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From: Jenny Riggs <>
Subject: [SYRIA] John SIDE, born 1889 Syria, died 1971 NY
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:20:05 -0700


I am researching my husband's paternal line, surname is SIDE. According to
census and military records, my husband's great-grandfather was John Side,
born May 1889 in Syria, immigrated to the US through Canada around 1910, and
married Ella Page in New York. They lived in Alexandria, Jefferson County,
and had at least seven children: John, George, Ella, Anna, Earl, Elmer, and
Janice. John died in Alexandria in 1971.

Different censuses say different things regarding John Side's
birthplace-Syria, Syrian Arab Emirates, Turkey. I assume this is because the
area was controlled by different entities at different times in history. One
document lists his father's name as also being John Side, from Beirut, Syria
(what is now Lebanon).

I have found MANY men with the last name of SIDE emigrated from Syria in the
late 1800s/early 1900s, but I have no way to connect them to my John Side.

I'm trying to find more information on this family, if they were Christian
or Muslim or Jew, since apparently all three religions were common in the
area. I'm also trying to figure out if SIDE was an American translation of a
more Arabic surname.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Jenny

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