Known as Hetty, Esther Nones was the daughter of Revolutionary Warhero Benjamin Nones and MiriamMarks Nones. She and her ninesiblings were raised in Philadelphia, active in the community aroundcongregation Mikveh Israel. Although he faced financial difficulties,Nones devoted much of his time to service and charity, as parnasof the congregation, an officer of the Jewish charity the Societyof Ezrath Orchim, and working with an anti-slavery society. Benjaminpassed down his passion for politics and public service to hischildren, many of whom (including Hetty’s brother Abraham,consul-general in Zulia, Venezuela) perused careers in civil serviceand public life.

In 1815 Hettymarried Solomon Jacobs, son of Ashkenazi immigrants Bernard andJudica Jacobs, and the couple soon moved to Richmond, Virginia. ThereSolomon worked as a banker and agent of the Rothschilds and heldseveral local political offices: city recorder in 1815 and 1818, andacting mayor in 1818–1819. The couple was active in CongregationBeth Shalome. They had six children—at least four of whomsurvived—and when Solomon died, in 1827, the oldest, Miriam, wastwelve, while the youngest, named Solomon in tribute to his father,would be born a few months later.