November 2020

 

Saving Monticello: The Newsletter

The latest about the book, author events, and more

Newsletter Editor - Marc Leepson

 

Volume XVII, Number 11                                                     November 1, 2020

“The study of the past is a constantly evolving, never-ending journey of discovery.” – Eric Foner

 

URIAH LEVY’s GRAVE: Uriah Levy died of pneumonia in New York City on March 22, 1862. His family buried him in Beth Olom Cemetery (also known as the Shearith Israel Cemetery) in Ridgewood, Queens.

Levy’s funeral, which was held in New York City on March 26, was described in detail in the New York Herald and New York Times. It was a Jewish funeral—with patriotic flourishes. Rabbi Jacques Judah Lyons of Shearith Israel presided. Three companies of U.S. Marines, a detachment of eighty sailors from the USS North Carolina, and the Navy’s Brass Band escorted the body from Levy’s St. Marks Place house to the cemetery, which had been used for burials of Shearith Israel congregants since 1851. Among the other notable people buried there are the poet and activist Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) and Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo (1870-1938).

Uriah Levy left specific instructions for the monument he wanted over his grave. He envisioned a full-length, life-sized statue of himself, either in iron or bronze, standing on a single block of granite sunk three feet in the ground. He was to be depicted in the full uniform of a U.S. Navy captain, holding a scroll in his hand. The scroll was to be inscribed: “Uriah P. Levy, Captain in the United States Navy, Father of the law for the abolition of the barbarous practice of corporal punishment in the Navy of the United States.”

But that was not to be, because Shearith Israel, the Sephardic congregation where the New York Levy family members worshipped, decided that statues of the deceased are not appropriate in Jewish cemeteries. The request for a life-sized statue, “caused the congregation some discomfort,” according to the Shearith Israel website’s Beth Olom Cemetery page. “While it is important to honor the wishes of the deceased, it is also prohibited by halakha [Jewish law based on the Talmud] to erect a statue in human form.” 

Instead, the marble monument features a flag-draped column adorned with a bas relief of a sailing ship and other naval and patriotic imagery. The epitaph, however, is nearly the same as what Uriah Levy wanted. It reads: “In memory of Uriah P. Levy, Father of the Law for the abolition of the barbarous practice of corporal punishment in the Navy of the United States.”

Uriah Levy’s singular gravesite (above) came to mind recently after Levy descendant Tom Lewis kindly sent me images of photos from a family album of an event that took place there on May 1, 1951. That afternoon several officers and twenty crew members of two Israeli Navy ships laid a wreath at the foot of the Levy’s monument. The ships—a frigate and a corvette, according to an article in the Shearith Israel newsletter—had arrived in New York Harbor the day before and had paid tribute earlier on May 1 to George Washington by laying a wreath at the Washington Square Arch in Greenwich Village.

Shearith Israel’s long-time rabbi, the noted Sephardic scholar David de Sola Pool, presided at the ceremonies, addressing the sailors in Hebrew about Uriah Levy’s life. Dr. Pool also brought soil from Israel from a package that Uriah Levy had given to the congregation sometime in the mid-19^th century. Soil from the package was added to the grave, the newsletter noted, as it had been for every other funeral of a Shearith Israel congregant. 

Also on hand at the ceremony were several Levy family descendants, including young Lewis Schlossinger, a third-great nephew of Uriah Levy (in photo below), who helped place the ceremonial wreath.

 

JEFFERSON LEVY IN JEOPARDY:  The TV quiz show, that is. A question (or rather the answer in “Jeopardy” parlance) on the show broadcast on October 5, 2020, described him as Monticello’s owner and a “19^th C. rich guy.” Both of which are true.

Thanks to Levy family descendants Richard Lewis and Debbie Lewis for independently letting me know about it. 

Do you know the answer—I mean, the question? Hint: Don’t look in Saving Monticello as I didn’t mention it in the book. The first person to email me the correct question will receive… my eternal thanks.

EVENTS: My scheduled live events for the spring, summer, and fall were canceled or postponed due to the pandemic. I have just one schedule for November.

On Sunday, November 8, I’ll be officially receiving the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution History Medal at the Falls Church, Virginia, DAR Chapter’s 110th Anniversary Celebration and Community Awards Ceremony, which will be held virtually because of the pandemic.

The DAR National History Medal goes to those who “promote American history on the national level,” and who have “significantly advanced the understanding of America’s past,” said Falls Church DAR Chapter Historian Jodi Gorsage, who kindly delivered the medal citation to me last week.

“We were proud to nominate Mr. Leepson—who has spoken to our chapter several times about his work—for this prestigious award, and were thrilled when it was announced that he would receive it.”

 

GIFT IDEAS:  Want a personally autographed, brand-new paperback copy of Saving Monticello? Please e-mail me. I also have a few as-new, unopened hardcover copies, along with a good selection of brand-new copies of my other books.