The Memorial of Captain Jonas P. Levy, to the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress Assembled.

<<Jonas P. Levy vs. The United States.>> A petition by Jonas Levy to the U.S Government as part of his decades-long campaign to receive compensation for property losses sustained in Mexico by way of The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which had brought the Mexican-American War (1846-48) to an an end. Jonas P. Levy (1807-83) was a merchant, U. S. Naval officer and Mexican War hero. His brother was Uriah P. Levy, the first Jewish commodore in the U.S. Navy. Prior to the Mexican-American War, the Levy brothers had undertaken various business ventures in Mexico. When war broke out Jonas Levy served as captain of the ship “The American” and was involved in the capture of the port of Veracruz. Thereafter he was appointed captain of the port by the great General Winfield Scott. At war’s end Levy began a lengthy campaign against both the Mexican and American governments claiming compensation for monetary losses. In 1854 the House of Representatives passed an act ordering the Treasury Department to examine and settle Levy’s claims for indemnity against Mexico. Despite an initial payment, Levy’s additional claims were rejected on grounds of lack of sufficient evidence. After repeated appeals, the Treasury Department closed Levy’s claim in May 1873 refusing to reopen it without further legislation. Tenaciously, Levy would not accept this perceived injustice and as evidenced by this document, even in the year prior to his death, petitioned the U.S. Congress to reopen his case. Despite only partial success in this personal financial matter, as a naval war hero, Levy used his political connections to aid the passage of a bill through Congress in 1856 to grant synagogues in Washington D. C. the same rights and privileges that protected churches. See Jonas P. Levy Papers, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan; Clark G. Reynold, Famous American Admirals (2002) p. 195; Hasia R. Diner, A Time for Gathering: The Second Migration (1992) p. 149.