Moses Helper
Moses Helper is one of Cleveland's foremost real estate experts and has been instrumental in the development and placing upon the market of some of the city's best known subdivisions. His career is an interesting example of self achievement.
He was born in Smargon, Province of Vilina, Russia, November 28, 1874, son of Nathan and Sarah Helper. When he was nine years of age he came to America, and after that he had only a few weeks of education in American schools. As a boy he peddled goods, and by the time he was seventeen he had saved enough to buy a team of horses and he then equipped a wagon which he used in his peddling operations for four years. On selling that outfit he bought a shoe store on St. Clair Avenue, but five months later moved his business to Barberton, Ohio, and was a shoe merchant and on a small scale a real estate dealer the for eight years.
His experience in real estate led him on his return to Cleveland to form a partnership with Frank L. Felch as the firm of Felch & Helper, Real Estate. They were together for six years, until the death of Mr. Felch. After that Mr. Helper engaged in the real estate business on his own account and in 1913 incorporated the M. Helper Realty Company, of which he is president. In addition to that he organized the company which is known as the Conger-Helper Realty Company, of which he is vice president and treasurer, and the Helper-Cody Realty Company, of which he is president.
Some of the subdivisions that have been put on by Mr. Helper are as follows: The Kinner subdivision, located off Kinsman Road, 260 lots; the Woodland Hills Park subdivision, located at E. 93d and Kinsman Road and surrounded by Woodland Hills park, 310 lots; the Greenleaf subdivision, located off Kinsman Road, 218 lots; the Bratenahl subdivision, located at Lake Shore Boulevard and E. 136th Street, 400 lots; the Sanda subdivision, located on E. 116th Street between Kinsman and Buckeye, 260 lots; the Union Rice subdivision, located at Union and E. 116th streets, 400 lots; and the largest subdivision opened up by Mr. Helper is the Lorain Heights subdivision, located at Lorain and West 117th Street, 785 lots; also the Home Gardens subdivision, located on Riverside Drive, 150 lots; the Riverside Drive subdivision, also located on Riverside Drive, 160 lots; the Halloway subdivision, located on Lorain and Davisville Road, 75 lots; the Monterey Heights subdivision, located on E. 185th Street to E. 200th Street, 400 lots. One of the recent subdivisions is the Beachview subdivision, located on Lake Shore Boulevard, East, 160 lots. Mr. Helper has also built at least 300 houses in the past eight years.
Mr. Helper is a prominent member of the Cleveland Real Estate Board, Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Industry, is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and in politics a republican. At Cleveland November 26, 1907, he married Miss Lillian Gore. They have four children: Norman Seymore, Mortimor, Sylvia, and Bertina. The two older children are already in the public schools.
From Cleveland - Special Limited Edition, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York, 1918 v.1