David Levy Yulee (born David Levy; June 12, 1810 – October 10, 1886) was an American politician and attorney who served as the

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

immediately before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. He also founded the Florida Railroad Company and served as president of several other rail companies, earning him the nickname of "Father of Florida Railroads." Yulee was born on the island of St. Thomas, then under British control, to a

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

family; his father was a trader from

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and his mother, also of Sephardi descent, was born in

Sint Eustatius Sint Eustatius, known locally as Statia, is an island in the Caribbean. It is a Caribbean Netherlands, special municipality (officially "Public body (Netherlands), public body") of the Netherlands. The island is in the northern Leeward Islands ...

and raised in St. Thomas. The family moved to Florida when he was a child. He later served as Florida's territorial delegate to Congress. Yulee was the first person of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

ancestry elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

as well as the first elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. He added Yulee, the name of a Moroccan ancestor, to his name soon after his 1846 marriage to Nancy Christian Wickliffe, daughter of ex-Governor Charles A. Wickliffe of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Though Yulee converted to Christianity, became an

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

, and raised his children as Christian, he encountered

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

throughout his career. Yulee was in favor of slavery and the secession of Florida. His fortune came from a

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

plantation on the

Homosassa River Homosassa River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 18, 2011 river in Citrus County, Florida, in the western part of the state. Its headwaters are the Homosassa ...

, and his antebellum railroads were largely built by slave labor. After the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, he was imprisoned at

Fort Pulaski Fort Pulaski National Monument is located on Cockspur Island between Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia. It preserves Fort Pulaski, the place where the Union Army successfully tested rifled cannons in 1862, the success of which rendered brick ...

for nine months for aiding the escape of

Confederate President The president of the Confederate States was the head of state and head of government of the unrecognized breakaway Confederate States. The president was the chief executive of the federal government and commander-in-chief of the Confederate Ar ...

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

. After being pardoned by President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

, he returned to his Florida railroad interests and other business ventures. In 2000, he was recognized as a "

Great Floridian Great Floridian is a title bestowed on citizens of Florida by the Florida Department of State. There were actually two formal programs. The Great Floridian 2000 program honored deceased individuals who made "significant contributions in the histor ...

" by the state.

Early life and education

He was born David Levy in Charlotte Amalie, on the island of St. Thomas. His father was

Moses Elias Levy Moses Elias Levy (July 10, 1782 – September 7, 1854; , ) was a Moroccan-born American businessman, planter, and social and religious reformer. Born into an elite Sephardic Jewish family in Morocco, Levy migrated to Gibraltar as a child and ...

, a

Sephardi Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

businessman from

who made a fortune in

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

in the British colony. His mother, Hannah Abendanone, was also Sephardi; her ancestors were expelled from Spain to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. His grandfather Eliyahu ha-Levy ibn-Yuli served as an undersecretary to Sultan

Mohammed ben Abdallah ''Sidi'' Mohammed ben Abdallah ''al-Khatib'' (), known as Mohammed III (), born in 1710 in Fez, Morocco, Fes and died on 9 April 1790 in Meknes, was the List of rulers of Morocco, Sultan of Morocco from 1757 to 1790 as a member of the 'Alawi dyna ...

while his paternal grandmother Rachel was from

Tangiers Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Morocco. Many c ...

and was said to have spoken fluent

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. Some later migrated to the Caribbean as English colonists during the British occupation of the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...

(now the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

). Moses Levy was a first cousin and business partner of Phillip Benjamin, who was the father of Judah P. Benjamin, the future Secretary of State of the Confederate States of America. After the family immigrated to the United States in the early 1820s, Moses Levy bought of land near present-day Jacksonville,

Florida Territory The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the state of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish ...

. He wanted to establish a "New

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

" for Jewish settlers. The parents sent their son to a boy's academy and college in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. Levy studied law with Robert R. Reid in

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

, was admitted to the bar in 1832, and started a law practice in St. Augustine.Retrieved from the permanent collection of the Jewish Museum of Florida
/ref>

Early political career

During his twenties, Levy served in the territorial militia, including during the

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Muscogee, Creek and Black Seminoles as well as oth ...

