Mr Borak ("Hannah Assi Borah") Hannah
Mr Borak Hannah [1], 20, was born on 10th April, 1885. He was an unmarried farm labourer from Hardin [2], Lebanon. He left his parents Mr and Mrs Coula Hannah [3] at Hardin.
He boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as a third class passenger. To reach his destination of Port Huron, Michigan, he bought ticket No. 2663 for £7 4s 7d.
He was rescued in lifeboat 15.
He arrived in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on the same train as Thelma Thomas and her son, Essed, a few days after the Carpathia arrived back in New York. The Wilkes-Barre paper printed a large interview with Borak and Mrs Thomas. Borak stated that he was going to head to Port Huron, Michigan after staying in Wilkes-Barre for awhile visiting family and friends. His destination was ultimately to the home of a Mr Hassey at 1119 11th Avenue, Port Huron, Michigan.
On July 16, 1912 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Hassey [4]. He changed his name to Bert Johns [5] and lived the rest of his life in Michigan.
According to his obituary he worked in factories for a while before opening a fruit store in Marlette. He later returned to Port Huron where he opened a fruit store on Quay street. Later he ran a tavern.
He died on 2nd February, 1952.
Notes
1. Alternative spellings abound. The "List or Manifest ..." lists
him as "Barak Hannah", "Marriages, Births, Deaths ..."lists him as "Hanna Moubarak", 25 and dead. Other spellings
include "Hanna Assi Barah" where "Assi" is presumably
a corruption of "Hassey" (see note 3), Various spellings of
forename: e.g. "Barak", "Hamah" and "Hanne",
as well as the Anglicized versions of his name, sometime "John"
e.g. "John Borak" or "John Barek", sometimes "Bert",
which was, presumably his adopted name in America. Note also the various
alternative surnames including "Moubarch", "Mourbarek",
"Borek" and "Johns". The variations occur because:
the Arabic language is read right to left which likely caused confusion
among immigration and other officials; because most of the Lebanese passengers
spoke no English and were unable to write and because the names were later
anglicized.
2. The French spelling is Hardîne, the correct spelling is 
3. Death certificate gives the father's name as
"Simon Johns" and the mother's name as "Rose Johns".
4. His widow, Elizabeth Hassey Johns, was born 2nd January, 1893 and died
in Marine City, Michigan in November of 1981. She was presumably related
to Mr Hassey whose home was stated as Borak's initial destination upon
his arrival in America.
5. Other sources say "John Borak" but the death certificate
records "Bert Johns".
Articles
Port Huron Times Herald, 3rd February, 1952, Obituary
Documents
Michigan Department of Health
Certificate of Death
References
Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912 (National Archives, New York;
NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279])
Michael A. Findlay (1998) Revised Passenger List in Judith Geller Titanic:
Women and Children First. Haynes. ISBN 1 85260 594 4
List or Manifest of Alien Passengers for the United States Immigration Officer
At Port Of Arrival (Date: 18th-19th June 1912, Ship: Carpathia) - National
Archives, NWCTB 85 T715 Vol 4183
Marriages, births, deaths and injuries that have occurred on board during the
voyage (PRO London, BT 100/259-260)
Contributors
Michael A. Findlay, USA
Phillip Gowan, USA
Hermann Söldner, Germany
Link, email, cite or bookmark...
Link to this page
Please link to this page using the following URL
http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-biography/borak-hannah.html
Or copy the link text below
Cite this page
If you need to cite this article as a reference please copy the following and adapt as necessary for your referencing system:
(2008) Borak ("Hannah Assi Borah") Hannah Encyclopedia Titanica (ref: #855, accessed 2nd December 2008 01:00:43 AM)
URL : http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-biography/borak-hannah.html
Share this page
Share this link on popular social bookmarking sites
Email this page
Send new information..
