Mellette County, South Dakota
Family Histories & Biographies - Abourezk Surname
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History of the Charles Abourezk Family
Author unknown
(Transcribed, with permission from the Mellette County Historical Society, from "Mellette County 1911-1986"
published by the Mellette County Historical Society in 1986)
Charles Thomas Abourezk, Sr., known as Charley lo his friends, was born on April 7, 1871, in the small village of El Kfeir, Lebanon, on the slopes of Mt. Hermon, about 15 miles from the present northern border of Israel. The area where he was born and raised was then called Syria, but in 1943 Lebanon was created as an independent nation.
He was a small farmer in El Kfeir, and in 1898 he immigrated to the United States, coming immediately to South Dakota. He first established a homestead in Lyman County, but soon began selling merchandise, an occupation which he followed for the remainder of his 79 years. He began by walking from farmhouse to farmhouse, peddling spices and linens from a pack on his back, until he saved enough to buy a horse, then later a buggy, and eventually a store building in Wood in 1911. His son James was once told by an old Indian who lived south of Wood that he could recall when Charley would come on foot to his cabin, stay overnight, then walk on to the next farmhouse, selling his wares.
When Gregory County was opened for homesteading, he worked for a time as a frontier marshal at Bonesteel. In 1905, he was hired as a bank guard by the Vivian Bank, and since the bank had no vault, Charley slept on a cot in the bank at nights to fulfill his responsibility.
Charley interrupted his work in 1907 to return to Lebanon to find a wife. He married 18-year-old Lena Mickel, a girl from the village. To them two children were born in Lebanon-Helen Abourezk Ramey and Charles "Chick" Abourezk, Jr. He returned to South Dakota in 1910, telling his new family he would send for them when he could afford their tickets to the New World.
Unfortunately, World War I intervened, and since Lebanon was a center of the battle between the Allies and the German Alliance, he virtually lost contact with Lena and the children. The country of Turkey had control of the Middle East and it had sided with Germany. It was a time of great hardship for Lena and the children, since both food and money were extremely scarce, primarily because the Turkish army confiscated any food they could find in the area they controlled. It was virtually impossible for Charley to send money since the United Stales and Turkey were enemies at the time.
It was not until 1920 that all the arrangements could be made to bring Lena, Helen and Chick to South Dakota, and when they arrived on June 14, it was a big celebration in Wood. Charley's generosity and gregarious personality had made him a multitude of friends, particularly among the Indians. Wood was then a part of the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. To welcome Charley's family, a large group of Indians put on dance costumes for the celebration. When they showed up at the Abourezk house with drums and much shouting, Lena took one look and, thinking the end was near, scooped up her two children and barred the door from the inside.
Charley's first general merchandise store was opened in Wood in 1911, and the second one in Mission in 1920. In a fashion typical for immigrants, Charley brought his cousin Eli Abourezk and his brother-in-law John Mickel from Lebanon and gave them work in his stores. Both eventually struck out on their own, however, and opened businesses of their own. John Mickel settled in White River, and Eli, always a bachelor who found it difficult to stay in one place, owned stores at different times in Wood, Witten and Winner.
After Lena moved to Wood, the couple had three more children-Thomas, born in 1921, Virginia, born in 1923, and James, born in 1931. In addition, Charley and Lena adopted two of Charley's brother's children after their parents died. Albert and Josephine Abourezk were age 5 and 4 respectively when they came, orphaned, to Charley's family.
Although Charley's business fortunes rose and fell with the economy of South Central South Dakota, he managed to accumulate various business properties during his active life. Neither he nor Lena ever learned to read or write English, which makes their business successes all the more interesting. He was Wood's mayor for several terms, serving 16 years in all. Charley built a movie theatre in Wood, and acquired several small farms near Wood and Mission. He died in 1951 at the age of 79, after a series of debilitating illnesses, and Lena lived for 22 more years, at times in Mission and at times in Winner, always near one of her children. She died in 1973.
Neither Charley nor Lena ever returned to Lebanon after their final emigration from there, but Jim, Chick and Tom visited the country before the start of the Lebanese civil war in 1975. Chick noted that the house where he was born and where he lived the first nine years of his life, that of his mother's parents, was still standing and still had a dirt floor. His father's house had been rebuilt by a cousin, Philip Abourezk, who still lives in it. The custom in Lebanon is never to sell property, but to pass it on to any member of the family who will maintain it. Virginia was told by her mother, Lena, that the memories of her early existence there were so painful that she had no desire to return to be reminded of it again.
