Jacob Helfet is the father-in-law of Sarah Ann Levin, my 2x great aunt. Helfet family HERE
Born: 1849 in Chernuch, Russian Empire, nowadays Chornukhy (Ukrainian: Чорнýхи; Russian: Чернýхи), a rural settlement in Lubny Raion, Poltava Oblast, central Ukraine.
Hebrew name: Yaacov Moshe son of Moshe Yaakov
Migration: The family came to Liverpool, England in 1892 when Jacob was 43 years old
Occupation: businessman and grocery store owner
Married: Leah Cohen in Chernuch, Russian Empire, before 1877.
According to Jacob's son-in-law, Jacob Dobrofsky, after Leah died in April 1898, Jacob married a woman from Manchester but I have been unable to find any documentary evidence of this. From Jacob Dobrofsky's memoirs recalling events after Jacob Helfet's death: "The first thing that developed was that their stepmother, the woman Mr.
Helfet had married after his wife's death, returned to Manchester to her
family. She had only been married to him about fifteen months, and after he
died she had no interest in living with the family"
Children
Their first child was born in 1877 when Jacob was 28 and Leah 25. Their last child was born in 1888 when Jacob was 39 and Leah 36
- Nellie Helfet 1877 - 1950
- Leon Helfet 1877 - 1945
- Mary Helfet 1879 - 1948
- Isaac (Harry) Helfet 1881 - 1946
- Sarah Helfet 1884 - 1939
- Esther Helfet 1885 - 1956
A description of the Helfet family by his son-in-law Jacob Dobrofsky
The Helfet family were also immigrants from Russia, and they
had been in Liverpool about seven or eight years previous to our arrival. They
lived just a few blocks away from where we lived. The Helfet family was
one of the finest, most highly regarded families in all of Liverpool. Mr.
Helfet was also in the weekly payment business, and also had a grocery store as
a side line, which was operated during the day by members of the family, while
Mr. Helfet was on his collection route, and in the evenings he used to run it.
Having already been in England for seven or eight years, they were well settled
and all talked the language properly, especially the younger girls who had been
attending school. They were already called English Jews and were comfortably
situated. They lived very nicely and kept a very fine Jewish home. Mr. Helfet
had been a very religious man in the old country and had not changed his habits
since moving to England, and the rest of the family followed in his footsteps.
They were all very highly respected in the community
Death
Liverpool Jewish Burial Record for Jacob Helfet
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Probate for Jacob Helfet. HELFET Jacob of Warren-street Liverpool draper died 23 June 1899 Administration Liverpool 28 July 1899 to Isaac Helfet draper Effects £123
Poltava Region
Jews began to settle in the region during the early 17th century in the process of Jewish participation in the colonization of Ukraine. By 1610 there was a Jewish community in Berezan (to the north of Pereyaslav), and within a few decades about a dozen Jewish communities were established in the districts of *Pereyaslav and Mirgorod, of which the largest were in Pereyaslav and *Lubny. Jews engaged in commerce and the leasing of estates, flour mills, liquor distilleries, breweries, and inns. There was strong competition from Christian towns-men, and during the *Chmielnicki massacres of 1648 these communities were among the first to be destroyed. After the region came under Russian rule Jews were not permitted to live there until the first partition of Poland in 1772. Individual Jewish families, however, settled in various estates under the protection of their owners despite frequent expulsions by the authorities.
After the first partition of Poland in 1772, Jewish settlement on the eastern bank of the river Dnieper was renewed, and by 1792 there were over 700 Jews in the region, most of whom lived on estates or in villages. In 1794 this region, which then formed part of the province of Yekaterinoslav, was incorporated within the *Pale of Settlement. In 1803 there were 82 Jewish merchants and 2,030 Jews classed as townsmen living in the province of Poltava, which was formed in 1802. The community of *Kremenchug was the largest in the district, and developed in particular owing to its position on the Dnieper, the main waterway from Lithuania to the south. It accounted in 1897 for 30% of the Jews in the province. In 1847, 15,572 Jews were counted in the 18 communities of the province (which also included the Jews in the small settlements and their environs). Their numbers increased as a result of a large emigration from Lithuania and Belorussia, and were estimated at 84,000 in 1881. The census of 1897 recorded 111,417 Jews (4% of the total population) in Poltava province (the lowest percentage of Jews in all the provinces of the Pale). The Russian-Ukrainian majority had a strong assimilationist influence on the Jews in the province, who were a minority in all the towns; it was only in Kremenchug that their numbers approached half the population. On the other hand, *Chabad Ḥasidism, which penetrated from the north, was an important spiritual influence (the tomb of *Shneur Zalman of Lyady, the founder of Chabad Ḥasidism, is in *Gadyach in Poltava province).
