Jonas Phillips Levy (1807–1883) was an American merchant and sea captain. Levy was granted the "freedom of the country" by the government of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

for signal services rendered in the Peruvian Navy.

Early life and education

Jonas Phillips Levy was born in 1807 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to Michael Levy and Rachel Phillips, a Jewish-American couple. His older brother

Uriah Phillips Levy Uriah Phillips Levy (April 22, 1792 – March 26, 1862) was a naval officer, real estate investor, and philanthropist. He was a veteran of the War of 1812 and the first Jewish Commodore (United States), Commodore of the United States Navy.At the t ...

became the first

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

commodore in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. His maternal grandfather

Jonas Phillips Jonas Phillips (17361803) was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War and an American merchant in New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the immigrant ancestor of the Jewish Phillips family in the United States. Emigrating from Ge ...

immigrated from Germany in the mid-1700s. His great-great-grandfather had come from London and was one of a group of the earliest settlers in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

. He was a descendant of Sephardic Jews who had fled to Europe and England after the Spanish Inquisition of the early 16th century.

Marriage and family

Jonas Phillips Levy married Frances (Fanny) Mitchell on November 22, 1848. They had five children together: Jefferson Monroe, Louis Napoleon, Mitchell Abraham Cass, Isabella, and Amelia. Their son Jefferson Monroe became a lawyer and financier in New York, and an admirer of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, as his father and uncle Uriah were. In 1879, at the age of 27, Jefferson Monroe financially took control of Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello, which his uncle Uriah Levy had purchased and restored in 1834. Like Uriah, Jefferson Monroe invested his personal funds (in the amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars) to restore and preserve the mansion and of grounds. He also purchased that originally belonged to the plantation. In 1923, Monticello was purchased by the

Thomas Jefferson Foundation The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, originally known as the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation founded in 1923 to purchase and maintain Monticello, the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third ...

to be preserved and operated as a house museum.

Career

Jonas Levy became a merchant and sea captain. He commanded the '' U.S.S. America'' during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

(1846–1848), and was assigned to the transportation of troops to

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. When the port surrendered, Levy was appointed its captain by Gen.

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

. In addition, he aided the Peruvian Navy, in which he served for some time. The government honored him with "freedom of the country" for his contributions. In 1852, he became the second and, to date the last, person to be indicted under the

Logan Act The Logan Act (, , enacted ) is a United States federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized nego ...

. Levy, who was living in Mexico at the time, had acquired a grant to build a railway across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the narrowest point across Mexico. Secretary of State Daniel Webster had been pressuring Mexico to accept a treaty that would allow a different group of American businessmen to build the railway. Levy wrote a letter to Mexican President Mariano Arista urging him to reject Webster's proposed treaty, prompting Webster to seek an indictment against Levy for violating the Logan Act. Federal prosecutors were forced to dismiss the case after Arista refused to hand over the original copy of the letter, depriving them of the evidence they needed to convict Levy. Levy was among the founders of the

Washington Hebrew Congregation Washington Hebrew Congregation (WHC) is a Reform Jewish synagogue in Washington, D.C. Washington Hebrew Congregation is currently a member of the Union for Reform Judaism. It is one of the largest Reform congregations in the United States, with 2,7 ...

(WHC) in Washington DC and served as its fifth president from 1857 to 1858. Levy and other members of Washington Hebrew Congregation were so well politically connected that they secured from the U.S. Congress an "Act for the Benefit of the Hebrew Congregation in the City of Washington". The act guaranteed for WHC the same rights and immunities accorded to other religious bodies in the District of Columbia. President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...

signed the act into law on June 2, 1856, and it is the only Act of Congress that serves as a charter for a Jewish Congregation in the United States.

References

Marc Leepson Marc Leepson (born June 20, 1945, in Newark, New Jersey) is an American journalist, historian, and author. Education Leepson was educated at Hillside High School in Hillside, New Jersey (Class of 1963) and George Washington University where he ...

, ''Saving Monticello: The Levy Family's Epic Quest to Rescue the House that Jefferson Built'' (University of Virginia Press, paperback, 2003

*Melvin I. Urofsky, ''The Levy Family and Monticello, 1834-1923: Saving Thomas Jefferson's House'', Monticello: Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 2001 * * * Duda, Jeremy (2017-06-13).
A Foreign Affair
. ''History Today''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Jonas P. 1807 births 1883 deaths Military personnel from Philadelphia American people of German-Jewish descent American people of Sephardic-Jewish descent Jewish-American history

Early life and education

Marriage and family

Career

See also

References