The Arraj Family Tree (Arraje, Arrajj, Araj, abou Arraj, etc.)
and the Sayegh Family Tree (Sayeg, Saigh, etc.)
The Arraj and Sayegh families have their roots in Lebanon and branches in many parts of the world. Hopefully other Arrajs and Sayeghs will contribute to this page so we will all be able to see its full extent.
 Jacob Sayegh (1) |
 Takla Kalil Sayegh (2) |
 Julia Sayegh Arraj at the pyramids (3) |
 Rashid Sayegh (4) |
 Michael Sayegh, a policeman killed in the line of duty (5) |
 Julie Sayegh Bouglié with her husband René (6) |
 Anisi Sayegh who played in a Hollywood movie (7) |
 Michael Arraj, Melkite Catholic priest (8) |
 Elias Arraj (9) |
 William Arraj, killed in World War II (10) |
 James Joseph Arraj (11) |
 Fred Arraj (12) |
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I. Joseph Arraj + Mary Halal
1. Adele + George Hajjar
1. Moses
1. John
2.
Shirley
3.
Barbara
2. Nellie
1. George
1. Vic
1. Kyle
2. Bryan
1. George, Jr.
1.
Jessica
2. Ashley
3. John
2.
Arthur
1. Lance
1. Anthony
2. Linda
1.
James
2. Kamai
3. Marquise
3.
Anna
3. Helen
1. Catherine
2.
Richard
3.
Sharon
4.
Gary
4. Selma
1. John
1. Anthony
1. Chase
2. Jaydn
2. James
1. Juliana
3. Steven
4. David
5. Thomas
1. Henry
6. Sean
2. Patricia
1. Salvatore
2. Lauren
3. Anne Marie
3. Jean
1. Diane
1. Elizabeth
2. Carol
1. Cassandra
3. Michael
1. Charles
2. Casey
4. Helen
1. Paul
1. Emma
5. Hilda
1. Laura
2. George
6. Nancy
1. Michael
2. Monica
5. William
6. Effie
1. Loretta
1. Deborah
1.
Marisa
2. Joseph
2. Ernest
1.
Emily
3. Judith
1.
Jakob
2. Ernest, Jr.
1. Laura
1.
Christopher
2.
Nichole
2. Michael
1.
Nicholas
3. Patricia
1.
Joseph
2.
Kevin
4. Peggy
1.
Meghan
2.
Sarah
3.
Sean
7. Sadie
1. Carol
1. Barbara
2. Joseph
2.
Joseph
1. Donna
1.
Jorge
2. Joseph
1.
Alyssa
2. Eric
3. Lisa
1.
Michael
2. Amber
3. Anthony
3.
Paul
2. Effie Arraj
3. Nassiba Arraj
1.
Fouad
4. Takla Boulos
1.
George Abou Arraj
1. Hanan
2. Paul
3. Elias
4. Gassan
5. Juliana
5. Nicholas + Nazera Hajjar
1. Linda
2. Matilda
3. John
4. Evelyn
5. June
6. Yvonne
7. George
8. William
6. Antooun + Rose Halal
1. Joseph
2. Nazlee
3. Philip
7. Suleiman
1. Fouad Abou Arraj + Georget
1. Michael
2. Elly
3. George
4. Marco
5. Mona
6. Effefy
7. Roset
8. Jandark
9. Rabha
2. Anthony Abou Arraj + Anisi
1. Zaher
2. Alisa
3. Ranya
4. Bouchra
5. Noel
3. Joseph Abou Arraj + Juliet
1. Elias + Denise
1. Wassim
2. George + Taylor
1. Gabriel
3. Sammer
4. Jocelyne
2. Nicholas +Toffie
1. Nabile
2. Nasreen
3. Nada
4. Naseih
5. Naddeem
6. Nasseem
3. William + Mary
1. Tony
1. William
2. Juliet
3. Joe
4. George
5. Meesho
6. Mirna
4. Suleiman + Teresa
1. Elias
2. Paul
5. Lilly + Joseph
1. Tony
2. Sammi
6.
Dallal + Nabile
7. Rose + Elly Saeed
4. Josephine + Suleman Saleba
1. Mike
2. George
3. Chabey
4. Nicholas
5. Sophie
8. Elias (photo 9) + Juriki (Julia) Sayegh (photo 3)
1. Fred (photo 12)
2. James Joseph
(photo 11) + Margaret
1. Margaret
2. James Joseph + Tyra
1. Elizabeth
2. John
3. Jane
4. William
3. William (photo 10)
4. George
9. Michael (Melkite Catholic priest) (photo 8)
My name is James Joseph Arraj, married to Tyra with two children, Elizabeth and John.