About one half of the Jews of the province of Poltava earned their livelihood from commerce (in contrast to 38.5% in the whole of Russia), and about 30 percent were engaged in crafts and industry. Commerce was principally conducted in grain and other agricultural produce. Although some Jews owned saw mills, brick-kilns, flour mills, alcohol distilleries, and other enterprises, the overwhelming majority of the workers in them were non-Jews. During the spring of 1881 pogroms occurred in the north of the province of Poltava. In 1905 a wave of pogroms swept across 52 settlements of the province. The most severely affected were Gadyach, Kremenchug, Romny, and Zolotonosha.
During World War I thousands of refugees and Jews expelled from the battle zone arrived in the province of Poltava and found refuge in the Jewish communities. During the Civil War, the communities of the western section of the province suffered especially from pogroms by bands of Ukrainians and the "volunteer army" of A.I. *Denikin. In 1926 there were approximately 93,000 Jews in the five districts (Kremenchug, Lubny, Poltava, Priluki, Romny) of the former territory of the province of Poltava.
23 June 1899 in Liverpool, England at age 50 from a coronary thrombosis. He is buried in the Rice lane Jewish Cemetery in Liverpool, England, plot no G18.27
Tombstone inscription: Hebrew translation: Here is buried
A straightforward and upright man (?)
Mr. Ya’akov Moshe ...
Son of Mr. Moshe Ya’akov, passed away
15 Tammuz 5659
May his soul be bound up in the bond of life
Mr. Ya’akov Moshe ...
Son of Mr. Moshe Ya’akov, passed away
15 Tammuz 5659
May his soul be bound up in the bond of life
An account of Jacob's death by his son-in-law Jacob Dobrofsky
Mr. Helfet was standing in one of the room of the house
saying his regular morning prayers - he was "standing Shimineesra",
which is a part of the prayers that are very holy and you are not supposed to
talk or be disturbed during that particular part of the ritual. During the
prayers a man named Mr. Bender, who had been trading with them in the store and
owed them a lot of money, came into the store and asked for Mr. Helfet. Mother [Esther Helfet] was in the store at the time and told him she could not disturb her father at
that moment. He said to Mother, "Tell your father that we are moving to
Manchester and I will send him some money whenever I have it. Right now I don't
have any and, besides, he has plenty of money he doesn't need it as much as I
do." The door to the house was open and Mr. Helfet heard those words while
he was praying, and he was under the restriction of not talking or doing
anything while he was saying that prayer.
As the man turned and walked away, Mr. Helfet fainted and
fell to the floor. Mother called some of the neighbours and they revived him
and put him to bed and called the doctor. The doctor told them that he had a
heart attack from the shock of what he had heard and the necessity of
maintaining silence and not saying anything, when he wanted to call the man
back and argue with him. The doctor assured them that he would be all right in
a few days, if they kept him quiet and relaxed. But that afternoon, after
examining him, the doctor called then all in and advised them that if he did
not get better within the next few days, they would have to take him to the
hospital for treatment, but that they should not worry, he would be okay.
I remember that evening our family all went there to visit
him, he was in bed and looked very pale but he talked continuously about that
Mr. Bender. He told us how he had taken care of him and his family when they
had first come from Russia, and had helped him with money and advice and had
even started him up in some little business, which had not been a success.
About two-thirty that morning, after we had gone to bed, uncle Nathan came over
to our house and told us that the Helfets had called Dr. Leventhal, who had
promised to come very soon, and that they wanted some of us to come up to the
house. My mother and I went over there and in less than half an hour after we
arrived, he died. It seemed almost unbelievable to me, because he had been
talking all evening just a few hours before. And there was that family of
children left without either a father or mother.
