Saving Monticello: The Newsletter
The latest about the book, author
events, and more
Newsletter Editor - Marc Leepson
Volume XVI, Number 8 August
1, 2019
“The study of the past is a constantly evolving,
never-ending journey of discovery.” – Eric Foner
A DARK AND PIERCING
EYE: “Uriah P. Levy was an
intelligent, ambitious, tempestuous, bold, extravagant, physically powerful man
who was a success in virtually every endeavor he undertook.”
That’s as close as I came in Saving Monticello to a physical description of the first member of the
Levy family to own (and save) Thomas Jefferson’s iconic home. I figured that the
cropped, head-and-shoulders detail from the full-length portrait of Uriah Levy
that we reproduced in the book would speak for itself in that regard.
Plus, I hadn’t found any letters or newspaper or magazine
articles or any other primary sources that described the man. So I was
pleasantly surprised that a recently digitized April 1834 Boston Post article written by its Washington correspondent about
UPL’s donation of the bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson to the nation contains
a capsule description of the then U.S. Navy lieutenant, including several
physical characteristics.
After providing
details about Levy’s donation of the statue, the correspondent rhetorically
asked: “Who, you will ask, is the donor?” He answered by writing that Levy “was
a native of Philadelphia, and a resident of Virginia.” Levy actually resided in
New York City, but was just about to buy Monticello from its then owner, James
Turner Barclay. Uriah Levy bought the place to use as a second home, and as a
reflection of his admiration for Thomas Jefferson.
The correspondent then felt he had to let people know Uriah
Levy’s religion, writing that he “is a descendant of the Maccabees, and a
countryman of Isiah,” his way of saying that Levy was Jewish.
The article went on to say that UPL was “known as a valiant
officer, and an accomplished gentlemen.” Then came the first contemporary
physical description I’ve seen: “He is about the middling height, say 5 feet
9—finely proportioned, dark complexion, with nothing very peculiar in his
countenance but a dark and piercing eye.”
The article—that’s its last paragraph above—guessed Levy’s age as “apparently from thirty-seven to forty.” He actually was about to turn 42, having been born on April 22, 1792.
The long last sentence’s tone struck me as something of an
Early Republic echo of the current national debate over immigration. The
correspondent says that because of what he called Uriah Levy’s “so much of foreign
accent” from spending and mustache, Levy “would not be taken for an American,”
but his sterling qualities give him an “undisputed claim to American birth and
citizenship.”
That and the fact that he was born in Philadelphia—and was a
fifth-generation American.
THIS JUST IN: I
found that Boston Post article on the
Library of Congress’ Chronicling America page, a regularly updated historical
newspaper database that’s searchable at https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
As I was searching “Uriah Levy” from 1834-79, I also came
across the first newspaper article I’d ever seen announcing the news that
Jefferson Monroe Levy, UPL’s nephew, had bought out the other heirs to his
uncle’s estate and purchased Monticello on March 20, 1879.
The clipping below is the entire article from the Richmond Dispatch of March 21, 1879, the
day after J.M. Levy ended seventeen years of legal wrangling among his uncle’s wife,
his siblings and their spouses, and his nieces and nephews over the terms of
his will.
The will left Monticello to the people of the United States
to be used as an agricultural school for the orphans of Navy warrant officers.
That didn’t go over well with the heirs, who filed two petition lawsuits (in
New York and Virginia) that eventually went to the Supreme Courts of both
states. Finally, in 1879, the courts ruled that Monticello should be auctioned
off.
In the interim, Jefferson Levy had purchased the
Monticello inheritance shares from some of the other heirs, including Uriah’s
widow, Virginia Lopez Levy Ree; her new husband William J. Ree; Jefferson
Levy’s mother and father, Jonas P. and Fanny Levy; and Virginia Ree’s brother
George Washington Lopez of Spanishtown, Jamaica.
While Jefferson Levy did, indeed, repair the place, he never
turned it into a “summer resort,” as the article
predicted.
EVENTS: I’m still in all-but full-time
writing mode for my next book, and won’t have another event for any of my books
in August.
On Saturday,
September 21, however, I will be doing a “Shabbat Lift” talk on Saving Monticello at Congregation Kol
Ami in White Plains, New York. The event is free and open to the public.
I’m particularly excited about this talk because Harley
Lewis (Jefferson Levy’s great grandniece), who helped me more than anyone as I
researched and wrote the book, will be in the audience in this, her synagogue.
For more info, go to http://bit.ly/KolAmiMonticello
or email alisonadler@nykolami.org
There’s
always the chance that I may have a last-minute talk or signing. For the latest
on that, or to check out my scheduled 2019 events, go to the Events page on my
website at http://bit.ly/Eventsandtalks
If
you’d like to arrange an event for Saving
Monticello, or for any of my other books, email me. For info on my latest
book, Ballad of the Green Beret, go
to http://bit.ly/GreenBeretBook
GIFT IDEAS: Want a
personally autographed, brand-new paperback copy of Saving Monticello? Please e-mail me at marcleepson@gmail.com I also have a few as-new, unopened hardcover
copies, along with a good selection of brand-new copies of my other books.
