ABRAHAM, NAHIM (1885-1965). Nahim Abraham, community builder, was born on February 15, 1885, in Kafracab, Lebanon. He left his homeland in 1901 on the first of three trips he made to America before deciding to immigrate permanently. On his second return to Lebanon he was married to Alia Abdullah Bulos Malouf, the daughter of a doctor. After returning to America the third time in 1912, Abraham worked as a traveling salesman. He settled briefly in Utah, then in Amarillo, Texas, before moving to Canadian in the summer of 1913. Later that year he brought Alia and his two sons to join him; the couple had two more sons in Canadian. Abraham established a mercantile business called the Fair Store, which he managed until his retirement in 1955; the store was noted throughout the Panhandle^qv for its quality merchandise. Abraham was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Canadian. He and his wife visited Lebanon over the years, the last time in the summer of 1939. In June 1950 Abraham purchased the old Moody Hotel, which dated from 1903. After his son Edward died in 1961, Abraham gave a gift to build the Edward Abraham Memorial Home, a nursing facility. Abraham died of a heart attack on January 10, 1965. His surviving sons became prominent local businessmen; Malouf (Oofie) served as mayor of Canadian and was a state legislator.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Amarillo Daily News, January 11, 1965. Sallie B. Harris, Cowmen and Ladies: A History of Hemphill County (Canyon, Texas: Staked Plains, 1977). F. Stanley [Stanley F. L. Crocchiola], The Canadian, Texas, Story (Nazareth, Texas, 1975).

H. Allen Anderson