Jefferson Monroe Levy (April 16, 1852 – March 6, 1924) was a three-term U.S. Congressman from New York, a leader of the New York Democratic Party, and a renowned real estate and stock speculator. In 1879 at the age of 27, he took control of

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

's home. His late uncle Uriah P. Levy had purchased the property in 1834, several years after Jefferson's death. Like his uncle, Levy spent a considerable part of his fortune having Monticello and its grounds restored and preserved. In 1923, the property was purchased by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (then known as the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation), a privately established group formed to purchase and operate Monticello as a memorial. It has since operated the site and mansion as a house museum. The Levy family privately protected the

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

for nearly a century because of their regard for

and on behalf of the American people.

Early life and education

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to Jonas Levy and Frances (Phillips) Levy, an American Jewish couple, Jefferson was one of five children. His father was a merchant and sea captain, and his mother was a descendant of Jonas Phillips and his wife Rebecca Machado. Levy and his siblings attended public and private schools. His mother's parents had immigrated from Germany and London in the mid-18th century, respectively, and his father's Sephardic Jewish ancestors, also from London, were among the first settlers of

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

in 1733. Levy graduated from the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Law School in 1873. He was admitted to the bar and practiced in New York City, making money in real estate investment and finance.

Monticello

Jefferson Levy's uncle Uriah P. Levy, the first Jewish commodore (highest rank at the time) of the US Navy, had bought Monticello and some related property in 1834. He had spent much money to restore and preserve the house and grounds, which he used as a summer retreat. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, the Confederacy took control of the property. After the war, the lawyers of Levy's estate regained it for his heirs. In 1879, after buying out the other heirs of his uncle Uriah P. Levy for $10,050, Jefferson Levy took control of

(formerly the plantation of

). When Jefferson Levy took over, the grounds had been reduced to 218 acres. During his tenure, he bought 500 acres to add to the complex. The house and grounds were in severe disrepair due to the overseer Joel Wheeler's lack of care and lengthy lawsuits among the heirs after his uncle's death. Levy spent hundreds of thousands of dollars repairing, restoring, and preserving Monticello, work led by Thomas Rhodes, his on-site superintendent. Levy regularly spent four months a year at the estate and became active in Charlottesville. In 1880 he paid for the restoration of the Town Hall, originally built as a theater, and named it the Levy Opera House. He allowed visitors to see the house, Monticello, sometimes getting as many as 60 per day. Beginning about 1909, Maud Littleton, the wife of New York Congressman John Littleton, started a campaign to have the U.S. Congress buy the mansion and property, and turn it into a government-run monument to Thomas Jefferson. Part of her campaign was heated. Dismayed by newspaper articles that belittled Jefferson Levy's ownership (Levy was also a Congressman from New York at the time), the Albemarle Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in November 1912 unanimously adopted the following resolution: In 1915, after the Southerner

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

was elected to the presidency, the likelihood of Congressional approval seemed high, but authorization was not achieved. In the

Post–World War I recession The post–World War I recession was an economic recession that hit much of the world in the aftermath of World War I. In many nations, especially in North America, economic growth continued and even accelerated during World War I as nations mo ...

, Levy's fortune declined. In 1923 he agreed to a down payment and mortgage for Monticello's sale to the newly organized Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which raised funds for the purchase and operated it as a house museum.

Marriage and family

Jefferson Levy never married; his mother and a sister acted as hostesses during his stays at Monticello. Levy died in New York City in 1924. He was interred in Beth Olam Cemetery, associated with the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, near his uncle Uriah Levy.

Political career

Levy was elected as a Democrat to the

Fifty-sixth Congress The 56th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1899, ...

, serving from March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1901. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1900. After this, he resumed law practice in New York City and attended to his real estate and stock investments. He was later elected to the Sixty-second and Sixty-third Congresses, serving from March 4, 1911, to March 3, 1915. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1914. He resumed the practice of law in New York City.

Other activities

Levy was involved with the

American Boy Scouts The American Boy Scouts (ABS) (officially American Boy Scout), later the United States Boy Scouts (officially United States Boy Scout), was an early American Scouting organization formed by William Randolph Hearst in 1910, following on from the f ...

. He resigned from the board along with

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

over poor fundraising actions in 1910. In 1894 Levy became a member of the New York State Society of the

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. A non-profit corporation, it has described its purpose ...

. He was assigned national membership number 4539 and state-society number 439.

Legacy and honors

George Burroughs Torrey George Burroughs Torrey (1863–1942) was an American painter, best known for his portraits. He has been called the "painter of presidents", because he painted portraits of Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, and Herbert Hoover. Biography He ...

painted Levy's portrait. *He restored and preserved Monticello, now designated a

; and restored Town Hall in Charlottesville. *After 1985, when Dan Jordan became president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, he arranged to honor the Levy family - uncle and nephew- at Monticello for their roles in preserving the mansion. Jordan had Rachel Levy's gravesite restored, and the Foundation commissioned a monograph that recognized the contributions of the family and was published in 2001. *In 2001, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation published ''The Levy Family and Monticello, 1834-1923: Saving Thomas Jefferson's House'', a history of Jefferson and Uriah Levy's contributions. That same year, Free Press/Simon & Schuster published Marc Leepson's
Saving Monticello: The Levy Family's Epic Quest to Rescue the House that Jefferson Built
'.

Sources

References

*Marc Leepson,
Saving Monticello: The Levy family's Epic Quest to Rescue the House That Jefferson Built
', Free Press/Simon & Schuster, 2001; University of Virginia Press, (paperback), 2003, access date, March 1, 2020 *Urofsky, Melvin I. ''The Levy Family and Monticello, 1834-1923: Saving Thomas Jefferson's House'', Monticello: Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 2001

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Jefferson Monroe 1852 births 1924 deaths 19th-century American Jews 20th-century American Jews 19th-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians American people of English-Jewish descent American people of German-Jewish descent New York University School of Law alumni Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives New York (state) lawyers Politicians from New York City American Sephardic Jews Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century American lawyers Monticello Burials at Beth Olom Cemetery