. In 1834, he was present at a conference with Seminole chiefs, including

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Vsse Yvholv in Muscogee language, Creek, also spelled Asi-yahola), named Billy Powell at birth, was an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfa ...

. In 1836, Levy was elected to the Florida Territory's Legislative Council, serving from 1837 to 1839. He was a delegate to the territory's constitutional convention in 1838 and served as the legislature's clerk in 1841.

Florida businessman

In 1851, Yulee founded a

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

plantation, built and maintained by enslaved African Americans, Database at along the

. The remains of his plantation, which was destroyed during the Civil War, are now the Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins State Historic Site. Yulee was also business partners with

John William Pearson John William Pearson (January 19, 1808 – September 30, 1864) was an American businessman and a Confederate Captain during the American Civil War. Pearson was a successful businessman who established a popular health resort in Orange Springs ...

Orange Springs, Florida Orange Springs is an unincorporated community in Marion County, Florida, United States. A small portion of the community extends into neighboring Putnam County. The community is part of the Ocala Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Orange ...

, but he abandoned his idea of building a railroad in the area as tensions rose and war seemed imminent. While living in Fernandina, Yulee began to develop a railroad across Florida. He had planned since 1837 to build a state-owned system. He became the first Southerner to use state grants under the Florida Internal Improvement Act of 1855, passed to encourage the development of such infrastructure. He made extensive use of the act to secure federal and state

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

s "as a basis of credit" to acquire land and build railroad networks, which were built with slave and Irish immigrant labor through the Florida wilderness.John R. Nemmers, "A Guide to the David Levy Yulee Papers"
University of Florida Smathers Libraries, Special and Area Studies Collections, March 2005, accessed 24 July 2011 Issuing public stock, Yulee chartered the Florida Railroad in 1853. He planned its eastern and western terminals at deep-water ports, Fernandina (

Port of Fernandina The Port of Fernandina is located on Florida's Atlantic coast. It is used for terminal service for pulp and paper as well as steel exports, machinery, auto parts, chemicals, beverages, chemicals, building materials and food products. Container ...

) on

Amelia Island Amelia Island is a part of the Sea Islands chain that stretches along the East Coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida; it is the southernmost of the Sea Islands, and the northernmost of the barrier islands on Florida's Atlant ...

on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

side, and

Cedar Key Cedar Key is a city in Levy County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 687, down from 702 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Cedar Keys are a cluster of ...

on the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

, to provide for connection to ocean-going shipping. His company began construction in 1855. On March 1, 1861, the first train arrived from the east in Cedar Key, just weeks before the beginning of the Civil War.

Political career

Levy (still going by that surname) was elected in 1841 as the delegate from the Florida Territory to the

and served four years. He was seated after his election, but his position was disputed, as opponents argued that he was not a citizen. Levy agreed to suspend his legislative activities pending resolution of this issue in the next Congressional session. By late March 1842 the associated investigations, committee votes, and attempts to bring the issue to a vote in the full House, which included a defense by Levy and testimony from witnesses favorable to him, had not produced a definitive opinion of the House. Levy was allowed to take his seat, and no further attempts were made to contest his claim to it. Once seated in the House, Levy worked to gain statehood for the territory and to protect the expansion of slavery in other newly admitted states. In 1845, after Florida was admitted as a state, the legislature elected Levy as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the United States Senate, the first Jew in the United States to win a seat in the Senate. He served until 1851 (during which period he began using Yulee as his surname). During his first Senate term, he served as chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Private Land Claims (1845–1849) and the

United States Senate Committee on Naval Affairs United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

(1849–1851). In 1855 Yulee was again elected by the Florida legislature to the Senate. He served until resigning in 1861 to support the Confederacy at the start of the

. Yulee's inflammatory pro-slavery rhetoric in the Senate earned him the nickname "Florida

Fire-Eater Fire eating is the act of putting a flaming object into the mouth and extinguishing it. A fire eater can be an entertainer, a street performance, street performer, part of a sideshow or a circus act but has also been part of spiritual traditi ...

