David Levy Yulee (1810-86). Autograph Letter Signed, written to US President Franklin Pierce.

(AMERICAN-JUDAICA).

22nd February

Homonana(?), Florida

1853

Letter of recommendation for one James H. Pierce who applied to the President for an appointment as Purser in the US Navy. Yulee writes to President Pierce (no relation) that his acquaintance with James Pierce has only been recent, but “sufficient to satisfy me…He is a young gentleman of intelligence & worth… I would be grateful at the success of his application.”

A naval purser was an officer who handled the administrative duties on board ships. A purser, known as a Paymaster since 1860, is a commissioned officer in the Navy Supply Corps. David Levy Yulee was the first Jew to become a United States senator. He served two non-consecutive terms in office representing the state of Florida. Born in St. Thomas, Wst Indies, he emigrated to the United States with his parents, Moses Elias and Hannah Levy as a child. In the 1830’s Moses was involved in a curious utopian project, to build a “New Jerusalem” for Jews in Florida, on 50,000 acres of land he purchased. The elder Levy was originally from Morocco, and the senator adopted the surname Yulee in 1845, in honor of an ancestral surname ibn Yuly (a 1846 notice states: “By an act of the Legislature of Florida, the name… had been changed to that of David Levy Yulee. This was the original family name previous to their emigration to this country.”) In other respects Yulee did not honor his ancestors, as he converted to Christianity. See EJ, Vol. XVI, cols. 894-6.