FARRAH, ABRAHAM D. (1867-1938)

FARRAH, ABRAHAM D., retail merchant; b. Lebanon, 23 Jul 1867, s/o David Farrah; m. Sadie (Napke) Faudel; d. Caraquet, N.B., 19 May 1938.

Abraham D. Farrah was the eldest of three Syriac-speaking brothers who came to Canada from Lebanon around 1890. His brother George D. Farrah was a general merchant on the Magdalen Islands. His brother Charles D. Farrah, after living elsewhere for a number of years, settled in Chatham, where he conducted a small grocery store on Lower Water Street.

Abraham D. Farrah was a general merchant in Newcastle in 1901. He was subsequently involved in a number of partnerships in the merchandising field, the best known of which was A. D. Farrah & Co. Farrah's newspaper advertisements first carried this name in 1911, when his firm was specializing in men's and women's wear. In 1915 the company erected a new brick store in Newcastle, and soon afterwards, George Coudsi, a Montrealer of Syrian birth, was engaged as manager of the business. Coudsi was "gifted with an engaging manner and personality" and was "one of the most obliging and charitable of men." It may have been he who made A. D. Farrah & Co. the largest and most creative advertiser in Newcastle in this period.

The A. D. Farrah firm was in financial trouble in 1922, when a meeting of creditors was held in Saint John, but the store remained open. In 1924 Farrah complained to the town council that his business was being excessively taxed. One of the councillors made light of the complaint, stating that the business had a "book worth" of $106,000 and was well able to meet its obligations. Two years later, however, Farrah disposed of his stock, sold his store to a car dealership, and went to work as a travelling salesman. He was still a traveller when he died in 1938 at the Hotel Doiron in Caraquet.

According to the census of 1901 Farrah's wife, Sarah (Napke) Faudel, was of the same national origin as he and came to Canada at the same time. Both were stated to be of the Catholic religion. They had two sons and two daughters living in their home at that time. Their daughter Adele Farrah married the Newcastle cobbler Kaleel E. Traboulsee.