Jacob Levin (1873 - 1917)

Jacob Levin, known as Jack, is my maternal great grandfather. Levin family HERE

Parents: Aaron Levin and Gertrude

Tombstones for his father Aaron and step-mother Annie Isabella Levin. They are both buried in the Rice Lane Cemetery, Liverpool, England

Born: 1873 or 1874 in Svislach or Svisloch (Belarusian: Свiслач, romanized: Svislač, Russian: Свислочь; Polish: Świsłocz; Yiddish: סיסלעוויטש), a town nowadays in the Grodno Region, Belarus

Hebrew name: Yaakov Tzvi son of Aaron

Migration: The family came to Liverpool, England in 1884 when Jacob was about 11 years old

Naturalization:

Jacob Levin, along with his family, became a naturalised British citizen in March 1893. The family were living at 93 Richmond Row, Liverpool, England at the time

Married: Hannah Baum on 23 February 1898 in Manchester, England. Hannah was  20 years old and Jacob was 24 years old

Marriage certificate for Jacob Levin and Hannah Baum. They were married in the Manchester Central Synagogue in Manchester, England on 23 February 1878, Jacob was living at 93 Richmond Row, Liverpool, England and Hannah was living at 46 Lord Street, Cheetham, Manchester, England

The Ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) for Jacob Levin and Hannah Baum 23 February 1898, Manchester, England

Jacob Levin and Hannah Baum, taken presumably around their engagement, so perhaps late 1897 when Hannah was 19 and Jacob 24

Children

Their first child was born in 1899 when Jacob was 26 and Hannah 21. Their last child was born in 1917 when Jacob was 44 and Hannah 39 

• Marcus Gershon Levin 1899 - 1980
• Simon Bernard Levin 1905 - 1982
• Aaron Levin 1912 -1919
• Gertrude Esther Levin 1917 - 1979

Occupation: Wholesale drapery shop owner (a draper was someone who sold cloth)

Letterhead and card for the Levin family drapery business. Established 1893 when Jacob was 20 years of age

Jacob (draper), his father Aaron (butcher) and his brother Simon Levin (furniture broker) listed in the 1900 Liverpool City Directory

Jacob Levin listed in the 1911 Liverpool City Directory

Census details

1891

The Levin family is at 88 Richmond Row, Liverpool, England. Jacob's parents are Aaron age 48, a furniture broker and Isabella age 33. The children are Jacob, age 19, born in Russia and a draper, Rachel age 17 and a shopkeeper, Esther age 13, Sarah age 11, Leah age 4 and Abraham age 1 month, There are also 3 boarders; Isaac Broady age 48 and a commercial traveller (also a distant cousin of Isabella), Nap Finestone age 32, Judah Rapmorly age 26 and a sick nurse, Sarah Menca age 40

1901

Hannah and Jacob are now married and living at 50 Stafford Street, Liverpool. Jacob is age 28 and a dealer in drapery and clothing on his own account working from home. Hannah is age 23 and their son Marcus is age 2. Living with them is Jacob's sister, Sarah Levin, age 21 and a school teacher, also Mary Barry, age 23, born in Ireland and a domestic servant

1911
The family is at 142 Islington Street, Liverpool, England. Jacob is 38 and a dealer in drapery. He has a shop operating from the premises, which has eight rooms over four floors. The servants lived on the top floor and the house included a warehouse where Jacob carried out his business as a wholesale draper (mercer); selling blankets and sheets to middlemen or retailers who then sold them to the public. The family was observant and had two kitchens in order to comply with the Jewish kashrut requirements. Hannah is 33 and the children are Marcus age 12 and Simon Bernard age 5

Electoral Register - various addresses

Jacob and his father Aaron Levin in the 1895/96 electoral register

Jacob Levin in the 1897/8 electoral register

Jacob Levin in the 1906/07 electoral register

National Registration Act 1915

Jacob Levin registered under the National Registration Act Liverpool 7 September 1915

Death

29 March 1917 in Liverpool, England at 44 years of age from cancer of the bowel. Buried in the Rice lane Cemetery, Liverpool, England, plot no G21.20

Death certificate for Jacob Levin who died on 29 March 1917 at 142 Islington age 44, a master draper. Cause of death was cancer of the bowel (1 year) and Hydrothorax (14 days). His nephew, Jacob Morris of 154 Grove Street was present at the death

Liverpool Jewish Burial Record for Jacob Levin. His age at the time of his death is incorrectly given as 41

Tombstone inscription: In loving memory of Jacob Levin who died 6th Nissan 5677, 29 March 1917, aged 44 years. Deeply mourned and sadly missed by his sorrowing wife, sons and daughter.

