Library and Archives

A Family Story by Philip Kaneb Maloof

Migration

Starting in the late 19th century, immigrants from the Ottoman Empire began to migrate to the United States to find work or escape political conflicts. The first period of significant migration from the Arab world started around 1880 and lasted until 1924. During this time, roughly 95,000 immigrants came to the U.S. from what was known as Greater Syria, a region in the Ottoman Empire. This region included present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Israel.

Many of those migrants were Christians from Mount Lebanon but there were also Muslims from other districts — and those hometown/religious origins shaped local social networks. Cities such as Springfield, Boston, Worcester, and other New England towns—drew migrants from the same regions. Early arrivals often worked as peddlers and then opened small dry-goods or grocery stores; others worked in local factories or as wage laborers. Hometown ties were important: earlier migrants sponsored or supplied goods for newcomers from the same towns. Communities formed churches, benevolent societies, and business networks (local Syrian/Lebanese merchants, silk/dry-goods dealers). Newspapers and social clubs appeared in larger nearby cities (Boston, Worcester), and Springfield’s community connected into those regional networks. the community was not monolithic: religion (Maronite/Greek Orthodox/Sunni) and village/hometown origin mattered.

Matrimony

Generally the Christian custom was to marry at the bride’s church, and it was her choice as to the denomination of the clergy. For example, the bride, Naza Selim—(Dadah was her family name)—and the groom, Hannah (John) Kanab (Kaneb),were married in 1897 at St. Joseph Church (a French-Canadian Roman Catholic parish) by Rev. Jules Graton, its first pastor; the bride was Maronite and the groom Eastern Orthodox. After the ceremonies both were members of the Syrian Orthodox Church and later Naza was an early president of its Ladies Society. 

Hanna (John) Kaneb ( Nov 1876 – Dec 6 1933) was born in Jerusalem. He immigrated to America before 1893. There are many spellings for his name: Hanna Hana Hannah John Kaneb Kanib Kanob.

Hanna’s first marriage was to Helle (Abdon) Kellel. They were married July 5, 1893 in Springfield MA. Helle died December 21,1894 at 20 years old in childbirth. Their daughter was born the same day. Her name was Fahimi Kinab, she lived 2 months, 15 days. she died Mar 14, 1895.

Hanna’s Second marriage was to Naza Salim Kaneb (1879-1937) on November 4, 1897. She was born in Jerusalem and immigrated to America before 1893.

John and Naza attempted to secure a marriage license in Springfield, when Tricky Rivals attempted to stop the marriage. Their story became a newspaper article.

A marriage license was issued by Springfield City Clerk Towne, Thursday, which brought to light a story of love and rivalry between some Assyrians of Springfield and a Worcester man, which is quite romantic. Hanna Kaneb (misspelled Kanat) of Worcester and Miss Naza Salim of Springfield were engaged to be married, and Wednesday Mr Kanat went to Springfield to obtain a marriage license. The city clerk said he could not give the license until it was proven that the girl was over 16 years of age, as he had learned she was not, Mr Kanat learned that some of his former rivals for the young woman’s hand had given the clerk a pointer, so as to prevent the marriage. After some trouble the license was procured and then it was found necessary to procure another one from Worcester. So, the couple came to Worcester on Thursday and got it. It was learned that they were married later that day. Mr Kanat said that there were four rivals; that they had each and all sworn revenge on him; had done all in their power to prevent the marriage; and even went so far as to claim that the girl had been sold by her father. Tricky Rivals Article from Worcester_morning_daily_spy_1897-11-05_9

Worcester Syrian weds a country-woman in Springfield. Harma (Hanna) Kanat (Kaneb) , a Worcester Syrian, living at 139 Bloomingdale road, went to Springfield yesterday to secure a bride, Naza Selim, of that city. When he tried to get his marriage certificate his trouble began. Tuesday he tried to get it from City Clerk Newell, of Springfield but was unable to do so, as some of the would-be bride’s friends alleged she was not of age. Yesterday they went to Judge Long, and as they protested that the girl was 15 years old, he sent them back to Clerk Newell. After a searching examination, and a warning as to the penalty awaiting them if they gave false testimony, the certificate was finally issued. Both parties are Syrians and both were born in Jerusalem.