During World War II, Chick, Tom and Albert served in the military services. Chick was a combat engineer, a member of the unit which linked up with the Russian army at the Elbe River in Germany in 1945. Tom was in the Marine Corps and served in the Pacific theater. He accidentally met up with adopted brother Albert on Peleliu Island, part of the Palau Island chain wrested from Japan in 1944. Albert was an army infantryman. All returned safely and immediately took over the family businesses from Charley and Lena, who managed them during the war. Chick and Tom and their wives, Elda Sanderson Abourezk and Twila Fox Abourezk, bought out the Mission store. Albert and his wife, Frances Kimball Abourezk, bought the store in Wood.
Chick and Tom vastly expanded the Mission store over the years, making it one of the more successful businesses in the area. They sold it in 1974. In 1962, they bought the famous Evan's Plunge in Hot Springs, South Dakota. In 1970 the structure over the plunge was completely torn down and a new structure built. Operating it until 1978, they then sold it and retired from active business life.
As of this writing, both Chick and family and Tom and family live in Rapid City, South Dakota Chick's family consists of Linda, Carol and Michael. Tom's family includes Bonnie, Colleen, Jill and Susan. Josephine is widowed and lives in Winner, South Dakota, as does Albert's widow, Frances Kimball Abourezk, Albert having passed away in 1966. Josephine's family consists of LeeAnn and Albert.
Virginia and her husband, Dick Nicholson, have lived in Winner since their marriage in 1946. They have two children, Thomas and Teri. Helen married Fayez Ramey, who was also originally from the village of El Kfeir, Lebanon, and moved to Beckley, West Virginia, in 1931. She was widowed in 1967. but still spends most of her time in Beckley. Her family includes four girls, Dorothy, Sally, Lena and Victoria.
The youngest member of the family, James, enlisted in the Navy in 1948, then later received a Civil Engineering degree from the South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City, as well as a law degree from the University of South Dakota at Vermillion. He practiced law in Rapid City until 1970 when he won election to the U. S. House of Representatives. In 1972 he was elected to the U. S. Senate, representing South Dakota. He served one term in the Senate, then voluntarily stepped down. He returned to the practice of law in Washington, D. C. Jim has three children, Charley, Nikki and Paul, from his first marriage to Mary Houghten Abourezk. He is currently living in Washington, D. C. with his second wife, Margaret Bethea Abourezk, and their daughter, Chesley.
Author unknown
(Transcribed, with permission from the Mellette County Historical Society, from "Mellette County 1911-1986"
published by the Mellette County Historical Society in 1986)
Charles Thomas Abourezk, Sr., known as Charley lo his friends, was born on April 7, 1871, in the small village of El Kfeir, Lebanon, on the slopes of Mt. Hermon, about 15 miles from the present northern border of Israel. The area where he was born and raised was then called Syria, but in 1943 Lebanon was created as an independent nation.
He was a small farmer in El Kfeir, and in 1898 he immigrated to the United States, coming immediately to South Dakota. He first established a homestead in Lyman County, but soon began selling merchandise, an occupation which he followed for the remainder of his 79 years. He began by walking from farmhouse to farmhouse, peddling spices and linens from a pack on his back, until he saved enough to buy a horse, then later a buggy, and eventually a store building in Wood in 1911. His son James was once told by an old Indian who lived south of Wood that he could recall when Charley would come on foot to his cabin, stay overnight, then walk on to the next farmhouse, selling his wares.
When Gregory County was opened for homesteading, he worked for a time as a frontier marshal at Bonesteel. In 1905, he was hired as a bank guard by the Vivian Bank, and since the bank had no vault, Charley slept on a cot in the bank at nights to fulfill his responsibility.
Charley interrupted his work in 1907 to return to Lebanon to find a wife. He married 18-year-old Lena Mickel, a girl from the village. To them two children were born in Lebanon-Helen Abourezk Ramey and Charles "Chick" Abourezk, Jr. He returned to South Dakota in 1910, telling his new family he would send for them when he could afford their tickets to the New World.
Unfortunately, World War I intervened, and since Lebanon was a center of the battle between the Allies and the German Alliance, he virtually lost contact with Lena and the children. The country of Turkey had control of the Middle East and it had sided with Germany. It was a time of great hardship for Lena and the children, since both food and money were extremely scarce, primarily because the Turkish army confiscated any food they could find in the area they controlled. It was virtually impossible for Charley to send money since the United Stales and Turkey were enemies at the time.