". Although he frequently denied that he favored secession, Yulee and his colleague, Senator

Stephen Mallory Stephen Russell Mallory (1812 – November 9, 1873) was an American politician who was a United States Senator from Florida from 1851 to the secession of his home state and the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. For much of that perio ...

, jointly requested from the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet ...

a statement of munitions and equipment in Florida forts on January 2, 1860. He wrote to a friend in the state, "the immediately important thing to be done is the occupation of the forts and arsenals in Florida."

Civil War

There is some dispute as to Yulee's wartime legislative service. Some sources state that he served in the Confederate Congress and others do not. A

document states that Yulee did serve in the Confederate Congress. After the war, Yulee was imprisoned in

for nine months for treason, specifically for aiding in the 1865 escape of

Reconstruction

After receiving a pardon and being released from confinement, Yulee returned to Florida and rebuilt the Yulee Railroad, which had been destroyed by warfare. He served as president of the

Florida Railroad The Florida Railroad was the first railroad to connect the east and west coasts of Florida, running from Original Town of Fernandina Historic Site, Fernandina to Cedar Key, Florida, Cedar Key. The line later became part of the Seaboard Air Line R ...

Company from 1853 to 1866, as well as president of the Peninsular Railroad, Tropical Florida Railway, and Fernandina and Jacksonville Railroad companies. His development of the railroads in Florida was his most important achievement and contribution to the state. He was called the "Father of Florida Railroads". His leadership helped increase economic development in the state, including the late nineteenth-century tourist trade. In 1870 Yulee hosted President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

in Fernandina.

Marriage and family

In 1846, Levy officially changed his name to David Levy Yulee by an act of the Florida Legislature, adding his father's

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

surname. That year he married Nancy Christian Wickliffe, the daughter of Charles A. Wickliffe, the former

governor of Kentucky The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; sinc ...

and

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government official ...

under President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president of the United States, vice president in 1841. He was elected ...

. His wife was Christian, and they raised their children in her faith. Levy was a second cousin of U.S. Senator from Louisiana Judah P. Benjamin.

Death and legacy

Selling the Florida Railroad, he retired in 1880 with his wife to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, where she had a family. Yulee died on October 10, 1886, at the Clarendon Hotel in New York City. Yulee was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. *Both the town of

Yulee, Florida Yulee is a census-designated place (CDP) located within Nassau County, Florida, in the United States. Its population at the 2020 United States Census was 14,195, up from 11,491 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Jacksonville metropolitan stat ...

and

Levy County, Florida Levy County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the North central Florida part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 42,915. Its county seat is Bronson, Florida, Brons ...

are named for him. *The town of Fernandina Beach, Florida has a statue of Yulee. *In 2000, the Florida Department of State designated Levy Yulee as a

in the ''Great Floridians 2000 Program''. Award plaques in his honor were installed at both the Fernandina Chamber of Commerce and the Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins State Historic Site. *The

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Liberty Ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

was named in his honor.

Archival material

The George A. Smathers Libraries at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

have a collection o
David Levy Yulee Papers (1842–1886)
Some of the material has been digitized.

References

External links

* *
Detailed biography
Yulee Railroad Days website
Guide to the David L. Yulee Papers
University of Florida]
Biography
Jewish Virtual Library , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Yulee, David Levy 1810 births 1886 deaths 19th-century American railroad executives Fire-Eaters American people of Moroccan-Jewish descent American people of Spanish-Jewish descent American people of United States Virgin Islands descent American politicians of Moroccan descent American Presbyterians American prisoners and detainees British Virgin Islands people Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) Converts to Calvinism from Judaism Danish emigrants to the United States Danish Sephardi Jews Delegates to the United States House of Representatives from Florida Territory Democratic Party United States senators from Florida Florida lawyers Forerunners of Zionism American Mizrahi Jews Jewish state legislators in Florida Confederate Jews Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Jewish United States senators Levy County, Florida Members of the Florida Territorial Legislature People of Florida in the American Civil War People from Fernandina Beach, Florida People pardoned by Andrew Johnson United States Virgin Islands Jews 19th-century American lawyers United States senators who owned slaves Prisoners and detainees of the United States military 19th-century American Sephardic Jews 19th-century Florida politicians 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves