Levi Charles Meyers Harby
Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(September 21, 1793 - December 3, 1870) Born in Georgetown, South Carolina, Levi Charles Myers Harby was the son of Solomon Harby and Rebecca Moses Harby. During the War of 1812, Levi served in the US Navy. He was commissioned as a midshipman and stationed at Charleston. After the capture of the British ship Providence, he was one of the officers placed on the prized ship. The Providence was recaptured and Levi was a prisoner of war in England for two years. In January 1836, Revenue Cutter Service records indicate that Levi left his service aboard the cutter Dallas and had “Gone to Texas”. Some sources claim that he was affiliated with the Brutus in New Orleans and sailed her to Texas in early 1836. In 1842, at the age of 48 in Camden County, Georgia, Levi married Leonora Delyon and had three children: Henry J., Rebecca Sarah and Jacob De La Motte. His family moved with him to Galveston where Leonora became a well-known Jewish scholar, established the first Jewish Sunday school in Texas and founded the Ladies Hebrew Benevolent Society of Galveston. While living in Galveston, Levi resigned commission with the U.S. Cutter Revenue Service and offered his services to the government of the Confederate States as a heavy artillery captain during the Civil War. He served aboard the CSS Neptune during the Battle of Galveston. At the end of the war, he was in command of the Galveston Harbor. In 1865, Levi was given a Parole of Honor. He resided in Galveston until his death. Levi is buried with his wife in the Hebrew Benevolent Society Cemetery in Galveston County. (2014)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Levi Charles Myers Harby, born in South Carolina in 1793, served in the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812 and spent two years as a prisoner of war in England after his prize ship was recaptured. By 1836 he had "gone to Texas," and he later settled in Galveston, where his wife Leonora founded the first Jewish Sunday school in Texas and the city's Ladies Hebrew Benevolent Society. When the Civil War came, Harby served the Confederacy as an artillery captain aboard the CSS Neptune in the Battle of Galveston and ended the war commanding the harbor.
Why it matters
Harby's long career weaves the early U.S. Navy, Texas independence, and the Confederacy together with the founding of organized Jewish life on the Texas coast.
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Related people
- · Levi Charles Myers Harby
- · Leonora Delyon Harby
Related events
- · Battle of Galveston
Themes & tags
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