In 1951, Sol Blumrosen, a De-
troit attorney, who passed away
several years later, wrote a
novel entitled "End of the Raw-
hide." It was a tribute to the
famous Jewish
Navy officer,
Commodore
Uriah Phillips
Levy, who led
the fight to
abolish f 1 o g-
ging in the
•:..
N a v y. Blum-
Blumrosen rosen had writ-
ten a good novel. It was the ful-
fillment of a lifetime of study of
the life of the colorful yet
controversial Jewish hero.
The story of Levy's battle for
recognition in the Navy, his
fight against great odds, to over-
come prejudices and anti-Semi-
tic attacks upon him, now is told
in a full-length biography en-
titled "Navy Maverick: Uriah
Phillips Levy," by two able writ-
ers—a Jew and an Irishman—
Saul Saphire and Donovan Fitz-
patrick. It was published by
Doubleday.
Richly annotated, containing
every detail in the life of the
Jewish Commodore, who was
the highest ranking Jewish
officer in our Navy, the new
biography is a truly "tumul-
tuous story." The first high-
ranking Jewish naval officer
emerges here in true colors as
a man of high principles and
courage as well as a hot-head
who constantly got into
trouble.
Six times he was courtmar-
tialed. The last time he was
ousted from the Navy. It was a
heart-breaking occurrence — to
be thrown out of a service to
which he had dedicated his en-
tire life. But he and his attor-
ney, his Irish friend Benjamin
F. Butler, drafted a memoran-
dum to Congress protesting the
verdict against him. President
Pierce's concurrence in the ver-
dict against him was challenged.
Thirteen months later, when
Buchanan was President, the
case was reopened by act of
Congress. One of the witnesses
at the hearing asserted: "Levy
was- liked by all but the anti-
Semites."
It is the official record that
is used in this book in re-
counting the Levy story, the
record of the trial, the way
everybody
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in the world."
Jefferson Levy, that title to
It was Levy who led the fight Monticello passed from the hands
for the abolishment of flogging of the Levys.
in the Navy, although Senator
There are scores of epi-
,John P. Hale of New Hamp- sodes
in the Fitzpatrick-Saph-
shire, who sponsored the bill ire story
. Maverick"
for abolishment, was finally that attest "Navy
to
the
glamor
and
given credit for it.
heroism of Uriah P. Levy. (It
When asked about his back-
ground, Levy always said, "I
am an American and a Jew."
He was a cousin of Mordecai
URIAH P:-LEVY
in which the Judge Advocate
was horrified by the evidence
of anti-Semitic prejudice that
kept Levy from rising in the
ranks and frequently caused
him to be suspended as a re-
sult of drummed-up charges.
He stated his own case at the
trial, summing up "his personal
faith and creed as an American,
a sailor and a Jew." "My par-
ents were Israelites,"_he began,
"and I was nurtured in the faith
of my ancestors."
"Profoundly grateful to the
Christian founders of our re-
public," he pleaded the cause
of the Jew and argued against
religious intolerance, as "the
case of every Israelite in the
Union." He asked, "Are Ameri-
can Christians now to begin the
persecution of the Jews?" and
he continued:
"Of the Jews, who stand
among them the representatives
of the patriachs and prophets,—
the Jews, to whom were com-
mitted the oracles of God;—the
Jews, from whom these oracles
have been received, and who are
the living witnesses' of their
truth; — the Jews, from whom
came the founder of Christianity;
—the Jews, to whom, as Chris-
tians themselves believe, have
been made promises of great-
ness and glory, in whose ful-
fillment are bound up the hopes,
not merely of the remnant of
Israel, but of all the races of
men? And think not, if you
once enter on this career, that
it can be limited to the Jew.
What is my case to-day, if you
yield to this injustice, may to-
morrow be that of the Roman
Catholic or the Unitarian; the
Episcopalian or the Methodist;
the Presbyterian or the Baptist.
There is but one safeguard; and
this is to be found in an honest,
wholehearted, inflexible support
of the wise, the just, the im-
partial guarantee of the Con-
stitution . . ."
He was completely exonerat-
ed. Soon he commanded a boat
and then was elevated to the
rank of Commodore.
Manuel Noah, who became fam-
ous as the advocate of statehood
for Jews and who undertook to
establish a colony for Jews near
Buffalo. It was an abortive ef-
fort, but he is recorded in his- -
tory as an early American
Zionist.
Both Levy and Noah were de-
vout Jews, active in Shearith
Israel Congregation in New
York. In his will Levy left sums
of money for the establishment
of farming schools for young
Jews.
He was an ardent admirer of
Jefferson and he paid for a
monument in his memory which
was erected in Washington. He
also purchased Jefferson's Mon-
ticello home and willed it to the
government, but a contest among
his heirs prevented the govern-
ment from securing it. It was
much later, when a high price
was paid for it to his nephew,
is explained early in this bio-
graphy about his grandfather:
"He had been known as Phai-
bush—fiery or firebush—and
this had become Phillips in
the New World.") One honor
accorded him is worth record-
ing: "During World War II
the destroyer escort U.S.S.
Levy was launched at Newark,
N. J., and on Dec. 13, 1959,
the Jewish Chapel at the Naval
Station, Norfolk, Va., was dedi-
cated in Uriah's honor." The
Chief of Chaplains Rear Ad-
miral George A. Rosso paid a
high tribute to his memory
on the latter occasion.
The remarkable Uriah P. Levy
story should be passed on to
every American Jewish child.
Our youth will derive pride
from the example set for Jew-
ish dignity by a great American
and a devoted Jew.—P. S.
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Uriah P. Levy started his
life as a sailor when he left
home at the age of 10. He left
a note for his parents, upon
being accepted on a boat, that
he would return for his Bar
Mitzvah. He lived up to his
promise. He came home in
time to study for the induc-
tion into manhood and then
went right back to the sea.
So rich in heroic episodes is
this life story of the famous
sailor and naval officer that the
biography reads like a novel.
He battled for his rights with
courage, and while he was hasty
in judgment and hot-headed, he
always was ready to uphold a
principle and to stick by his
men. He was uprightly a Jew
and he was the founding presi-
dent of the Washington Hebrew
Congregation which marked the
centennial 'of his death on March
20, 1962. The Secretary of the
Navy sent a message to the con-
gregation in which he recalled
that Levy, who was offered a
captaincy in the Brazilian Navy,
told Brazil's President, "Sit, I
would rather serve as a cabin
boy in the American Navy than
as a captain in any other service
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'
25 -- THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, Sept. 13, 1963
Remarkable Story of Commodore Uriah P. Levy
Related in Thrilling Biography, Navy Maverick'