Starting a Family in America

John and Nerzah settled in the City of Worcester, Mass where they started a family. Their first child was a daughter, Elizabeth Rachel, later known as Rachel. First son was Beton Michael, later known as “Uncle Mike”

Growing the Family

Hanna ( John) and Nerzah (Naza) had nine children; Four daughters and Five sons.

Elizabeth Rachel (Nov 10,1900 – Oct 25, 1983)
Beton Michael (Nov 22,1901- July 4,1959)
Peter (Nov 1901? – Mar 1903)
Mary (June 23,1904 – March 24,1913)
Albert John (1906 – Sept 5, 1934)
Minerva E (Nov 3, 1907 – Feb 11, 2008)
George Dwight (June 1, 1909 -1963)
Kenneth Abraham (Nov 13, 1911 -1999)
Janet Muriel (April 16, 1915 -1970)

Educating their Children

Education has long been a key driver of immigrant success, giving children the language skills, cultural understanding, and academic credentials needed to access better opportunities and help their families navigate society. This pattern is clearly seen in Hanna and Naza’s family: their children pursued higher education, with the three daughters completing business school; Beton (Mike) earning an engineering degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute; George attending Clark University and McGill Medical School to become a doctor; Kenneth graduating from Clark University; and Albert studying at Clark University before earning a law degree from Harvard. Their collective educational achievements positioned them for professional careers and upward mobility, securing long-term success for the family across generations.

Building a Business

Hanna John Kaneb, the father, was originally a peddler, then a merchant, and later he was engaged in the real estate business, at least in the sense that he bought and sold a considerable number of parcels of real estate. That he was both shrewd and successful is apparent from the educational opportunities he provided for his children. At the time of his death on December 6, 1933, and for a few years prior thereto, he operated a garage and a retail gasoline business at 462 Grafton Street, Worcester. This business was conducted on real estate which he had acquired by foreclosure, probably in 1929, and was known as the “Square Deal Garage”. Hanna Kaneb had held a mortgage on this property which had gone into default, and Beton, with his :father’s consent, had bid in the property at a foreclosure sale. Shortly after their father’s death (December 6, 1933) in the early part of 1934, Beton and Rachel formed .a partnership known as Central Oil Company to carry on the oil and gasoline business on these premises.

After Beton graduated from WPI, he went to work in 1929 for the City of Worcester in its engineering department. He remained employed as an engineer until 1933. During this period he was also active in building the new business.

In July of 1933 he formed a partnership with his sister Rachel Samia to conduct business as Central Oil Company. In that same year, land adjacent to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in Worcester was leased and facilities acquired for the storage of fuel oil. He installed a large storage tank at the site of Central Oil at 15 Putnam Lane.

After 1933, Beton devoted all his time to the new business. Brother George worked at the garage after school hours and on Saturdays and Sundays until 1932. Thereafter for the next two years he spent his Summer vacations from McGill University working at the garage. Kenneth also did some work for the partnership before graduating from Clark University in 1934. In 1934 the venture was incorporated under the name of the Central Oil Co. of Worcester.

Central Oil Company of Worcester was incorporated in 1934 and started by Beton “Mike” Kaneb and his sister Rachel Samia, They formed a partnership to carry on the oil business they started at the Square Deal Garage. This business was incorporated in 1934 under the name of the Central Oil Co. of Worcester. In that year, the brothers Kenneth had graduated from college and George was a student in a medical college. Subsequently, George practiced medicine in Worcester until December, 1948, when he ceased his practice to become a full time associate of Beton. The Central business was a success. Beton began to urge his brothers to secure a deep water terminal in or around Boston. They first demurred, but finally agreed that they should secure such a terminal; that a corporation should be organized to take title; and that each of them should have a one third interest in the corporation.

As early as 1938 Beton concluded that Central Oil Company, though it was taking giant steps forward, would never reach the “big money” circle unless it acquired a waterside terminal. In 1944, his continued persuasion finally overtook Kenneth’s reluctance to risk what he felt was a guaranteed security in the status quo and after Kenneth’s return from a tour of duty in the Army, a site for a deep water terminal was acquired in Revere.

Union Oil Products Company of Boston was organized on July 16, 1945. Its corporate name was changed to Union Oil Company of Boston in September, 1948. 