My father, James Joseph (1911-1997) was born in Mashghara, Lebanon where the family lived in the highest part of the town, and came to Worcester, MA with his mother and brother, Fred, to join his father in 1920. He married Margaret and had 4 children: Margaret, me, Jane and William.
His father, Elias (1885-1965) was married to Juriki (Julia) Sayegh (1890-1988). Elias had worked in a tannery in Mashgara, and did the same kind of work in Worcester. Among their children were: Fred, my father, William, and George.
Elias’ father was Joseph Arraj and his mother was Mary Halal.
Elias, my grandfather, had 4 sisters:
Adele (1889-1971) who married George Hajjar and had seven children: Moe, Nellie, Helen,
Selma, William, Effie and Sadie, and Helen had a daughter, Catherine.
Effie Arraj in Palestine,
Nassiba Arraj in Rishmaya, Lebanon (who also lived in Beiruit and had a son, Fouad), and
Takla Boulos of Mashghara. Takla had a son, George Abou Arraj, who had 5 children: Hanan,
Paul, Elias, Ghassan and Juliana.
Elias had four brothers:
Nicholas and Antoine, who also lived in Worcester, and two brothers who stayed in Lebanon:
Suliman who lived in Mashgara, and had 4 children, and
Michael who was a Melkite Catholic priest of the Basilian Salvadorian Order
in Lebanon and who died at age 99, one day before his
100th birthday, with a reputation for holiness. " Old people in Damascus and in
Lebanon talk about the ‘miracles of Abouna Arraje’," Joseph Raya, former
Archbishop of Galilee once wrote me. In 1972 when my aunt Antoinette visited him in
Rishmaya he still said Mass every day, worked in the garden, and
took a lively interest in his relatives in America. Elias Abou Arraj recalls how when
Uncle Michael visited him in Mashgara when Elias was a child, he used to dress up in Uncle
Michael's robes and hat and pretend he was a priest.
Julia’s father was Jacob Sayegh and her mother Takla Kalil.
My grandmother Julia had two sisters who lived in Kansas City:
Zakia Kelly and Rashidi, and she had a brother Michael who was a policeman there who was
killed in the line of duty. And a brother, James, who also lived in Kansas City.
She also had a sister Anisi who was an actress and eventually lived in Brooklyn.
There were two more brothers, as well: Rashid and Saleem, who had moved to Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. Rashid had 5 children. His youngest daughter, Josephine, stayed in Lebanon, and
her daughter, Antoinette, was to come to America to marry my uncle, George, and have three
children: George, Lisa and Joyce.
The Arrajs in history?
There was a Michael Arraj who was a Melkite priest of the Basilian Salvadorians who was the Archimandrite, or Superior General of the Order between 1755 and 1768. The Basilian Salvadorians and their chief monastery of Holy Savior (Deir al-Moukhailes) was founded in the beginning of the 18th century by Euthemios Saifi, Metropolitan of Tyre. The archbishop had been making his pastoral rounds when a member of his party accidentally shot a priest named Ibrahim Toto. The archbishop exclaimed, "Oh, Savior of the world!," and Ibrahim immediately got up and was unharmed because the bullet had gone through his clothes but not into his body. The archbishop vowed to build a monastery named after the Savior.
It is probable that Michael Arraj was present at the third national Melkite council of 1756 held at Holy Savior, and we do know he built the monastery of St. Elias (Deir Mar Elias) in Rishmaya. A hundred years or so ago his portrait was to be seen in the monastery church. Perhaps it is still there. ( This information came from Cyril Charon’s, History of the Melkite Patriarchates.)
El Araj. The town of Bethsaida on Sea of Galilee played an important role in the public ministry of Jesus. Prevailing opinion places it at present day et-Tell, but Mendel Nun, a Galilean fisherman and amateur archaeologist locates it at El Araj which has Hellenistic and early Roman ruins. Just when it got that name is another matter.(Biblical Archaeological Review, Jan.-Feb., 2000, p. 52.)
I have heard several different accounts of the meaning of the Arraj name. One made it out to " the one who limps" perhaps recalling some proto-ancester, while another, which I enjoy, was " he who deviates from the path." My part of the Arraj family acquired at one point the nickname Bougash after one of our ancestors, perhaps my greatgrandfather, or greatgreatgrandfather, who could not sit still, but Uncle Michael told the family to go back to using Arraj.
Do you know more about the Arraj and Sayegh family trees? If so, please let us know. E-Mail Address: arraj@innerexplorations.com