prefer to believe), the Khalil couple were Betros and Zahie (admittedly, the spellings might be different), like you said on their way to Wikes-Barre, PA. Unfortunately, both died in the disaster.

The only "Butrus" that I could find was Tannus Butrus-Kawi (again, the spelling might have been different), a 21 year old cobbler from Zagharta, Syria and as far as is known unrelated to the Khalils. Tannus too died in the disaster.

You are right about the other Khalils headed for Canada and unrelated to Betros and Zahie. However, Sulayman Khalil is listed as a farm labourer and not as a journalist; further, there is no mention of his having been in Canada before. And yes, he was travelling with his 45 year-old aunt Mariana Assaf (nee Khalil) and a male cousin Assaf Jirgis al-Sayqali. Only Mariana survived.

George, I know that you have great regard for Elias' book and that's your privilege. While I concede that some information in it, particularly about family connections, previous occupations and especially name spellings might well be correct, IMO it is a very badly written piece of work with a lot of unverified and unverifiable third party statements which don't tally with available evidence nor other survivors. Some of the so-called 'survivor claims' in it are downright ridiculous. The author seems to carry a big chip on her shoulder in defense of Syrian-Lebanese passengers and accuses those who criticize her work with "euro-centrism" and such nonsense. I paid £3.50 for s secondhand copy in Bournemouth and even the specialist Maritime Bookseller seemed to be glad to be rid of it. I did likewise after reading it and was prepared to pay the Charity Shop a fiver to take it off my hands if they had said there was no room for it.

 

[George Jacub]

Not that it matters in terms of this thread, but for accuracy I can say that Sulyaman Khalil does appear on the Casualty and Death List prepared by the White Star Line's Southampton office, and reprinted in 'Who Sailed On Titanic?' (p. 180) under the name Sleiman Attala, age 30, occupation "journalist." (That's why I didn't find him the first time I searched.)

The book 'The Dream and Then the Nightmare' is invaluable for that very reason. The author was able to search obscure Syrian language newspapers and decipher names referenced in a variety of cultural manners, thusly collecting first-hand accounts that would otherwise be lost forever. The biggest problem with the book is a lack of an index and the listing of survivors and lost passengers in, I presume, the Arabic fashion of first name first, surname after, which confuses someone raised in the West.

The question remains, was Mrs. Sadie Betress the same person as Titanic passenger Zahiyah Badr Abu Tannus whose body was never found?

 

[Sarah S]

I think the name should be spelled Sulayman instead of “Sulyaman”.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

The author was able to search obscure Syrian language newspapers and decipher names referenced in a variety of cultural manners, thusly collecting first-hand accounts that would otherwise be lost forever.

The point is that if a survivor account appeared in a newspaper - any newspaper - it would no longer be "first hand"; I agree with Sam that only recorded testimonies from the Inquiries, submitted written affidavits, depositions at the Limitation of Liability Hearings and such can be so considered.

It is generally agreed that newspaper reports of such large-scale events in those days were very often embellished in various ways for better sales and publicity. That applied to even many well known broadsheets with wide circulations and so one can guess the reliability of "obscure Syrian language newspapers" especially several decades after the disaster and with deciphering of cultural references involved. I am NOT saying that survivor accounts from the Syrian-Lebanese passengers were any more or less reliable than their Western counterparts but some of the things mentioned in that book reportedly as such were nothing short of laughably ridiculous nonsense.

 

[Steven Christian]

The point is that if a survivor account appeared in a newspaper - any newspaper - it would no longer be "first hand"; I agree with Sam that only recorded testimonies from the Inquiries, submitted written affidavits, depositions at the Limitation of Liability Hearings and such can be so considered.

It is generally agreed that newspaper reports of such large-scale events in those days were very often embellished in various ways for better sales and publicity. That applied to even many well known broadsheets with wide circulations and so one can guess the reliability of "obscure Syrian language newspapers" especially several decades after the disaster and with deciphering of cultural references involved. I am NOT saying that survivor accounts from the Syrian-Lebanese passengers were any more or less reliable than their Western counterparts but some of the things mentioned in that book reportedly as such were nothing short of laughably ridiculous nonsense.

Not to get too far off thread but what you is say is most true. I've been reading how a lot of the negative press against B. Ismay was generated by W. Hearst who had a beef against him. "Yellow Journalism" at its finests. Cheers.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

The woman in question is listed in the book "Who Sailed On Titanic?" under the name Zahie Maria Khalil (P. 117) and Miss Zahic Khalil (p. 169). On one official list of passengers her age is put at 20 years old. The lists show that she travelled on ticket 2660 with Betros Khalil, age 25.

She appears under the name Mrs. Zahiyah Badr Abu Tannus on a plaque, which lists the lost in the disaster, in a Titanic Memorial Garden in Belfast, dedicated in June, 2020. Her companion appears as Mr. Butrus Al-Khuri. Titanic Memorial, Belfast - Wikipedia

The above is not making the right connections as far as I can see.

Betros and Zahie Khalil were indeed a young couple travelling on the Titanic as Third Class passengers and headed for Wilkes-Barre, PA to meet - and presumably live with - Joseph Khalil, Betros' brother. As far as is known, they were not travelling with anyone else. Sadly, both Betros and Zahie died in the sinking.

"Butrus Al-Khuri" mentioned in the quote above appears to be Tannūs Butrus-Ka'wī, a 21-year old cobbler who might have been travelling with 2 other young Lebanese-Syrian men. But there is no evidence that he was travelling with any woman named Zahiyah Badr Abu Tannus - there was no one by that name on board. While the aforementioned Zahie Khalil was sometimes referred to as Zahiyah Khalil, she was Betros Khalil's wife and had no connection with Butrus-Kawi. In any case, Zahie /Zahiyah, died in the sinking and could not have been "Sadie Betress", a supposed survivor.
While there is the possibility that information regarding date of birth, hometown, name spelling, subsequent name change etc could cause mistaken identities and other confusion, thus far there is no Titanic survivor who could match the person below.

Titanic Survivor, 77, Dies 60 Years Later
Mrs. Sadie Betress, 77, of 1101 Scranton St., who is believed to be one of the last surviving passengers of the Titanic disaster in 1912, died Wednesday in Community Medical Center, where she had been a patient three weeks.
Mrs. Betress was 17 years old when the huge passenger ship struck an iceberg in the Atlantic the night of April 14, 1912. There were 2,200 passengers on the maiden voyage of the supposedly unsinkable liner. The estimates of dead in the disaster range from 1490 to 1517. Approximately 705 persons survived.
Mrs. Betress was born in Zahle, Lebanon, daughter of the late Shaheen and Cecilia Moussof. She lived in this city 60 years.
She was a member of St. Joseph's Melchite Church and a member and past president of the Syrian Women's society.
Surviving are three sons, Charles, Peter and Michael, of this city; two daughters, Mrs. Joseph Garrison, Wilkes-Barre, and Mrs. Marie Hein, of this city; 11 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

 

[George Jacub]

Arun, perhaps it's not too late to buy back your copy of The Dream and Then the Nightmare. Your comment is a perfect example of why this book is an invaluable research document. In Chapter VIII, Those Who Perished: Who They Were, both men are discussed. Butrus Khalil al-Khuri at P. 270 and Butrus Ka'wi Tannus Butrus Ka'di at P.321. Different men, different ages, different home villages, different ticket numbers, one married, one not.