Lee Burbank Highway in Revere, MA, It was used for receiving, storing, and distributing petroleum products like gasoline, diesel, and fuel additives. Fuel was delivered by ship, barge, and truck, and stored in above-ground tanks. The site previously owned by the Kaneb’s, were later owned by companies like Global Partners (formerly Global Companies) and Irving Oil. The site has a history of contamination due to spills, and the redevelopment included plans for cleanup and remediation. 

Today, the oil tanks are gone, the land has been remediated, and the new Trident Logistics Center, a three – building Class A industrial development with 635,000 SF of high-bay warehouse space, now occupies the space where there were once 29 giant oil tanks.

From Oil to Milk

Beton Kaneb, along with his brothers Kenneth and George, were involved in legal disputes related to Central Oil Company of Worcester, as revealed in the case of Samia v. Central Oil Co. of Worcester. This caused problems with securing bank loans to expand the business with an oil refinery. Despite this, Beton “Mike” Kaneb, launched Northeast Petroleum to enter the Boston market in 1957. Mike died in 1959 and his sons stepped into his father’s shoes and took over the family-run oil company.

Northeast Petroleum was the largest petroleum distribution business in New England. Mike’s two sons kept the business going through the 1960s and eventually, would sell out because of the changes the Oil Embargo in 1973 made to the industry. In 1973, prior to the embargo, newspapers report Northeast Petroleum making plans to build a refinery in New Brunswick; however, it is apparent that afterwards, the deal fell through.

During the embargo, they were subjected to alleged price gouging by Sunoco, having been sold 10.1 gallons of heating oil at three times the price Sunoco’s own distributors were given. Sunoco denied this; by funneling their oil through their Puerto Rican subsidiary, so they claimed, they had circumvented the Cost of Living Council’s price requirements without breaking any laws. Regardless, getting shortchanged can’t have helped Northeast Petroleum.

Post-embargo, newspapers describe attempts to build a refinery in Louisiana instead; initial reports suggest it was going to be built in Garyville, but a report of the sale in 1983 records has it as being built in Livingston, never operated, and sold in 1976. It was the only refinery Northeast Petroleum had built or owned.

Also in 1983, the US Energy Department also negotiated a $2 million consent regarding allegations of overcharging customers for fuel oil sold between November 1973 and December 1974 (which, interestingly, overlaps with the embargo period) and crude oil bought and resold between September 1977 and October 1978. These charges had previously been filed in 1979 and 1980, respectively.

As far the sale of Northeast Petroleum to Charter Co. of Florida, The company cited “oversupply and declining demand” as the rationale. In other words, the embargo left Northeast without the resources to compete with larger distributors, leading to a gradual decline. The concurrent bad press likely added fuel to the fire.

In 1983, after the sale of Northeast Petroleum, one of Mike’s sons acquired and expanded H.P. Hood, a dairy company that the family still controls today.

The Kaneb family later founded Catamount Petroleum, which became the controlling general partner of Gulf Oil until 2005, when the family sold their interest.

In December 1993, Gulf Oil Limited Partnership (GULP) was formed as a joint-venture in which Cumberland Farms (via its affiliate Cumberland-Gulf assets) held two-thirds as a limited partner and Catamount Petroleum LP held one-third as general partner.

Catamount (the Kaneb family) “became the controlling general partner of Gulf Oil L.P. until 2005, when the family sold its interest in the company.” It is not clear whether Catamount Petroleum LP was a stand-alone operating petroleum company, or primarily a vehicle set up for the joint-venture with Cumberland Farms/Gulf.

The American Dream

Hanna “John” Kaneb established a lasting legacy after immigrating to America. He built a family, ensured his children received strong educations, and founded a business that he eventually passed on to them. Through these efforts, he significantly elevated the family’s opportunities, stability, and standing for future generations.

Hanna’s son, Beton “Mike” Kaneb carried forward his father’s legacy by entering the oil industry and expanding the family business into a thriving, multimillion-dollar enterprise before his death.

The sons of Beton “Mike” Kaneb, continued working in the oil industry until changing circumstances made it necessary for them to exit the business and pursue new opportunities elsewhere.

Today, the sons of Mike Kaneb carry on the family business and the family continues to prosper.

Phil Climbs a Mountain

Philip Kaneb Maloof (left) when he was a young man, climbed to the top of Mount Dundas in northern Greenland. When he got to the top, he was surprised to see that Knud Rasmussen, that famous Danish explorer, had already engraved his name on the large rock. (The other man with Phil was his friend.)