Albert Moses Levy (1800 - 1848)

Born 1800 in Amsterdam, Holland, Nederland

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Biography

Albert Moses Levy (1800 – 1848) was a Dutch-American physician best known for his work as a surgeon to the Texas Military Forces during and after the Texas Revolution. Early life

Levy was born into a Jewish family in the Netherlands, probably in Amsterdam; his parents were Abraham Levy and Rachel Cornelia Levy, née Bernard. The Levys immigrated to Richmond, Virginia in 1818. Albert Levy attended the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1832. He married Episcopalian Maria A. Bishop around 1830. They had one daughter, born 1832. The family relocated to Pittsylvania County, Virginia in 1834, but Maria died the following year. Levy relocated to New Orleans, home of his brother Lewis, leaving his daughter in the care of his sister in Richmond.[1] Texas Revolution and later life

Levy soon joined the New Orleans Greys, a voluntary militia group supporting the Texas Revolution. After arriving in Texas, he was appointed chief surgeon of Texas' voluntary army. He was injured in the Siege of Béxar but remained in the army until February 10, 1836, when he left to join the Texas Navy. His career as a naval surgeon included stints on the Brutus and the Independence. On April 17, 1837, Mexican forces captured the Independence and took the crew prisoner. Three months later Levy escaped and returned to Texas on foot.[1]

Levy established a practice in Matagorda and was appointed to the Medical Board of the Republic of Texas in 1838. The same year he married another Episcopalian, Claudinia Olivia Gervais, with whom he had five children. He committed suicide in May 1848.[1]

The state of Texas commemorates Levy with a historical marker in Matagorda. The City of Houston celebrated Albert Moses Levy Memorial Day on April 30, 1986 to honor Levy and other Jewish Texans who fought for Texas independence.[1] References

Ornish, Natalie (June 15, 2010). "LEVY, ALBERT MOSES". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Society. Retrieved May 8, 2014.

Dr. Albert Moses Levy

Dr. Albert Moses Levy was born in Amsterdam, Holland, in 1800, the son of Abraham Levy and Cornelia Bernard. The family came to the United States from England in 1818 and settled near Richmond, Virginia. His brothers and sisters were: Isaac, Jacob, Lewis, Esther, Mary, Julia and Rebecca.

Dr. Levy, was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1832, and first practiced medicine at Richmond, Virginia, where he met and married Maria Bishop Pine. They had a child, Rachel Cornelia, and when Rachel was six months old, his wife died. His brother, Jacob A. Levy, and wife, Martha Ezekiel, took Rachel to raise along with their own five children. When Rachel was grown, she married Abraham Levy, her first cousin, the son of Jacob A. Levy, with whom she was raised. She and Abraham had six children, three of which died in infancy. The surviving children were Ada, Martha and Ernest.

Brokenhearted from the loss of his beloved wife, Albert Moses Levy went to New Orleans to visit relatives; there he heard about Texas and its struggle for independence. He joined the New Orleans Greys and left for Texas. Within two months he was appointed surgeon in chief of the volunteer army of Texas. His military service was from October 22, 1835 to February 10, 1836 and included service in the siege of Bexar, where he was wounded.

After leaving the army, Levy joined the Texas Navy aboard the schooner Brutus. David G. Burnet, president of the Republic of Texas, signed Levy’s appointment papers as a surgeon in the navy in March 1836.

Levy was aboard the Independence on April 17, 1837, when it was captured by two Mexican brigs-of-war and the crew was thrown into a Mexican prison. Levy escaped after three months of imprisonment and walked back to Texas.

He was given several grants of land for his services. In Llano County he received warrant #664 for 1,280 acres of land for his services, when he and his other men fought with Fannin. Certificates #151 for 640 acres of land for his participation in the Siege of Bexar, and #44 for one league and one labor of land in Matagorda County on which he decided to make his home and practice medicine.

Dr. Levy married Claudinia Olivia Gervais, April 4, 1838, the daughter of Judge Sinclair David Gervais. She was born in Yazoo, Mississippi. They had five children: Katherine Levy, born in 1839; Albert Gervais, born November 2, 1840; Laura Virginia, born April 4, 1843; Charles Gillette, born May 29, 1845; and Lewis Fisher, born December 29, 1847.

On October 17, 1830, Albert Moses Levy deeded 428 acres of land situated on Jones Creek in Brazoria County to his daughter, Rachel Cornelia Levy, who was living in Richmond, Henrico County, Virginia, but she never acknowledged the gift. Dr. Levy was Jewish and when he married a Gentile, his people disowned him. He and his wife, Claudinia joined the Episcopal Church. Dr. Levy died May 22, 1848 and was buried in Matagorda Cemetery.

Dr. Levy had a good practice and was well-loved in Matagorda. After his death, Claudinia sold her home to Dr. Edward A. Peareson and returned to Mississippi to live near her brother, sisters and other relatives.

Sources

Historic Matagorda County, Volume I, page 158

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[3]

Handbook of Texas Online, Natalie Ornish, "Levy, Albert Moses," accessed July 04, 2016, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fle67.