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My father’s father, Sam, arrived in the New York harbor and Ellis Island about the year 1905 from Damascus, Syria. This marked the beginning of the remarkable success of a young man who was 17 at the time. Sam began work as a peddler in the coal mining settlements during the era when men became millionaires from investments in coal, coke, and steel. He eventually becomes the proprietor of Hanna’s Department Store. The central setting for The Syrian Peddler is in southwestern Pennsylvania including Pittsburgh, Uniontown, New Salem, and Masontown, spanning the years between 1905 and 1958. The story is historical fiction as not all facts were available.