Hage, Aece (fl. c. 1890 - 1900)

Aece Hage (fl. c. 1890 - 1900) was an Arab businessman and shop owner active in Boston in the late 19th century. Little is known of Hage, but one incident, appearing in the Boston Globe (Dec 19, 1896), describes him as the owner of a 'smallware' or 'pot and pan' store at 332 Federal Street. It goes on to describe him as an 'Assyrian.' Although today Assyria generally refers to parts of present-day northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, and western Syria; in this case, it is a reference to the Ottoman province of Greater Syria, including all of Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. In the late 19th century a wave of Arab Christian, Arab Muslim, and Druze immigrants, most from Palestine and Syria, came to the United States seeking a better life. Many, like Hage, established small businesses, considering themselves al-Nizaleh, or sojourners. The Boston Globe article in question, the only reference to Hage we have found, describes a robbery in which Hage was burgled of 40 USD by a fellow 'Assyrian', Nasim M. Asseese. The short article further notes that both Hage and Asseese were 'locked up.'