Hebrew translation: The honourable Yeshiva student
Yaakov an honest and modest man.
Learned Torah and supported other students.
Was known for charity he gave for the poor and misfortunate.
Tsvi, the head of his family, has left them in his prime years ,
to be mourned by his family, friends and all who knew him.
Yaakov Tzvi, son of Aaron Levin

Will and Last Testament

This is the last Will and Testament of me Jacob Levin of 142 Islington in the city of Liverpool Draper I revoke all wills and testamentary dispositions heretofore made by me. I appoint Asher Baum of 146 Lord Street Cheetham in the city of Manchester Grocer and Nathan Shochet of 20 Nelson Street Sunderland Financier (who and the survivor of whom and all others the trustees or trustee for the time being hereof are hereinafter referred to as my trustees) to be the executors and trustees of this my will and jointly with my wife guardians of my infant children. I bequeath to my eldest son Marquis Gershon known as Marcus my Diamond Ring and my Gold chain. I devise and bequeath all my real and personal estate and effects into my trustees upon trust to sell call in and convert the same into money with power in their discretion to postpone such sale calling in and conversion) and after payment thereout of my debts and funeral and testamentary expenses to invest the residue of such moneys in their names in any of the investments authorised by law and to stand possessed of such investments and of all parts of my estate for the time being unsold hereinafter called my residuary estate) upon trust to pay the income thereof to my wife for her life and after her death upon trust as to both capital and income for all and every my children or any child if only one) who being sons or a son have attained or shall attain the age of twenty one years or being daughters or a daughter have attained or shall attain that age or previously marry but so that my said eldest son shall have twice the share of any of my other children I declare that my trustees may postpone the sale calling in and conversion of any part of my real or personal estate for such period as they may in their absolute discretion deem fit notwithstanding that it may be of a wasting speculative or reversionary purpose and that pending such sale calling in the whole of the income. And of property actually producing income shall be applied as from my death as income and on the other hand on such sale calling in and conversion or on the falling in of any reversionary property no part of the proceeds of such sale calling in or conversion or of such property shall be paid or applied as past income. I empower my trustees at any time or times to raise any part or parts not exceeding in the whole one half of the then presumptive or vested share of any person in my residuary estate under the trusts of this my will and to apply the same in their discretion for the advancement or benefit of such person but during my wifes life her previous consent in writing to any such advancement shall be necessary In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this Twenty second day of February one thousand nine hundred and seventeen Signed by the above named Jacob Levin as his last will in the joint presence of himself and as who at his request and in suck joint presence have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses.

Sydney W Price 67 Lord Street Liverpool Solicitor.

Edith Quinn Haden Dene Polefield Rd Blackley Manchester (Nurse)

7 folios

On the 28th day of June 1917 Probate of this will was granted at Liverpool to Asher Baum and Nathan Shochet the Executors

Certified to be a correct copy

The gold chain bequeathed in the will to his son Marcus

Probate

Jacob Levin Probate 28 June 1917. He lived at 142 Islington Road, Liverpool, England. The value of his estate was £3164 19s. 9d. and the beneficiary was his father-in-law Asher Baum and his sister-in-law's husband Nathan Shochet (incorrectly spelt Spochet)

Obituary

The community sustained a really great loss by the untimely death of Mr. Jacob Levin. He was the embodiment of what a modern Orthodox Jew should be. Scrupulously observant of every detail of the Shulchan Aruch, he yet was tolerant and broad-minded, sensible to modern requirements. He was an ideal communal worker, being the most charitable man in the community. No one applied to Jacob Levin in vain. He helped freely and readily. He was indefatigable in the cause of granting loans without interest and on easy terms for the poor. He was a pillar of strength at the Islington Synagogue, and his name figured in reports of all the charities of Liverpool. He was in the true sense a מוקיר ורחים רבנן esteemed and beloved by all who came in contact with him, and his death is lamented by every section of the community (newspaper title and date unknown)

Place of Birth

Jacob Levin was born in Svislach in the Grodno province of Belarus

SVISLOCH (Pol. Swisłocz ), town in Grodno district, Belarus; within Poland before 1795 and between the two world wars. A number of Jews settled there at the beginning of the 18th century on the invitation of the owners of the locality, the princes of Tyszkiewicz. In 1752 the Council of Lithuania imposed a poll tax of 215 zlotys on the Svisloch community, which numbered 220 in 1766. Until the middle of the 19th century the Jews of Svisloch earned their livelihood mainly from trade in timber and grain, shopkeeping, and crafts; they later also engaged in innkeeping and the lease of public houses. After a great fire, in which most of the Jewish shops were destroyed, the fairs were no longer held in Svisloch and the Jews were deprived of their principal sources of livelihood. Around 1870 Jews began to pioneer in the tanning industry and improved methods of manufacture with the assistance of German experts whom they invited. By the end of the 19th century a number of tanneries had been established in Svisloch, which employed hundreds of workers. Many Jews from the surrounding areas went there in search of employment. As early as the middle of the 19th century Jewish craftsmen in Svisloch attempted to organize themselves into guilds. At the beginning of the 20th century the Bund Movement developed in Svisloch and it embraced the whole of the Jewish working populace (tanners, tailors, shoemakers, carpenters. smiths, and bakers), who organized strikes for the amelioration of working conditions in tanneries and factories. In 1905 the workers' organization was established for Jewish self-defense against pogroms.

Residences

In the 1891 census the family was listed as living at 88 Richmond Row, Liverpool, England and by the time they were naturalised in 1893 the family had moved to 93 Richmond Row. Both properties no longer exist

In 1898 Jacob and Hannah are living at 50 Stafford Street, Liverpool, England. The insurance policy dated 26 May 1898 covers both the house and the drapery business

In 1911 Jacob and Hannah are living at 142 Islington Street, Liverpool.