Albert Moses Levy (1800 – 1848) was a Dutch-American physician best known for his work as a surgeon to the
Texas Military Forces during and after the
Texas Revolution.
Early life
Levy was born into a Jewish family in the Netherlands, probably in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
; his parents were Abraham Levy and Rachel Cornelia Levy, née Bernard. The Levys immigrated to
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
, image_map =
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, in 1818. Albert Levy attended the
School of Medicine
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB ...
at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, graduating in 1832. He married Episcopalian Maria A. Bishop around 1830. They had one daughter, born 1832. The family relocated to
Pittsylvania County, Virginia, in 1834, but Maria died the following year. Levy relocated to
, home of his brother Lewis, leaving his daughter in the care of his sister in Richmond.
Texas Revolution and later life
Levy soon joined the
New Orleans Greys, a
voluntary militia group supporting the
Texas Revolution. After arriving in Texas, he was appointed chief surgeon of Texas' voluntary army. He was injured in the
Siege of Béxar but remained in the army until February 10, 1836, when he left to join the
Texas Navy. His career as a
naval surgeon included stints on the ''
Brutus'' and the ''
Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
''. On April 17, 1837, Mexican forces captured the ''Independence'' and took the crew prisoner. Three months later Levy escaped and returned to Texas on foot.
[
Levy established a practice in Matagorda and was appointed to the Medical Board of the ]Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...
in 1838. The same year he married another Episcopalian, Claudinia Olivia Gervais, with whom he had five children. He committed suicide in May 1848.[
The state of Texas commemorates Levy with a historical marker in Matagorda. The City of ]Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
celebrated Albert Moses Levy Memorial Day on April 30, 1986, to honor Levy and other Jewish Texans
Jewish Texans have been a part of the history of Texas since the first European explorers arrived in the region in the 16th century. In 1990, there were around 108,000 adherents to Judaism in Texas. More recent estimates place the number at aroun ...
who fought for Texas independence.[
]
References
Jewish American scientists
1800 births
1848 deaths
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