I will never forget the time that I went to their house
right after he died. Everybody was crying, the house was full of people. The funeral was
conducted that same day.
Probate
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Place of Birth
Jacob Helfet was born in Chernuch, Russian Empire, nowadays Chornukhy (Ukrainian: Чорнýхи; Russian: Чернýхи), Chernich (Yiddish) and Chernuchi (German), a rural settlement in Lubny Raion, Poltava Oblast, central Ukraine.
Chornukhy
The earliest known Jewish community was by the end of the 18th century. In 1900 the Jewish population was 275 and in 1926 it was 366. Chornukhy was occupied by the Germans on September 17, 1941. During that month 132 Jews were shot by local police in the Chornukhy County park. The village was liberated by the Red Army on September 17, 1943. The present town population is 1,000-5,000 with fewer than 10 Jews.
Poltava Region
Jews began to settle in the region during the early 17th century in the process of Jewish participation in the colonization of Ukraine. By 1610 there was a Jewish community in Berezan (to the north of Pereyaslav), and within a few decades about a dozen Jewish communities were established in the districts of *Pereyaslav and Mirgorod, of which the largest were in Pereyaslav and *Lubny. Jews engaged in commerce and the leasing of estates, flour mills, liquor distilleries, breweries, and inns. There was strong competition from Christian towns-men, and during the *Chmielnicki massacres of 1648 these communities were among the first to be destroyed. After the region came under Russian rule Jews were not permitted to live there until the first partition of Poland in 1772. Individual Jewish families, however, settled in various estates under the protection of their owners despite frequent expulsions by the authorities.
After the first partition of Poland in 1772, Jewish settlement on the eastern bank of the river Dnieper was renewed, and by 1792 there were over 700 Jews in the region, most of whom lived on estates or in villages. In 1794 this region, which then formed part of the province of Yekaterinoslav, was incorporated within the *Pale of Settlement. In 1803 there were 82 Jewish merchants and 2,030 Jews classed as townsmen living in the province of Poltava, which was formed in 1802. The community of *Kremenchug was the largest in the district, and developed in particular owing to its position on the Dnieper, the main waterway from Lithuania to the south. It accounted in 1897 for 30% of the Jews in the province. In 1847, 15,572 Jews were counted in the 18 communities of the province (which also included the Jews in the small settlements and their environs). Their numbers increased as a result of a large emigration from Lithuania and Belorussia, and were estimated at 84,000 in 1881. The census of 1897 recorded 111,417 Jews (4% of the total population) in Poltava province (the lowest percentage of Jews in all the provinces of the Pale). The Russian-Ukrainian majority had a strong assimilationist influence on the Jews in the province, who were a minority in all the towns; it was only in Kremenchug that their numbers approached half the population. On the other hand, *Chabad Ḥasidism, which penetrated from the north, was an important spiritual influence (the tomb of *Shneur Zalman of Lyady, the founder of Chabad Ḥasidism, is in *Gadyach in Poltava province).
About one half of the Jews of the province of Poltava earned their livelihood from commerce (in contrast to 38.5% in the whole of Russia), and about 30 percent were engaged in crafts and industry. Commerce was principally conducted in grain and other agricultural produce. Although some Jews owned saw mills, brick-kilns, flour mills, alcohol distilleries, and other enterprises, the overwhelming majority of the workers in them were non-Jews. During the spring of 1881 pogroms occurred in the north of the province of Poltava. In 1905 a wave of pogroms swept across 52 settlements of the province. The most severely affected were Gadyach, Kremenchug, Romny, and Zolotonosha.
During World War I thousands of refugees and Jews expelled from the battle zone arrived in the province of Poltava and found refuge in the Jewish communities. During the Civil War, the communities of the western section of the province suffered especially from pogroms by bands of Ukrainians and the "volunteer army" of A.I. *Denikin. In 1926 there were approximately 93,000 Jews in the five districts (Kremenchug, Lubny, Poltava, Priluki, Romny) of the former territory of the province of Poltava.