Novit Family
Abraham J. Novit (1894–1962) encouraged readers of the May 1919 Charleston Evening Post to “Have a Sandwich” at his “Kosher High Class Delicatessen” at 527 King Street. Abe, with his wife, Emily Bertha Jenkins Novit (1898–1973), was also listed the in the city directory as a grocer at 171 King Street that same year.
Abe Novit had emigrated in 1910 from Kastrinaslav, Ukraine, with his parents, two brothers, Albert and Samuel, and a sister, Miriam, settling first in New York City. The family moved to Charleston when Abe was transferred by his employer, Postal Telegraph. By 1921, Abe’s father, Joseph (1875–1933), was hired as shammes, or caretaker, of Brith Sholom, and Joseph was living with his wife and daughter at 66 St. Philip Street in a building that housed the mikveh, a ritual bath, adjacent to the synagogue. Albert and Samuel, had moved to Walterboro, South Carolina.
Abe and Emily Novit in their grocery store
