Mount Lebanon, Syria to Providence, Rhode Island: 1904-1920

Amos Toney was born in Blouza, Mt. Lebanon, Syria on April 12, 1886 and died November 21, 1949 in Brattleboro, Vermont, according to his death certificate. He arrived in the United States in 1904 at the age of 18 and by the time of the 1920 census (left figure, lines 30-34) he was married to Emma (Solomon) Toney and had two sons, Nathan and Antone (aka Thomas, Fishy, or Amu). Listed on line 34 is a sister "Roseacino Joseph" who was born in Massachusetts in 1910. I am still trying to figure out who she is and what her real name is since I can't really read the handwriting. The last name Joseph does come up in North Adams, MA and we do have some relatives there; still working on this one. In any case, Amos is listed as a clothing proprietor on this census and continues with this profession throughout his life. His wife Emma Solomon was one of the many Solomon sisters from Providence who had one brother; Anthony Assaf Solomon (aka Tony Solomon, Gail Murray's grandfather). I'll have more on Emma and the Solomons in another post. The address listed for the Amos Toney family (along the side of the form) is 24 Wickenden Street. This was in the Fox Point district of Providence down by the bay. This area was mostly demolished in the 1950's to make way for new interstate highways but it's history has been widely researched. You can also see that another family lived at this address with the last name Rufful. I asked my dad about the Rufful's and he seems to remember stories of them being family friends but also from Syria.

Wickenden Street was the main street of the Fox Point area and was home to most of the businesses in the neighborhood including the one owned by Amos. There were many immigrants living there in the 1920's and 1930's, many Syrians, but mostly Portuguese from Portugal (the Azores specifically). The photo below is of the corner of Wickenden and Benefit street around 126 Wickenden Street.

I have not found any old maps with low numbers such as 24 Wickenden on them and it may actually be that the Toney's lived at 124 Wickenden (and there is later evidence that they lived near or on Benefit Street). Although the photo has a car in it they were pretty rare at the time and it would have been more normal to see a horse drawn carriage headed down the urban dirt roads. I'll try to write more about the Fox Point neighborhood and Wickenden Street in a future post.