YULEE, DAVID LEVY:

American politician; born in St. Thomas, West Indies, in 1811; died in New York city Oct. 10, 1886. He went to Richmond, Va., where he applied himself to classical studies and the law. Later he removed to Florida and became a planter. He was elected as a delegate from Florida to the 27th and 28th Congresses as a Democrat, at that time bearing the name of Levy. He was later known as David Levy Yulee, and under this name was a delegate to the first state constitutional convention of Florida. He was twice elected United States senator from Florida as a Democrat, serving from Dec., 1845, to 1851, and again from 1855 until his retirement on Jan. 21, 1861. He served also in the Confederate Congress, and was a prisoner of state at Fort Pulaski in 1865. After the Civil war he was president of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad of Florida, and was interested in the financial and commercial growth of Fernandina and Cedar Keys, Fla.

Bibliography:
  • American Jewish Year Book, 5661 (1901), p. 524;
  • Biographical Congressional Dictionary, p. 651, Washington, D. C., 1903.
A. A. S. I.
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