Gary and Joyce Peloian
Map
The church in Kayseri. It is used only a few times a year for services; therefore, it is allowed to remain as a church rather than be converted to a mosque.
These Armenian graves were found in Kayseri. We could not find any names on the stones.
The town of Kayseri
Former school in Talas. Most of the school is now used as a hotel.
This is the original faucet at the American Missionary college in Talas, Turkey. My great grandparents must have used it.
We found this old wood burning stove in the old kitchen at the American Missionary school. We are almost certain that great grandfather Nahabed cooked on this stove in the late 1800s. Linda, a member of our group, and I are trying out my great grandfather's stove.
Chomaklu was an Armenian town before 1915. The village is now occupied by the Kurdish people.
This is a list of the Armenians who lived in Chomaklu between the late 1800s and 1915. It was taken from a book which was written by a priest, Rev. Kalfaian, from Chomaklu.
Ani
Ani
Ani
Van
Van
Van
Mount Ararat
Marash
Marash
Chungush. In front of monastery.
This is what remained of an Armenian cemetary near the monastery.
This is what remains of the Armenian Catholic Church of Chungush. It is above my grandparents' property.
The Deeb family of Naples, Florida in Antioch for Orthodox Easter
The Deeb family at Bityas
At Korykos Fortress on the Mediterranean
At Zeytun
that grandparents owned
Joyce Eve Peloian
April/May 2008
Below are few selected excerpts from web site made by Joyce Peloian. It contains almost 700 of high resolution photos with comments and soon will contain videos as well.
On April 28, 2008, Gary and I started our trip to Historic Armenia in Turkey to visit the villages of my Armenian ancestors. For me, it was a pilgrimage. My ancestors on both sides of my family came from Historic Armenia. They had left their homes in the old country in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They came to America. My great grandparents and grandparents came before the massacre. They never returned to their homeland.
I wanted to actually find their property and stand on the land that they owned. I was able to do just that. I felt that it was a very emotional, exciting and rewarding journey. It was an experience of a lifetime. We returned May 15, 2008.
There were 23 people in our group. We traveled in two mini busses for many hours every day.
The villages of my ancestors were Kayseri, Talas, Chomaklu, Chungush and Adana. Kayseri is in central Turkey. Talas is near Kayseri. The village of Chungush is in the southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey. It is near Harput. Adana is south and near the sea.
My great grandmother, Takouhi Izmirlian, was born in Kayseri in 1868. In about 1894 she married Nahabed Davidian from Chomaklu. They had a daughter, Nellie. Nellie was my grandmother. Their other children were born in America.
My great grandfather, Nahabed Davidian, was the cook for American Missionaries at this school in Talas.He cooked for them in the late 1800s. He and his wife Takouhi named their daughter Nellie after a missionary's sister. Nellie Davidian, my grandmother, was born in Talas in 1895. Most of the school is now used as a hotel.
Great grandfather, Nahabed Davidian, , acting on the advice of these American missionaries in Turkey, placed Takouhi and 2 year old Nellie in the care of his brother, Tateos, and left for America. He did this to escape service in the Turkish army in 1897. Tateos lived in Chomaklu, not too far away. The family joined Nahabed, in California two years later. He opened a restaurant in San Francisco. He cooked in Talas, New York and San Francisco.
...You can see (see a photo of the list of names) the names of my two great uncles on the list. Their names were Vartan and Arisdakes Davidian. We found the home of my great great uncle, Vartan Davidian. Vartan and Arisdakes were my great grandfather Nahabed's brothers. Around 1900 both brothers joined Nahabed in Yettem, California, which is about 45 miles from Fresno. The man, Rev. Kalfaian, who wrote the book escaped the 1915 massacre. He eventually went to Yettem, where he preached in the Armenian Apostolic church. Many people from Chomaklu went to Yettem, California. My great grandparents, Nahabed and Takouhi, and their families lived in Yettem.
I had documentation which helped me find the property (of grandparents).My grandfather had written down the location over 80 years ago.