Appalachia, for all of its unique traditions, is still a melting pot of different cultures.
People from many walks of life have found a home in the mountains of West Virginia. For George and Sadie Ellis of Syria, that home was in the city of Ronceverte.
We do not know their personal reasons for leaving Syria in the 1890’s. However, during this time, the Ottoman Empire occupied Syria and brutally repressed the people. This caused many Syrians to leave. In 1896, the Ottomans made service in its military mandatory. Being young newly-weds, it is possible that the Ellis’s left to prevent George being drafted into the Ottoman army.
The couple spent a year in the United Kingdom before immigrating to the United States in 1899. First, they met with family in Clifton Forge, Virginia. Soon, they gave birth to their first son, named Guy, in 1903 and first daughter, Virginia, in 1906. Three more births would come in the following years.
The Ellis family settled in Ronceverte in Pocahontas County by 1914. Among Syrian immigrants to West Virginia, there was a strong mercantile tradition. George Ellis was no exception as he opened a restaurant in the Greenbrier Hotel. He would also sell goods door-to-door. By 1928, he saved up enough money to open his own Five and Dime store, which is now included on the National Register of Historic Places.
George Ellis passed away in 1946, with Sadie passing in 1963. The Ellis children, however, would go on to live notable lives. Their first child, Guy, was a popular mechanic in Ronceverte. He had a passion for tinkering and ran a successful repair shop. He also worked with the Volunteer Fire Department. Guy was also known to travel frequently on his Indian Motorcycle. During one of his frequent road trips, he visited Manchester Township, Maryland where, shortly before he arrived, the Hindenburg disaster occurred.
Virginia Ellis went on to graduate from the Medical College of Virginia School of Pharmacy in 1928. After working in drug stores for three years, she opened her own named the Greenbrier Drug Store in 1931. She was so influential as to be invited, along with other female entrepreneurs, to the White House to meet with Eleanor Roosevelt. After a long, profitable career, she passed away in her home on July 19, 2001.
The second daughter of George and Sadie, Mary was born in 1907. Their third daughter, Mildred, was born in 1919. In 1951, they converted their father’s Five and Dime store into a successful boutique.
Born in 1909, Ed was the second son of George and Sadie. Like his father, he started out working in the restaurant business. However, in 1941, he volunteered for the 1st Infantry Division as a medic. The United States had just entered World War II, so it was not long before Ed was deployed to Europe. There, he took part in several historically significant events. First, he was involved in the D-Day Normandy invasion and later the Siege of Bastogne. He was also involved in providing medical aid to Holocaust survivors freed from the concentration camps.
When he returned, he opened two different taxi companies. He was also an accomplished outdoorsman, taking many hunting trips aboard until his death in 1967.
Families like the Ellis’s are far from rare. For centuries, people all around the world have come to these mountains to find a better, more peaceful life. They bring their cultures and traditions with them - adding flavor and color to the brilliant mosaic that is Appalachia.
