"Deeds Gave this Crown:" The Cup of the Savior of Monticello

At Monticello, the estate established by Thomas Jefferson near Charlottesville, Virginia, flowers burst forth on grounds meticulously maintained by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation around the equally well-maintained house, which was completed in 1809, the last year of Jefferson's presidency. At the urging of the Marquis de Lafayette, Navy Lieutenant Uriah Phillips Levy first visited Jefferson's former estate and was appalled that, according to scholar Melvin Urofsky, "The house was deserted, the lawns a jungle, the flowerbeds that Jefferson had so carefully planned all gone to seed."  Part of the main roof had fallen in, the terraces had collapsed, windows were broken and shutters were hanging askew. Levy made the agreement to buy the property in 1834, and, after a litigious interlude after the commodore's death in 1862 during which the mansion again fell into disrepair, his nephew Jefferson Monroe Levy again restored the house until selling it to the Foundation in 1923. (M.C. Farrington)

By Alicia Pullen
HRNM Educator

In examining Post-Revolutionary War America and the Age of Sail, lies a compelling story of the first Jewish Commodore, Uriah Phillips Levy, who was influential during the early years of the United States Navy. Throughout his tenure in the Navy, Levy was instrumental in dismantling antisemitism, promoting justice through the abolition of flogging, and preserving Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello.

Lieutenant Uriah P. Levy, painted sometime between the time of the War of 1812 and March 1837.  Fresh from bringing a six-and-a-half-foot high bronze of Jefferson he had commissioned in Paris to present as a gift to the American people in Washington DC,what remains today the only privately-financed statue in the United States Capital Rotunda, Levy bought the neglected estate of his hero with the same sense of mission, declaring to a friend that "The homes of great men should be protected and preserved as monuments to their glory." (Corcoran Gallery of Art via Naval History and Heritage Command)

Uriah Phillips Levy was born on April 22, 1792 into a Jewish family from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Levy was the youngest of three siblings and at an early age was determined to live his life at sea. By the age of ten, Levy left home and began his Naval career as a cabin boy aboard the New Jerusalem in 1802. He later became a sailing master and fought in the Barbary Wars. During the War of 1812, Levy was assigned to the USS Argus as a supernumerary sailing master. Argus destroyed several British ships until it was captured by the British on August 14, 1813.

An engraving by T. Sutherton, after an artwork by Whitcombe, showing the capture of USS Argus by HMS Pelican on August 14, 1813. (Naval History and Heritage Command)

Levy had meanwhile been appointed as a prize master aboard the Betsy, one of the British vessels captured by Argus, and after the unarmed ship was recaptured around the same time as Argus, he along with the ship’s prize crew were imprisoned in Great Britain for 16 months until the war ended.

(Photo by M.C. Farrington)

Upon Levy’s return from British imprisonment in 1814, he was presented with a julep silver cup in Norfolk, Virginia, which remains in the Hampton Roads Naval Museum collection today. On the side of the cup, bears the initials “ULP” for Uriah P. Levy and the inscription: Dant Facta Hanc Coronam (“Deeds gave this crown”). This family motto also appeared on the headboard belonging to Uriah’s nephew, Jefferson Monroe Levy, in the ground floor bedchamber at Monticello. The motto or crest does not appear in either Levy’s maternal or paternal line, which suggested that Uriah Levy may have created the insignia to celebrate his 1814 release from English military prison. The base of the cup is engraved with the date 1814, likely celebrating Levy’s return home. 

(Photo by M.C. Farrington)

After returning to the United States, Levy was assigned to USS Franklin as a sailing master. During this time, Levy was promoted to lieutenant in 1817, master commandant in 1837, and became captain in 1844. This achievement was uncommon in the Navy, having started as a cabin boy and promoted to captain. Later, Levy commanded the Mediterranean Squadron and was given the title of Commodore, then designated as the highest rank in the U.S. Navy.
 
During his naval career, Levy faced considerable antisemitism. This first began while aboard the New Jerusalem in which his “adherence to the Hebrew belief brought him chaffing from the crew.” Later, while aboard Franklin as a young sailing master, some crew members resented his Jewish heritage which nearly ended his naval career. After being promoted to designated officer, “he found himself the victim of increased religious hatred and intolerance particularly among the midshipmen, who had expected to eventually outrank him.” Levy also faced discouragement from his family who warned him about the “dangers or seafaring life” and felt that as a member of the Jewish community, he should pursue a professional career. Moreover, Levy’s forbearance towards antisemitism demonstrated his bravery and commitment to serving the U.S Navy and ability to break through the barriers of religious bigotry.

This undated engraving, possibly based upon a photograph, shows Levy at the apex of his career. (Library of Congress via White House Historical Association)

As a promoter of justice, Uriah Phillips Levy launched a controversial campaign against flogging in the U.S. Navy. Having witnessed the physical results of flogging on Sailors early in his naval career, Levy refused to accept the brutal practice and if ever given authority, “he declared, he would abolish the lash.” Levy wanted to “improve human relations in the Navy” and encourage “better treatment for the common sailor.”  In 1845, Levy began his anti-flogging campaign by publishing articles in the Washington paper and New York Globe that criticized corporal punishment and its negative effects on Navy Sailors. Later, Levy traveled to Washington on several occasions to inform Congress of the evils of flogging by giving lectures and passing around the cat-o’-nine-tails, used for flogging, so that the congressmen could test the implement on their own skin. In reaction to Levy’s attempts, Senator John P. Hale of New Hampshire along with a few other senators introduced a bill that would abolish corporal punishment in the Navy. The legislation was debated over for many years until it was outlawed completely on July 17, 1862.

Uriah Levy brought his 67-year-old mother Rachael to Monticello from Philadelphia in the spring of 1837 to live there permanently.  After she died on May 7, 1839, while he was at sea, she was buried near the plantation house where her grave remains today. (M.C. Farrington)

However, perhaps Uriah Levy’s most significant contribution to the American people was his effort to preserve, conserve, and repair President Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello. Towards the end of Jefferson’s life, he had fallen into debt which forced his family to sell the estate. In May of 1836, Levy, who admired Jefferson as a patriotic leader of the free world, acquired Monticello. During the first few years of ownership, Levy oversaw “slaves and hired workers who labored to resurrect the long- neglected house,” which had been in ruin. (68)

Prior to Levy’s death in March of 1862, he wanted to give the estate to the United States Government, which refused it on account that they did not preserve the homes of former presidents. Later in March of 1879, Levy’s nephew, Jefferson Monroe Levy, purchased the home at a public auction. Monticello remained in his care until it was purchased by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation in 1923. The Levys' efforts in restoring one of nation’s most notable historic landmarks demonstrated their devotion and understanding for historic preservation as a way of maintaining the legacy of its leaders and the past.

The Commodore Levy Chapel, located at Naval Station Norfolk, is the oldest land-based Jewish chapel in the Navy. Established in 1942, it was rededicated under Levy's name in 1959.  The Commodore Uriah P. Levy Center at the U.S. Naval Academy, completed in 2005, is another much larger facility named for the antebellum naval officer, who is remembered not only for his religious devotion, but his devotion to preserving the memory of the man who he believed made the free exercise of his religion possible.   (M.C. Farrington)    

References:

Fitzpatrick, Donovan. Navy Maverick: Uriah Phillips Levy. New York: Doubleday, 1963.

Leepson, Marc. Saving Monticello: the Levy Family’s Epic Quest to Rescue the House that Jefferson Built. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2001.

Urofsky, Melvin I. The Levy Family and Monticello, 1834-1923: Saving Thomas Jefferson's House. Charlottesville: Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 2001.