(Yulee, David Levy, Senator).
Auction 90 |
Tuesday, July 21st,
2020 at 1:00pm
Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Graphic & Ceremonial Arts
Lot 60
(AMERICAN JUDAICA).
(Yulee, David Levy, Senator).
Washington, DC: A. Boyd Hamilton 1852
Est: $400 - $600
David Levy Yulee (1810-86) was instrumental in securing Florida’s admission to the Union in 1845. That same year he was elected to the United States Senate, becoming the first Jew to serve in that body. In 1851 Yulee lost a re-election bid to Stephen R. Mallory in a bitterly contested race. Unwilling to concede, Yulee contested Mallory’s right to the seat and documents pertaining to his case were published here as “Contested Election of Senator from the State of Florida.”
Yulee’s appeal was unsuccessful, yet he was later re-elected in 1855. A staunch Southern rights activist, Yulee resigned from the Senate in 1861 when Florida seceded from the Union.
See Leon Hühner, David L. Yulee, Florida’s First Senator, in: Proceedings of the American Jewish Historical Society 25 (1917) pp. 1-29.