Barrack, Saleem (“Sam”) Farhood (1886-1929)

Saleem (“Sam”) Farhood Barrack managed a tailoring business and a rug dealership. He lived at 1012 Denman Street in 1919.

 

Early Life

It appears that Saleem was born in Syria, possibly on October 5, 1886. His parents were Forhod Barrack and Farady (Faridy or Freda) Attalla.

Forhod Barrack was born in Syria in 1853. He  probably died in Toronto, Ontario, on January 20, 1925.  Farady (Faridy or Freda) Attalla, who was born in Syria about 1867.

The Barrack family came to Canada about 1896, and settled in Toronto.

 

Marriage to Goldie Greenburg

Sometime before 1908, Saleem married Goldie Greenburg (or Greenburgh). She was born in Russia about 1890. The Greenberg family came to Canada about 1897, and they were living in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1901.

Saleem and Goldie seem to have stayed in Winnipeg until sometime after 1907.

 

To Vancouver

Saleem first appeared in the Vancouver directories in 1910, living at 1562 Napier Street in East Vancouver.

By 1911, he had moved downtown, to 879 Keefer Street. He was the manager of the Courian-Babayan rug store at 667 Granville Street.

Paul Courian (1854-1927) and Levon Babayan (about 1876-1951) came to North America from Armenia in the 1890s. They imported rugs from Turkey and Persia, and they had retail outlets in Canada, including Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. At first they were in business together, but later they established individual carpet companies. Babayan’s Limited was still operating a carpet cleaning business in Toronto in 2014.

 

To Eastern Canada

The Barrack family may have moved to Toronto in the early 1920s. About 1927, they went to Montreal, Quebec, where Saleem became the Montreal manager of Babayan’s Limited.

Saleem died at his home in Montreal on September 8, 1929. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Toronto. Goldie and four children survived him.

Another child, Clarence Barrack, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in August 1907. He died in Vancouver on September 14, 1914. He was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver.

 

Sources

Carpet and Rug Business: Courian and Babayan

Courian, Babayan and Co. (Paul Courian, Levon Babayan), Oriental Rugs, Toronto directory, 1912, page 571, https://archive.org/stream/torontodirec191200midiuoft#page/571/mode/1up

Paul Courian grave monument, Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/gravedetails.php?available=yes&fullname=Paul%20Courian&grave=160536&personid=342382&db=160536&scrwidth=1600.

Armenians, Encyclopedia of Canada’s Peoples, edited by Paul R. Magocsi, University of Toronto Press, 1999, page 217, http://books.google.ca/books?id=dbUuX0mnvQMC&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=%22paul+courian%22&source=bl&ots=K8v3mKa0gH&sig=JXky6A-hFnv6hG2EG2O5Bf0XeLo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QG1-U_TCKILlsASRt4KYDA&ved=0CFcQ6AEwCzgK#v=onepage&q=%22paul%20courian%22&f=false

The Georgetown Boys, Embassy of the Republic of Armenia to Canada, http://canada.mfa.am/en/community-overview/

High Style and Cleanliness: Oriental Rugs in Toronto Homes 1880 – 1940, Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings, 1-1-2006, Neil Brochu, page 309-310, http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1333&context=tsaconf.

Levon Babayan, The Romance of the Oriental Rug (Toronto: Babayan’s Limited, 1925).

“Noted Merchant Fled Armenia 45 Years Ago,” The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Jun 7, 1951; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail (1844-2011), page 5: Levon Babayan obituary.

Noted Rug Importer Passes at Age of 73, The Globe (1844-1936); Jun 30, 1927; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail (1844-2011), page 49: Paul Courian obituary.

Babayan’s Carpet and Rug Cleaning, http://www.babayans.com/carpet_repairs.html (searched May 22, 2014).

 

Barrack Family

“Canada Census, 1901,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KHGX-GL9 : accessed 22 May 2014), Forhod Barrack, A, Toronto (centre) (city/cité), Ontario, Canada; citing p. 1, Public Archives, Ottawa, Ontario.

Frank Barrack, 1911 Census of Canada, Ontario, Toronto South, 12, ward 2, page 3, family 22, lines 41-47; http://automatedgenealogy.com/census11/View.jsp?id=83800&highlight=41&desc=1911+Census+of+Canada+page+containing+Frank+Barrack; http://data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/1911/pdf/e002027936.pdf.

