Biography

Uriah P. Levy served in the US navy and attained the rank of Commodore. Despite exemplary service, he was court-martialed a record six times, and dismissed from the Navy twice ( although reinstated both times) due to the antisemitism present during the time, and Levy's swift responses to such incidents. He was responsible for the outlawing of the punitive naval practice of flogging, as well as saving and restoring the home of Thomas Jefferson, Monticello. William Henry Seward encounters him during his tour of Jerusalem in 1859, when Levy was serving as Captain in the Mediterranean fleet.