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LEVI, Alexander
LEVI, Alexander. (France, Mar. 13, 1809--Dubuque, IA, Mar. 31, 1893). In 1837 Levi became the first immigrant to be naturalized in the State of Iowa while it was still part of Wisconsin Territory. He was also the first initiatory member of the Masonic Order in Dubuque.
Levi moved to Dubuque on August 1, 1833, and began a variety of business ventures including the sale of groceries, dry goods, and clothing. Levi also believed in advertising as shown by the following placed in DUBUQUE VISITOR (THE), May 11, 1836, p. 3
A. LEVI & CO. Would inform their friends and the public generally,
that they have on hand and will at all times keep a large and fresh
assortment of Groceries and Provisions, viz. Mess and Prime Pork,
Fresh Flour, Corn Meal, Whiskey by the barrel, French and Peach Brandy,
Tobacco and Cigars, Candles by the box, Tar by the keg, First rate
Bacon, Butter and Lard, Corn and Oats, Porter and Cider, Wines of all
kinds, Loaf Sugar, Soap by the box, pipes (1)
Levi also owned extensive MINING property and real estate along South Locust Street. He was also president of the DUBUQUE GOLD MINING COMPANY which was incorporated in 1860. Levi was elected justice of the peace and held the position from 1846 to 1848.
About 1843 an incident occurred in Dubuque which Mr. Sol. Kuh, an old settler of this Iowa was able to recount in 1903 that shows the deepness of faith held by Levi. A Jewish merchant, settled down in Dubuque a few years after Mr. Levi did; and, as he was still single, a courtship between him and a highly cultured Gentile lady ended in a marriage between the two. The wedding was the talk of the town for many months, and all the staunch church members were delighted indeed to have added to their number such a worthy convert. A year elapsed and the couple still continued to be the center of attraction. Mr. Levi, though friends with all and a single man himself, politely declined every invitation, beginning with the urgent request to attend the marriage ceremony, which was solemnized in a church, but he made no comment.
Perhaps because of miscalculated economy or reckless lavishness, the new church member had to resort to something very disagreeable to the pious in order to save himself from a crisis of financial distress. He was discovered packing up some goods belonging to his creditors with intentions to ship it across the Mississippi. The creditors took action against him, and he was compelled to face serious charges.
A few days after, two preachers came to "see" Mr. Levi, who was, during those days, the most unconcerned person in the whole community. The founder of the Iowa Jewry had nothing out of the ordinary to tell to the representatives of the gospel so long as they confined the interview to innocent talk, but when they told him that they "never thought the Jew would prove so tricky, that they now believed some of the horrible tales told about the Jews and that henceforth they would look out," he replied
"You have undoubtedly considered the Jew a very good man, else
a prominent church lady would have refused to entertain and accept
a proposal from him; you have certainly been of the opinion that he
was free from all bad habits, else you would not have accepted him
as a member in your church; you have, I presume, considered him one
of the best sons of Israel, else your joy of getting him across the
gulf would not have been as great; you have, as you know, thought him
to be a gentleman of refinement and good standing, else you would not
have frequented his house and suffered yourselves to attend so many of
the functions given by him. Now, how comes it, that continuing for but
one year as a member of your church, he is no longer a gentleman, no
longer honest, no longer successful and no longer fit to be either Jew
or Gentile? That he was a good man prior thereto cannot be questioned,
since he has been honest, successful and upright so long as he continued
to be a Jew, so long as I could claim him as a brother in exile, so long
as the conduct of his orthodox parents still appealed to his sympathy. Does
it not, therefore, appear most strange to you that such a good man shall
fall so low in such a brief period? The truth is this: Till the last minute
the Jews could yet claim him as theirs, till the last minute he yet claimed
to belong to them, he was that which he was destined to be, that which he
was born for, and, therefore, cared not, to change the tranquility of his
life — and as such, continued to be a credit to his people and a benefit
to organized society. But the minute he joined you, the minute your
environments pulled him out of his root, the minute he lost his originality,
he was compelled to please a society, a church and a woman whom he did not
understand and who could be contented with anything but his Jewishness. Thus
he was no longer responsible for his deeds as a Jew. Hence, in this case
you are the defendants, and all the more honor for those Jews who continue
as such. (2)
In 1856, faithful to his JEWISH COMMUNITY, Levi organized B'nai Jeshrun, the Jewish congregation that met in a rented hall at Locust and 5th STREETS. Of the twenty acres he owned in Section 13 of Julien Township, Levi deeded .6 acre for Jewish burials. This land was later deeded to the City of Dubuque that conveyed the property to the LINWOOD CEMETERY Association. His home became St. Margaret's Hall of ST. JOSEPH ACADEMY.
Alexander Levi returned to France where he married Miss Minette Levi. One of their daughters married James Levi, a nephew. James Levi had worked for his uncle as a salesman for three years. When Alexander died, James and Alexander's son Eugene took over the family business in Dubuque which became JAMES LEVI AND COMPANY.
See: A. LEVI
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Source:
1. Fleishaker, Oscar. The Illinois-Iowa Jewish Community on the Banks of the Mississippi, Doctoral Degree Dissertation to the Faculty of the Harry Fischel School for Higher Jewish Studies, Graduate Division, Yeshiva University, 1957, p. 12
2. "Jewish Pioneers in Dubuque County," Online: http://iagenweb.org/dubuque/religious/Jewish.htm
Oldt, Franklin. History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago: Western History Company, 1880, p. 838
"Naturalization of Dubuque Jew 100 Years Ago Hailed," Telegraph Herald Sept. 5, 1927
175 Years, Volume 3, Levi A Man of Entrepreneurial Vision," Telegraph Herald, September 15, 2008