David Yulee
| David Levy Yulee | |
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United States Senator from Florida |
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In office March 4, 1855 – January 21, 1861 |
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| Preceded by | Jackson Morton |
| Succeeded by | Thomas W. Osborn (1868) |
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In office July 1, 1845 – March 3, 1851 |
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| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Mallory |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's at-large district |
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In office March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1845 Delegate |
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| Preceded by | Charles Downing |
| Succeeded by | Edward Cabell (Representative) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
David Levy June 12, 1810 Charlotte Amalie, Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) |
| Died | October 10, 1886 (aged 76) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Nancy Wickliffe |
David Levy Yulee (born David Levy; June 12, 1810 – October 10, 1886) was an American politician and attorney of Moroccan-Jewish origins. A resident of Florida, he served as its territorial delegate to Congress, and was the first person of Jewish heritage to serve as a United States Senator. He founded the Florida Railroad Company and served as president of several other companies, earning the nickname of "Father of Florida Railroads." In 2000 he was recognized as that year's "Great Floridian" by the state.
Levy added Yulee, the name of one of his Moroccan ancestors, to his name soon after his 1846 marriage to the daughter of ex-Governor Charles A. Wickliffe of Kentucky. Though Yulee became Christian and raised his children as Christians, he was subject to antisemitism throughout his career. Yulee supported slavery and secession; he was imprisoned at Fort Pulaski for nine months after the war for having aided the escape of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. After being pardoned
, he returned to his railroad interests and other business ventures.
Born David Levy in Charlotte Amalie, on the island of St. Thomas, his father Moses Elias Levy was a Moroccan Sephardi Jew who made a fortune in lumber. His mother was also Sephardi; her ancestors had gone from Spain to the Netherlands and England. Some had later gone to the Caribbean as English colonists during the British occupation of the Danish West Indies, now the United States Virgin Islands. His father Moses Levy was a first cousin and business partner of Phillip Benjamin, the father of future Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin.
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