Moses Levy was a pioneer in Florida who undertook to settle the territory even before it came under American sovereignty.
Background
Moses Levy was born in Mogador, Morocco, to a family of businessmen of Portuguese descent, some of whom held high positions at the Sultan’s court.
His father, Elias Levy, was a vizier of the Sultan but had the bad luck of discovering a plot fomented by the crown prince to dethrone his father. The Sultan had his son imprisoned but died soon after and Elijah Levy found himself in a difficult situation. To avoid being sentenced to death by the new ruler, the former crown prince, he converted to Islam. But to be on the safe side, fled to England in 1799 with his son Moses and died there a Jew, a few months later.
Career
Moses E. Levy found work on a sailing ship traveling to the West Indies. He disembarked on the island of Saint Thomas in the Caribbean and quickly succeeded in the lumber business. His activities took him to Havana in Cuba where he became an army purveyor in 1816.
At the time Florida was governed out of Havana by a Spanish intendant. In 1819 Moses Levy purchased vast plots of land in Florida and acquired more land there later. He invested much money, with the aim of exploiting the land. Since Levy was strongly opposed to slavery, he sailed to England to find Jewish and Christian settlers, but without much success. While in England he spoke in various forums against slavery and even published a pamphlet to that effect which caused quite a sensation.
Levy tried to further his project in Charleston, Philadelphia and among the immigrants in New York, where he planned the establishment of a Hebrew agricultural school in 1821. But once again he failed and had no choice but to utilize slaves to further his project of colonization.
He settled in Saint Augustine in 1921 and was an energetic and able colonizer. He imported seeds from Cuba and it is even said that he was the first planter to bring sugarcane into the United States.
Unfortunately, his Florida dream did not materialized. By 1840 he possessed a large estate but was plagued with financial difficulties and involved in many lawsuits. Many of his farms were burned by the Indians during the Seminole wars, others by the Confederate troops in the hope that the Indians would not be tempted to return there. Finally, he succeeded in getting out of his legal entanglements and took an active part in the politics of Florida, particularly in educaton, and wrote some articles in the daily press under the pen name “Youlee.” Youlee, taken from the first words in Hebrew of Psalm 86:9, had been the name his father had added to his name.
Personality
Moses Levy was “a man universally respected in Saint Augustine. His probity, large intelligence, and benevolence were recognized.
Quotes from others about the person
“He was just and generous,” wrote a prominent attorney of Saint Augustine.
Connections
He was the father of David Levy-Yulee (see Yulee) the first senator from Florida.