A 1935 photograph taken in Cedar Rapids, Iowa of Jirji 'George' Nassif Attiyeh and his wife, Takleh 'Tillie' Nassif with their eight children. The second image below designates who is who in the first photograph.

Della (Nassif) Boutrous (on the far right) is the mother of my Uncle Floyd Nick Boutrous and mother-in-law to my Aunt Dian Marcella (Erickson) Boutrous. Though more contemporary in thought to all that, Della is the grandmother to my five cousins, Michael Joseph, Nick Floyd, Allan Frank (Al), Steven Philip and Attas II Boutrous.

The Boutrous, Nassif and Nicola families were a very tight unit, having all been born in Ain Arab, Lebanon and many having grown up together. Many of the family members first came to America in the late 1800s through the early 1900s. When her time came, Della, at the time only 15 years old, along with two cousins, began their journey in Ain Arab and traveled to Beirut. From there, the trio were off on a trans-Atlantic steamer to Mexico.

On July 13th, 1907 from the municipality of Zaragoza, in the state of Coahuila in north-eastern Mexico, Della and her cousins crossed the border into the United States. They passed through customs in Eagle Pass, Texas and looked northward, toward where she would inevitably be heading. Della would be traveling to reunite with her father, Jirji 'George' at the family homestead in Sheridan County, North Dakota, near Denhoff. Speaking no English, Della made her way by train to the Great Northern Plains with a piece of paper that had only the words 'Denhoff, North Dakota' written on it.

As I learn more about the Boutrous, Nassif, Nicola and Attiyeh families, I feel more confident in my writing. So much of the history of these families can be traced back to the early 1700s and the descendants of Attiyeh Attiyeh born in Syria in 1734.

In his help in educating me on the various family members, my cousin Michael Boutrous wrote:

"In 1734 there was the first Attiyeh Attiyeh and Attiyeh Attiyeh begat Mahfouz Attiyeh who was born in 1755. Then a generation later Mahfouz begat Hanna Attiyeh * who was born in 1780. A generation later Hanna Attiyeh begat Attiyeh Hanna Mahfouz Attiyeh who was born in 1804. A generation later Attiyeh Hanna Mahfouz Attiyeh** begat Nassif Attiyeh born in 1830.

A generation later Nassif Attiyeh begat Jirji (George) Nassif Attiyeh born in 1864. A generation later Jirji begat Dellie Nassif Attiyeh (Della - my grandma) born in 1892, and Della begat my dad, Floyd Nick Boutrous born in 1917. Floyd and my beautiful mother, Dian Marcella (Erickson) Boutrous born in 1940 has five sons Attas Jr. born in 1961, Al Frank (Allan) born in 1962, Nick Floyd born in 1963, Steve Philip born in 1966 and myself (Michael Joseph) was born in 1979. That's the Attiyeh and Nassif family history in a nutshell."

* Notes for Hanna Attiyeh:
According to family lore, during his youth, Hanna killed a wild tiger that had been menacing the Mount Hermon villagers. To commemorate this event, Hanna’s contemporaries prevailed upon him to name his second born son Nemer, which is the Arabic name for Tiger. Hanna Attiyeh had the following children: Attiyeh Hanna Mahfouz Attiyeh (1804-1894) Nemer Attiyeh (1805-1865).

** Notes for Attiyeh Hanna Mahfouz Attiyeh:
Attiyeh Hanna Mahfouz Attiyeh had many children, mostly boys, as noted above. Nassif Attiyeh, and also, the youngest son, Nicola Attiyeh. Nicola Attiyeh begat Miriam Nicola Attiyeh (my great grandmother) born in 1870. Miriam Nicola Attiyeh begat Ghattas Fares Boutrous (my grandpa) born in 1882.

Ghattas Fares Boutrous begat my dad Floyd Nick Boutrous. Floyd Nick Boutrous born in 1917 (with of course the help of my beautiful mother, Dian Marcella (Erickson) Boutrous) born in 1940, Attas II. born in 1961, Al (Allan) born in 1962, Nick born in 1963, Steve born in 1966 and myself (Mike) and I was born in 1979.

And there you have it. As the intricacies go of how the other families inter-mingle in relationship to the 20th and 21st Century Boutrous, Nassif, Nicola and Attiyeh families are remarkable.

You have the Boutrous family name coming through to the Erickson Family from when my Uncle Floyd who was lucky enough to marry my dad, Ernest Anders Erickson's kid sister, my Aunt Dian Marcella Erickson in 1961. Floyd's father Attas Fares Boutrous Abu Dakken and grandfather Fares Boutrous Abu Dakken have come into the picture bright and historic in my mind now.

The Nicola family arriving from Fares Boutrous Abu Dakken's wife Miriam Nicola Attiyeh and last but not final, the Nassif family name from Floyd's mother, Della Nassif Boutrous through her father Jirgi (George) Nassif.

Extraordinary to me and I am pleased with my education into the lives of four fascinating families that came from so far and accomplished so much. Their descendants, a vast 1000 plus I would assume of living members of the Attiyeh Family continue to flourish over countless cities across our planet.

Thanks to my cousin Michael Joseph Boutrous for the incredible education of his family. I have obviously come to realize it is also part of my family history. I am grateful Mike!