The Fairhart Family Saga
September 17, 2022 - February 17, 2023
This is a brief history of a very iconic family who made their mark on Morton, WA and a lasting impression on a lot of the families who reside locally. This history cannot show the courage of these people nor the talent hat they possessed. Please excuse any facts you believe to be incorrect. Please know we tried diligently to keep the integreity of the Fairhart Family history intact.
Esper & Annie Fairhart
According to the records we have been able to attain from family and documentation from multiple sources: Esper Melhim Fairhart was born 04/12/1878 in Turkey (Different records indicate different places, Turkey/Egypt/Lebanon/Syria. You must remember that Lebanon was at one time a French colony & for a time part of Syria)
By 1910, the family has migrated to Sussex Street in Tenino, WA. Esper is still a peddler, listed as selling dry goods. He and Annie have added 2 children Mamie who is 2 and Marcel who is 4 months. Family history states that Uncle Helim (Bill) was residing nearby and working in the logging camps.
It was 1913 that Esper Melhim, while on one of his peddling trips found the Childres store in Morton, WA. He purchased it and he and Helim/Uncle Bill went into business.
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I918 finds Esper Melhim registering for the WW II draft. he has relocated his family to Morton, WA. He is 40 years of age and Annie his wife is listed as his closed relative. He is a merchant by trade. Arabic is his native tongue.
Esper was one of nine children. His two sisters were Satute and May. His brothers were Fahed, Fahim, Halim/Uncle Bill, Latif, Naim/Uncle Nick, and Farhat. According to the documentation we can obtain, Esper's parents (Melhim and Emma) were both from either Turkey, Syria/Lebanon, depneding on which record you read.
We know in 1897 Esper had travelled to America. in 1900, he resided in Seattle and worked as a "peddler of notions" with a partner Fred Melbe. They lived in the Weller Street Vicinity, Cottages by the Bay in Seattle, WA.
in 1902, we find Esper residing at the Bellevue Hotel. He is part of "Nasser & Fairhart". We were unable to ascertain exactly what type of business Nasser and Fairhart was. (Family history says it was a "saloon" business) This is about the time that Esper's brother Halim/Uncle Bill emigrated to America.
We have record that in May of 1905, Esper left America enroute to Lebanon. He returned on July 08th, 1906 with his bride, Annie and his brother Fahim. The trio sailed on the S.S La Touraine from Havre to New York.
Esper was 28 years old and had $125. He was listed on the ship manifest as a merchant. His brother, Fahim is listed as a shoemaker. According to documents, Esper came to join his friend, Hamati Brothers of Broadway, NY.
William Helim /
Uncle Bill Fairhart
William Helim / Uncle Bill Fairhart is also registering for the WW II draft. He is 34 years old, residing in Morton. His closest relative is E.M Fairhart. He is single.
Naim / Uncle Nick Fairhart also joined the Military and was enlisted from July 1917 to November 1919.
Annie (29) and Esper (41) were still residing in Morton at the time of the 1920 Census. Raising their family of 6 children. Esper Melhim is listed as a storekeeper. Their home is owned, free of mortgage. The oldest child Mamie is 11, Marcel 9, Madeline 8, Messina 6, Marguite 3, and the youngest, Melberna is age 2.
At the time of the 1920 census, Helim/Uncle Bill is now 34 and also living in Morton, owns his home, free of mortgage. He is single and listed as a "proprietor" of a "grocery store". Family states that he and Esper were in partnership on the store.
The story says that in 1920, word came that Esper Melhim's father, Melhim, in Lebanon, was quite ill. This led Esper to return his family to Lebanon. The census was taken on January 13 in 1920 so the family left some time after that). According to family lore, his father had passed by the time he reached Lebanon. It is believed that he sold his part of the store to Uncle Bill at this time.
While in Lebanon, the family had three additional children, Weygand, Wilhelmina and Ramon. Sadly, when the family attempted to return to America, there was a problem or perhaps they simply did not have the birth certificates of the children born in America so they could not return.
Helim/Uncle Bill continued to run the store in Morton. The 1930s brought some major changes. American was thrown into a deep depression. According to many accounts by local families, their family would not have survived this troubled time without Uncle Bill Fairhart. He had a motto, "no one in Morton would go hungry as long as he food on his shelves" .
Local accounts say he gave credit to people who could not afford to pay thus allowing them to feed their families.
In 1934, the mother Annie died in lebanon. She was 42 years old. She is survived by her husband and all of her children. Records indicate her son Marcel is working in the Iraqi petroleum Company, working from Iraq to Saudi Arabia at the time of his mother's death.