It was not until 1920 that all the arrangements could be made to bring Lena, Helen and Chick to South Dakota, and when they arrived on June 14, it was a big celebration in Wood. Charley's generosity and gregarious personality had made him a multitude of friends, particularly among the Indians. Wood was then a part of the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. To welcome Charley's family, a large group of Indians put on dance costumes for the celebration. When they showed up at the Abourezk house with drums and much shouting, Lena took one look and, thinking the end was near, scooped up her two children and barred the door from the inside.
Charley's first general merchandise store was opened in Wood in 1911, and the second one in Mission in 1920. In a fashion typical for immigrants, Charley brought his cousin Eli Abourezk and his brother-in-law John Mickel from Lebanon and gave them work in his stores. Both eventually struck out on their own, however, and opened businesses of their own. John Mickel settled in White River, and Eli, always a bachelor who found it difficult to stay in one place, owned stores at different times in Wood, Witten and Winner.
After Lena moved to Wood, the couple had three more children-Thomas, born in 1921, Virginia, born in 1923, and James, born in 1931. In addition, Charley and Lena adopted two of Charley's brother's children after their parents died. Albert and Josephine Abourezk were age 5 and 4 respectively when they came, orphaned, to Charley's family.
Although Charley's business fortunes rose and fell with the economy of South Central South Dakota, he managed to accumulate various business properties during his active life. Neither he nor Lena ever learned to read or write English, which makes their business successes all the more interesting. He was Wood's mayor for several terms, serving 16 years in all. Charley built a movie theatre in Wood, and acquired several small farms near Wood and Mission. He died in 1951 at the age of 79, after a series of debilitating illnesses, and Lena lived for 22 more years, at times in Mission and at times in Winner, always near one of her children. She died in 1973.
Neither Charley nor Lena ever returned to Lebanon after their final emigration from there, but Jim, Chick and Tom visited the country before the start of the Lebanese civil war in 1975. Chick noted that the house where he was born and where he lived the first nine years of his life, that of his mother's parents, was still standing and still had a dirt floor. His father's house had been rebuilt by a cousin, Philip Abourezk, who still lives in it. The custom in Lebanon is never to sell property, but to pass it on to any member of the family who will maintain it. Virginia was told by her mother, Lena, that the memories of her early existence there were so painful that she had no desire to return to be reminded of it again.
During World War II, Chick, Tom and Albert served in the military services. Chick was a combat engineer, a member of the unit which linked up with the Russian army at the Elbe River in Germany in 1945. Tom was in the Marine Corps and served in the Pacific theater. He accidentally met up with adopted brother Albert on Peleliu Island, part of the Palau Island chain wrested from Japan in 1944. Albert was an army infantryman. All returned safely and immediately took over the family businesses from Charley and Lena, who managed them during the war. Chick and Tom and their wives, Elda Sanderson Abourezk and Twila Fox Abourezk, bought out the Mission store. Albert and his wife, Frances Kimball Abourezk, bought the store in Wood.
Chick and Tom vastly expanded the Mission store over the years, making it one of the more successful businesses in the area. They sold it in 1974. In 1962, they bought the famous Evan's Plunge in Hot Springs, South Dakota. In 1970 the structure over the plunge was completely torn down and a new structure built. Operating it until 1978, they then sold it and retired from active business life.
As of this writing, both Chick and family and Tom and family live in Rapid City, South Dakota Chick's family consists of Linda, Carol and Michael. Tom's family includes Bonnie, Colleen, Jill and Susan. Josephine is widowed and lives in Winner, South Dakota, as does Albert's widow, Frances Kimball Abourezk, Albert having passed away in 1966. Josephine's family consists of LeeAnn and Albert.
Virginia and her husband, Dick Nicholson, have lived in Winner since their marriage in 1946. They have two children, Thomas and Teri. Helen married Fayez Ramey, who was also originally from the village of El Kfeir, Lebanon, and moved to Beckley, West Virginia, in 1931. She was widowed in 1967. but still spends most of her time in Beckley. Her family includes four girls, Dorothy, Sally, Lena and Victoria.
The youngest member of the family, James, enlisted in the Navy in 1948, then later received a Civil Engineering degree from the South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City, as well as a law degree from the University of South Dakota at Vermillion. He practiced law in Rapid City until 1970 when he won election to the U. S. House of Representatives. In 1972 he was elected to the U. S. Senate, representing South Dakota. He served one term in the Senate, then voluntarily stepped down. He returned to the practice of law in Washington, D. C. Jim has three children, Charley, Nikki and Paul, from his first marriage to Mary Houghten Abourezk. He is currently living in Washington, D. C. with his second wife, Margaret Bethea Abourezk, and their daughter, Chesley.
Charlie and Lena Abourezk
Abourezk Surname
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