 1769 - 1839 (69 years)
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| Name |
Rachel Machado Phillips [2, 3] |
| Born |
23 May 1769 [4, 5] |
| Gender |
Female |
| Reference Number |
2688 |
| Died |
1839 |
Monticello, VA  [2, 4, 5] |
| Buried |
Monticello, VA [4, 5] |
| Person ID |
I2688 |
aojd |
| Last Modified |
20 Jan 2012 |
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| Notes |
- (Research):AJLLJ Portraits Database 5 Aug 2011
Born to Jonas Phillips and Rebecca Machado Phillips, Rachel's earliest distinction was in constituting half of the family's only set of twins. Although, Sarah, her twin sister, would die in infancy, Rachel would not lack for siblings, with four already before her and another sixteen to come, including Naphtali, Manuel, Zalegman and Aaron.
In 1787 she was married to Michael Levy. Levy's family had most likely emigrated from Prussia about the time that Levy was ten. He had grown up in Virginia and moved a few years earlier to Philadelphia. Benjamin Rush, a friend of Jonas Levy, was in attendance at the wedding, and described the event in wonderful detail:
At one o'clock the company assembled in Mr. Phillips' common parlor…The company began with prayers in the Hebrew language…chanted by an old Rabbi…followed by the whole company…My attention was directed to the haste with which they covered their heads as soon as the prayers began…As soon as these prayers were ended…a small piece of parchment was produced written in Hebrew…which the groom subscribed in the presence of four witnesses…The ceremony was followed by the erection of a beautiful canopy composed of white and red silk in the middle of the floor. It was supported by four young men (by means of four poles), who put on white gloves for the purpose…The bride, accompanied by her mother, sister, and a long train of female relations, came downstairs. Her face was covered with a veil which reached halfways down her body…She was…a most lovely and affecting object. I gazed with delight upon her. Innocence, modesty, fear, respect and devotion appeared all at once in her countenance.
After the wedding the couple moved into a house at 107 Vine Street. They had fourteen children, though four died in infancy. In 1802 Michael left congregation Mikveh Israel for the recently inaugurated Rodeph Sholem, an Ashkenazi synagogue.
Four of the seven boys chose a life at sea: Benjamin Levy a merchant-ship captain, Morton Phillips Levy a steamboat driver on the Mississippi, Jonas Phillips Levy a merchant marine captain, and, most famously, Commodore Uriah P. Levy, maverick of the United States Navy. The latter two achieved an impressive degree of fame as captains, while the prior both met their fate sailing: Benjamin was assassinated in the harbor in Havana, while Morton disappeared at sea.
After Uriah purchased and restored Thomas Jefferson's estate, Monticello, Rachel came to live there with her son. She spent her final years on the grounds of Jefferson's restored estate and is buried on the property. [6]
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| Sources |
- [S285] .
- [S4] PG. 243 PHILLIPS I (1) (NEW YORK) (Reliability: 3).
- [S419] (Reliability: 3).
- [S59] EMAIL 6 AUG 2010 ARYEH GREEN TO DAVID M. KLEIMAN (Reliability: 3).
- [S634] EMAIL 6 AUG 2010 ARYEH GREEN TO DAVID M. KLEIMAN (Reliability: 3).
- [S294] LEVY, RACHEL MACHADO PHILLIPS (Reliability: 3).
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