Following just on the heels of his mother passing, we found record that on April 26, 1936, Messina Esper (22) returned to America aboard the SS lle De France. Followed shortly by brother Marcel (28) who arrived in May of 1938 aboard the SS Normandie. Both Brothers came in through France and arrived in New York, USA.
Prior to 1940, Sister Madeline returned to America also. (Some Family history says she came in 1936 with Esper. We, however, could not prove this)
She is listed on the 1940 census as living with Marcel her older brother (head of household) and Messina, her younger brother. For some reason, the 1940 census has Marcel, Madeline, and Massina E. - all listed as Ghosn's. Marcel is listed as a manager, both Madeline and Massina E. are listed as clerks. Uncle Bill/William Fairhart is also listed on the census as manage of a hotel along with William Ghosn.
On October 16, 1940 both Marcel & Massina Esper signed up for the WW II draft. Marcel is 30 years old and Massina is 25. On February 17th, 1942, Marcel is officially enlisted in the Army. Although we do not have the official date, we know Massina Esperwas also enlisted in the Army. They remained in the U.S Army for the remainder of the war.
On April 27th, 1942, William/Uncle Bill also signed up for the draft. He is 55 years old. The person listed as the one who "will always know your address" is C.W Lane.
Note:
He signed up for the WW I and WW II drafts.
Niam/Uncle Nick also signed up for the WW II draft. He was livng in Connecticut at the time. Married to wife, Alice, with two daughters, Emma (name after his mother?) and Renee.
1943 brings about a happy occasion, Messina Esper weds Mabel Marie Wakin.
Also, in 1943 the family gets word that Father Esper Melhim has passed away in Lebanon of a stroke.
April 16, 1947, finds sister Melberna Fairhart returning to America, arriving from Beirut, Lebanon aboard the S.S. Marine Carp.
By 1950 the couple, Messina Esper & Mabel Marie have two children, Esper (Mike) who is 6 and Antonette who is 4. The little family lives next door to Uncle Bill, Marcel, Madeline (36), and Melberna (30). Uncle Bill is listed as 60 years old, a retired merchant. Marcel is listed as 40 years old and a manager. Both sisters are listed as clerks. Living close by and managing apartments is Naim/Uncle Nick.
We know that sometime after 1950, younger sister, Wilhelmina joined the family in America.
October 28th, 1950 brings sadness to the Fairhart family. Mabel, the mother of two, passes away at the age of 36. Different sources relate different causes of death. She leaves behind her two small children. It is at this time that her mother, Angelic Wakin steps in to help with the children. During this period, Mike & Toni "spent a lot of time with Grandma Wakin"
In the spring of 1954, Marcel weds his bride Renee Shafic Kareh in Lebanon. In July of the same year, Marcel returned home to Morton with his bridge. Noteworthy is the fact that Marcel is 44 years old at the time.
1955 brought another marriage to the family. Melberna wed Henry Hathaway in Morton.
Also in 1955, Marcel & Renee had their first child; a girl they named Wema.
June of 1956 finds Messina Esper getting married again. He weds Shirley Maxine (Mitzi) Jacobsen, a social worker from Chehalis, WA. The couple adds two children to the family, Mark & Sonya.
In 1956, Marcel & Renee have a boy child they named Elee. Several years later they were gifted with another baby boy they called George.
Again, tragedy strikes on January 9th, 1966. Uncle Bill passes from this life. An icon is gone at the age of 78. He never married nor had any children. He was, however, the patriarch of his family for many years and led them through many tough situations.
Sisters Madeline & Wilhelmina, neither of which ever married, shared the home of brother Marcel and wife, Renee.
On August 1, 1973, Messina Esper (Mike) passed away at the age of 59. His two eldest children with Mabel are grown and on their own.
However, the two he had with Shirley remain at home.
His was a life well lived. He was a veteran of WW II; he had operated the Fairhart department store for a time. He opened and operated the Morton Radio-TV shop and the Morton television cable system.
Mike also belonged to many service organizations. His widow Shirley (Mitzi) Fairhart remained a widow until the time of her death in 2021.
Uncle Nick has a lot of documented history, from Military Service to helping "repair things at the store" until he passed from this life on August 9th, 1974.
Marcel passed away on June 06, 1999, followed closely by his beloved wife Renee in 2000. Both were interred at the Morton Cemetery.
Wilhelmina passed away at 73, and is buried in the Morton Cemetery.
In 2008 the family lost their Nanny; Miss Madeline Fairhart passed away at the age of 97 years of age. She was laid to rest in the Morton Cemetery.
The last of the original nine siblings to leave us was Melberna Fairhart Hathaway who passed away on August 17, 2018.