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The New England Hebrew Farmers
of the Emanuel Society

Preserving the Legacy of the Vibrant Russian-Jewish

Immigrant Community of Chesterfield, Connecticut

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About Us

Whether you are searching for information about your family history or merely a history buff, we're glad you found us!

Established in Chesterfield, Connecticut as a Baron Maurice de Hirsch Russian-Jewish immigrant farming community, The New England Hebrew Farmers of the Emanuel Society (NEHFES) built Connecticut's first rural synagogue in 1892 and flourished as a vibrant, tightly-knit social and religious congregation of over 50 families well into the 1920s and 1930s. The next generation left to start businesses and families in New London, Hartford and beyond. Although the little one-room wooden shul was sadly abandoned and burned to the ground by vandals in 1975, precious shared ancestral memory remained strong in the hearts of many local NEHFES descendants. 

In 1986, Nancy R. Savin, the great- great-granddaughter of Hirsch Kaplan, the first leader of the NEHFES community, had the idea to erect a Mount Rushmore granite memorial stone on the synagogue site. Desiring to do even more, in 2006, she and 19 other passionate descendants legally reactivated the “congregation" as a 501(c)(3).  Since then, NEHFES has acted decisively to preserve both the physical remains of the site and its precious legacy -  a small but important chapter of the American Jewish Experience. 

Read about our history, accomplishments, and state and national designations! Become an annual member and join more than 40 NEHFES member-descendants who live in 14 U.S. states and Canada, or support our ongoing efforts with an online donation. 

News

Explore NEHFES

Our History - Pesach Ribner

Our History

  • Learn about the history of the Chesterfield-Salem-Oakdale Jewish community and the New England Hebrew Farmers of the Emanuel Society

  • View our interactive timeline

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NEHFES
Today

  • Learn about NEHFES today, including our projects to protect the historic site in Chesterfield, Connecticut, and preserve our legacy

  • Find out how you can join our efforts to preserve the historic site and our legacy

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Resources

View additional resources about the community's history, including:

  • Photo archive

  • Document archive, with a scanned facsimile of the NEHFES Minutes and Ledger Book (1892-1933) in Yiddish, together with its translation and explanatory information

  • Land records database showing all land deed transactions in Chesterfield and nearby Oakdale from 1890-1920

Join Us

We are eager to identify and welcome more people whose ancestral roots lie in the Chesterfield-Salem-Oakdale Jewish community and its interesting chapter of American Jewish history.  If you think you might have an ancestral connection to the community and would like to join NEHFES--or even if you don't have a connection but would like to help our preservation efforts--we would be happy to hear from you.  We will try to respond within 48 hours.

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Support Us

Whether you are a member or not, you can also support us by making a financial donation to help our preservation efforts.

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