“United States Border Crossings from Canada to United States, 1895-1956,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XG3W-553 : accessed 22 May 2014), Farahood Barrack, 10 Jul 1917; citing “Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1954,” Ancestry.com; Ship , arrival port Niagara Falls, New York, , line , NARA microfilm publication M1480, roll 14, Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.

“Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JNFJ-GYD : accessed 22 May 2014), Farhood Barrack, 20 Jan 1925; citing Toronto, York, Ontario, 70, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 2057268.

“Ontario, Births and Baptisms, 1779-1899,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XLGN-N97 : accessed 22 May 2014), Farhoud Barrack in entry for Edward Alfred Barrack, 12 Sep 1898; citing Toronto, York, Ontario; FHL microfilm 1928123.

“Ontario Births, 1869-1912,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KZ1W-1ZS : accessed 22 May 2014), Farhoud Barrack in entry for Edward Alfred Barrack, 12 Sep 1898; citing Toronto, York, Ontario, Canada, registration number 004150; FHL microfilm 1928123.

“Ontario Births, 1869-1912,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FMZG-ZWG : accessed 22 May 2014), Farhood Barrack in entry for Charles Nicholas Barrack, 10 Sep 1896; citing Toronto, York, Ontario, Canada, registration number 047094; FHL microfilm 1846559.

Deaths (2), The Globe (1844-1936); Jul 6, 1936; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail (1844-2011), page 10: Czar J. Barrack, death notice: son of Freda and the late Farhood Barrack.

 

Saleem Farhood Barrack

Lovell’s Montreal [1929] Alphabetical Directory, page 677: “Barrack, S.F., mgr Babayan’s Ltd., 76 Willowdale av Outremont.”

Deaths, The Globe (1844-1936); Sep 10, 1929; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail (1844-2011), page 14: “Barrack – Suddenly, at Montreal, on Sunday, Sept. 8th, 1919, at his late residence, 76 Willowdale Avenue, Outremont, Saleem Farhood Barrack, beloved husband of Goldie Greenberg, in his forty-fourth year. Funeral notice later.”

Saleem Farhood Barrack, death notice, Montreal Gazette, September 9, 1929, page 8, http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bXItAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SIwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7085%2C1188321; Montreal Gazette, September 10, 1929, page 7, http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bnItAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SIwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7117%2C1551221: “Barrack – Suddenly, on Sunday, September 8th, 1929, at his late residence, 76 Willowdale Avenue, Outremont, Saleem Farhood Barrack, beloved husband of Goldie Greenberg, in his 44th year. Remains at the William Wray Chapel, 2075 University Street. Interment, Toronto, Ont.”

Montreal Gazette, September 10, 1929, page 9, http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bnItAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SIwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3110%2C1569541 [link leads to article to the left of the notice from Babayan’s Limited]: “Owing to the very sudden death, and out of respect for our late Montreal Manager, Mr. F.F. Barrack, this Store will be closed for three days, September 9, 10 and 11, reopening Thursday, September 12. Babayan’s Limited, 1235 St. Catherine Street West, Montreal; 34 King Street East, Toronto.”

“Montreal Manager of Babayan’s Dead,”The Globe (1844-1936); Sep 11, 1929; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail (1844-2011), page 14: “Prominent and highly respected in business circles in Toronto for the last 25 years, S.F. Barrack, Manager of the Montreal branch of Babayan’s Limited, died following a heart seizure early on Sunday at Montreal. Deceased, who was 42 years of age, was a representative of Babayan’s Limited, for almost a quarter century, and had travelled extensively in the West, where he built up a large connection for his firm. About a year and a half ago he was appointed manager of the Montreal branch. The remains were brought to Toronto yesterday and now lie in St. Clare’s Roman Catholic Church, from where the funeral will take place today, to Mount Hope Cemetery. Deceased is survived by his widow and four children.”

 

Goldie Greenberg (wife of Saleem Farhood Barrack)

“Canada Census, 1901,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KHKS-672 : accessed 22 May 2014), Goldie Greenberg in household of Isaac Greenberg, E, Winnipeg (city/cité), Manitoba, Canada; citing p. 1, Public Archives, Ottawa, Ontario.

 

Clarence Barrack (son of Saleem Farhood Barrack)

“British Columbia Death Registrations, 1872-1986,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FLK9-ZJB : accessed 22 May 2014), Sam Barrack in household of Clarence Barrack, 14 Sep 1914; citing Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; British Columbia Archives film number B13101, Division of Vital Statistics, Victoria; FHL microfilm 1927129.