Tales of the Al-Ghossain family in Hadath El-Jubbeh
The story of Musa Yaqoub Al-Ghossein, nicknamed Musa Al-Kashkaldi, which, according to the translation of one of my Turkish acquaintances, means (He came- run away):
It is said that he was so strong and agile that no one could defeat him in wrestling, and people would come to him to wrestle from all over the region. Those who lived with him told me that he would put two cans of sardines on top of each other and hit them with his middle finger, making a hole in the first can and forcing the oil out of the second. He would hit the watermelon in the same way, so the head would shatter. He would walk on his hands with his feet in the air, from Hadath El-Jubbeh to Diman, in front of the Patriarch when he moved to the Patriarchate’s summer residence in the spring.
One day, he had a fight with a group of Bedouins, so he picked up their donkey without them noticing and carried it onto the roof of the Church of Saint Daniel. After they begged him and paid him a sum of money, he carried the donkey on his shoulders, back down again.
One fateful day, one of those he defeated in wrestling in the village of Bqerqasha, threw a large stone from the roof of one of the houses and it hit him on the head. He began to suffer from a chronic, severe headache, which he treated with alcohol, the only painkiller at that time. He became addicted and died in Ain A’ikrin, where he spent the winter. He was buried there in the early forties of the twentieth century.
The story of Tannous Elias Al-Ghossain, nicknamed Tannous Saniora:
Tannous, son of Elias, son of Tannous, son of Elias, son of Younis Al-Ghossein. His mother was Saniora, daughter of Habib Bassil, nicknamed Al-Asoul, and Badra Zgheib. His father, Elias, was one of the famous tough guys in his time, and his mother, Saniora, the daughter of Al-Asoul, was as powerful as her father.
It is said that, before her husband could react, she attacked Semaan Aqil, one of Youssef Bey Karam's men, who he tried to rob them near Jounieh, whilst on their way to Mexico.
Tannous was born in 1891 in Burlington, Vermont, USA. He was an only child. From a young age, he did not know the meaning of fear, just like his parents. One day he climbed a tree in the street to check on a bird's nest. The police came and wanted to arrest him. He was probably no more than ten years old; He got into a fight with them. He threw a stone at a policeman’s head, injuring him. He had to be taken to Lebanon so that he would not be thrown into juvenile detention.
When he reached the age of fourteen, his parents decided that he should marry Nahza, the daughter of Tannous Abu Hashem, who was the brother of the Abbot monk father Daniel Abu Hashem. Father Daniel was known for his tremendous physical strength.
In those days before World War I, at the age of fifteen, he, his father and his uncle Musa Younis Masoud Younis Al-Ghossein were on their way to the town square when they saw a Turkish sergeant and his men, mocking and beating some of the village youths to force them to do hard labour which involved moving the court from one place to another.
Elias Al-Ghossein and Tannous were furious. Musa, a wise man, tried to calm them down. But Elias said to his son, “Oh Tannous, you are born for a day like today, the moustachioed man (the sergeant), oh Tannous.” But Tannous, the fifteen-year-old tiger, quickly and ferociously, with a single punch, stunned the huge sergeant, throwing him to the ground, where he lay, unconscious. His men fled, stunned by the ferocity of the attack of this, Al-Ghossain tiger, who had attacked them. His ferocity doubled when the women began to praise his courage and started adulating in the town square of the Hadath.
Weeks after this incident, and after a quarrel with his mother who wanted to prevent him from taking a gun with him to guard the vineyard, he hit the gun against the wall in a temper, and a shot was fired hitting him in his left hand. This caused gangrene and his left arm had to be amputated above the elbow.
Amongst those who were by his side grieving over his misfortune, was the Turkish sergeant, who grieved most for the Ghossain Tiger.
His parents were forced to travel to Mexico to help him financially, where his father, whom Tannous loved to the point of worship, died. Tannous struggled to support himself and his family, especially during the days of World War I and the famine that struck the mountain region.
He worked smuggling wheat from the Bekaa Valley to Hadath. He used to carry seventy-five kilograms on his back on each trip, crossing the rugged mountain road in the winter snow, even though he had only one hand. His contemporaries told me that his courage, strength, and fierceness made his physical strength unmatched.
Thresholds (very long and heavy stones that were placed as a bridge over the doors) still exist in Hadath, bear witness to his strength and resolve to live an honourable life. He would hold the rope that guided those thresholds on his back, by gripping it in his mouth, while he was climbing the wooden ladder using his only hand. He would shout in his voice, which was like the roar of lions, “Saint Elias the living prophet help me.” He believed in Mar Elias.
Tannous was blessed with a handsome boy, whom he named Elias. He placed all his hope in him, and two daughters, Nadima and Badra. Elias joined his grandmother Saniora in Mexico, where he got involved in gambling and debt. He quarrelled with his grandmother and left her. He sought refuge with his uncle Daniel Georges Yaqoub Al-Ghossain, who was in Mexico and was a friend of his father Tannous. Daniel helped him open a small shop. In 1928 he was found there. He was dead. It is said that he committed suicide. God knows best.
The late Antonius Dib Rizk was present when Tannous learned of the fate of his beloved son. Antonius told me that somebody unintentionally told him in the square of Hadath al-Jubbeh, “I am sorry to hear about your son,” offering him condolences.
It is said that a wounded lion or tiger loses all trace of fear. If there was any sense of fear in Tanous’s heart, even a little, he lost it when he lost his son. However, he did not lose mercy and compassion for the poor, the needy, and the weak.
