C. Maria Jones sold with David N. Jones (a relation) 150 acres of her land and the long-sought horse barn to Sam Alperstein in 1902.7 Alperstein, from New York City, was likely acting as a middle man for Samuel Bycel and Isaac Goldstein, both from the Bronx. He only held the land for seven months before selling it to Bycel and Goldstein on the first of the year, 19038. That New Year must have been particularly auspicious, for it ushered in an 82 year history tying this farm in Hebron, Connecticut to a Jewish community in the Bronx.
On April 13, 1914, David Shebelefsky (replacing Bycel for reasons unknown) and Ike (Isaac) Goldstein took out a mortgage with The Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society to pay for the land they had purchased from Alperstein 9. In the loan document, the loaners agree to farm and live on the land. This contract is the first to mention the “Patty White Porter House” as a landmark, which can be seen on maps from 1857-1868 and continued to appear in warranties for the property until 1984. The boundaries are also described as bordering the land of Sisson, whose property is visible in the 1931 town map10. The “Second Tract” containing a horse barn is also described in the contract. The early twentieth century was a time in town history when farmers solidified their land. Hebron was dominated by farmers who owned a couple hundred acres.
The Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society was founded in Manhattan after the First World War with the mission of uplifting landless immigrant Jews of New York City ghettos by teaching them to farm and providing them with financial assistance in procuring land.11 Ike Goldstein is a spectacular success story. Ike bought up more land than the 150 acres that 180 Old Colchester Road was part. He came to own land all the way up to the intersection of what is now Old Colchester Road and Route 8512.
When Ike first arrived in Hebron, he was a Jewish pioneer. There was no established Jewish community, so he helped foraged one. The Goldsteins were likely conservative Jews. The home on what is now 182 Old Colchester Road still has small bronze cases on each doorway where the Mezuzah (a prayer) was placed13. There was no synagogue in town, so he volunteered his home for Sabbath observances until 1914, when he, two other prominent members of the Jewish community and leaders of local churches opened the United Brethren Synagogue in the center of town, which still operates today 14. The grand opening of the synagogue is remembered as a town-wide community event, with Christians just as merry as their Jewish neighbors.
Local history claims that the house which now sits on 182 Old Colchester Road was used to house Jewish boarders15. This may have been the case. The story is certainly consistant with the mission of the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society, from which Ike had so benefited. Additionally, in 1953 Ike and Ida began leasing their land to Bronx native Vera G. Miller. She operated land further north on Old Colchester Road than 182, but she might well have lived there16. On August 7, 1971 a curious set of documentation was written up between Ike and Vera. The first made Frank Miller and Vera Miller “not as tenants in common, but as joint tenants with full rights of survivorship” of the land that encompasses what is now house 18017. Frank may have been Vera’s husband or son. The next document, signed the same day, is a warranty for the same land, making Frank and Vera owners, not tenants of the land18. I would like to think that the Millers are another success story, this time of Ike’s mentorship.
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The 180 OCR Project 