He was the protector of every weak person and the town. He told me that one day, when he was a municipal policeman in the Hadath al-Jubbeh municipality, one of the tough guys in the area, a man of one of the leaders, came to Hadath. He tied up a mule that he was riding, in the Hadath Square. Tanous asked him to tie the mule in the place designated for animals, near the square. He became furious and spoke harshly, cursing, and threatening. With a voice like the roar of a lion, Tannous screamed and attacked him, not caring about the gun that he had drawn. The man tried to shoot him, but his fingers froze. The gun dropped from his hand, and he lifted his hands in surrender.
Tanous' fingers were as strong as steel, and no one was ever able to break his finger in what was called "finger wrestling" which was common in those days.
Sa’eed Al- Ghossain “Present Hadath Mukhtaar” told me that, in the 1958 revolution in Lebanon, one of the leaders of Beit Karam from Zgharta was spending the summer in Al-Hadath. He was a crippled man and was with his men in the car when its front wheel fell into a ditch at a narrow bend. The men got out of the car and tried to lift it out of the ditch. They couldn’t. Fate had it that Tannous passed by. He was thin after his illness with pneumonia. He became angry and shouted at them to move away. They did not respond. But, their leader, who apparently had heard of the hero of Al-Hadath and was of his generation, ordered them to make way. Tannous got into the ditch, put his shoulder in the appropriate place under the car, and with a cry of “Oh, living one,” – The prophet Elias - he lifted the car and pushed it back onto the road. Al-Karami’s tears flowed with appreciation...
In his last days, despite his illness and physical weakness, his legendary courage and reputation were always present in people’s minds, and he remain a legend even after his death on February 19, 1967.
The story of Doumit Musa (Moses) Al-Ghossain:
He is Doumit, son of Musa (Moses), son of Younis, son of Masoud, son of Younis Al-Ghossain, born in Hadath Al-Jubbeh in 1898. His mother was Franjieh Elias Anton Al-Ghossain and his brothers were Boutros (Peter), Boulos (Paul), and Ghossain (they immigrated to South Africa and died there “see (The al-Ghossain in South Africa)”.
His brothers Youssef (Joseph), and Romanos (Raymond) immigrated to Ghana, which was called the Gold Coast. Youssef returned to Lebanon and died there, while Romanos went to Australia at the end of his life and died there. Sit al-Ekhwy married Youssef Abu Hashem, and they immigrated to Cuba and died there.
Doumit married Nadima, daughter of Tannous Elias Tannous Al-Ghossain, who was mentioned above, in 1945, when he was 48 years old. Doumit was 25 years older than his wife. They produced: Tannous (Tony) 1946 and Ghossain (1) 1948, who died at the age of one and a half, after falling into a bucket of milk that his mother was boiling to make cheese. Charbel 1951; Naziha 1953; Boutros 1955 died as a child; Elias 1956; Ghossain (2) “was one of the heroes of the war and was famous for his bravery and was present in the fiercest battles of 1976”. He died in a hunting accident on 15/10/1977 in Hadath al-Jubbeh; and Salwa 1967. “Salwa was born when her father was about 70 years old.
Doumit was considered one of the notables of Hadath and a peacemaker amongst the people. He was known for paying from his own money to fix a dispute. He was famous for his generosity. He did not know how to say no to anyone in need.
He was a first-class businessman. He imported sheep from Syria. The Syrian shepherd Abu Shah’ood was always present to serve the one he called the Sheikh of Merchants, and this was the nickname that Abu Shah’ood gave Doumit. He was also one of the biggest lumber merchants in the forties and early fifties. A very large number of young men from Hadath Al-Jubbeh worked for him.
He was famous for his honesty and loyalty, and was the leader behind whom men would follow because of their trust in his wisdom and courage. He was so brave that one day he faced a group of armed men from another town that was threatening and insulting the people in Hadath Square. After disarming them, he prevented the Hadath youth from harming any of them, escorting them to the edge of the village, he gave them their weapons and asked them not to do anything like that again.
Many of those who were in the square at the time told me about this incident. In a second incident, he faced a group of unarmed youths who were shooting at the house of Daniel Amin Saab, and stopped them from their shameful act.
He hated to be called a sheikh or by any other title. His favourite nickname was Qrayebna (our relative), and it was his nickname in Hadath until his death on March 18, 1977. His melodious voice used to resonate in Saint Daniel’s Church in Hadath El Jubbeh, and Monsignor Boulos El Chedrawi and Monsignor Estephan Abi Haidar would not start a high Mass before Qrayebna (Doumit’s favourite nickname) arrived.
His death occurred on one of the most difficult days in the history of the Lebanese war, when the great leader Kamal Jumblatt had been assassinated, and it was very difficult to send an obituary. Radio Lebanon broadcasted the news of his death, and his acquaintances came from all over Lebanon, despite the dangers on the roads at that difficult time, and they consoled his children with these moving words: God willing, you will live up to your father’s standing and reputation.
The Story of George Wadih’ Al-Ghossain
George son of Wadih son of Gerges Yacoub Al-Ghossain, was born in Hadath al-Jubbah in early December 1946 and his mother was Zghiri Youssef Al-Chedrawi, nicknamed Youssef Al-Ghazal. Uncle Wadih’ was in a tight financial condition, so George was forced to leave school while he was in the primary grades and started to work early in life He borrowed money to buy a ticket and immigrated to Australia in the early seventies and with courage, intelligence and determination he started to climb in the business world even in a relatively short time he became one of the wealthiest people in Australia. George Became the Samaritan benefactor of Hadath Al-Jubbeh population and surrounding area especially during the very difficult time of the Lebanese History when the financial sector collapsed in Lebanon 2023.
George Married the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Lebanese University, Professor Fadia Abou Dagher, 2 beautiful Children were born Wadih and Josette .