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JULIEN PHILIP BENJAMIN
(Florida)
When asked about his relationship to
the famous Judah Philip Benjamin, member of Jefferson Davis' Cabinet of
the Confederacy, Mr. Benjamin said:
"About third or fourth cousins - a little too far back to brag about - but
it is true that his great-grandfather and my great-great grandfather were
brothers. My great-great grandfather was a Judah Benjamin, and there have
always been Judahs, Juliens, and Philips among the boys of the family. Our
forbears were German Jews.
"Judah P. Benjamin's father went to England and from there to the West
Indies. His name was Philip Benjamin, born about 1782. His mother was
Rebecca de Mondes Benjamin, and they emigrated from London, England, to
St. Thomas, British West Indies, in 1808, shortly after their marriage.
Judah was born there August 6, 1811, in the town of St. Croix. There was
an older brother, Charles, and two sisters younger. The Benjamins moved to
the United States, where they had originally intended to go, about 1818,
landing at Wilmington, N. C. Young Judah attended school for three years
at Fayetteville, North Carolina, later attending Yale University,
1825-1827, which he left at the end of the three year period without
taking a degree. The family removed to Charleston, South Carolina, and
after many vicissitudes, during which the father died, settled in New
Orleans, where Judah P. had established himself as a lawyer, becoming
associated with Thomas Slidell, who later became Chief Justice of
Louisiana. His older sister married Abraham Levy in 1826, and his younger
sister became the mother of Julius Kruttschnitt, the railroad manager and
promoter, who was born in New Orleans in 1854. His own mother, Rebecca de
Mondes Benjamin, died there in 1847.
"You see I am interested in history, and a few years ago I made a special
trip to New Orleans to get more light on Judah P. Benjamin's life in
Louisiana, but there is not much to be learned now outside of what has
been originally published in Pierce Butler's 'Biography of Judah P.
Benjamin' and Peter Wiernik's 'History of the Jews in America.'
"It seems from investigation that Judah had a very bad habit of tearing up
all personal letters and comments, so that very few personal documents
have ever been available.
"My son has been most anxious to consult original family records in
Germany, with a view to building a 'family tree' - so to speak, but
conditions there for the past several years have made that an utter
impossibility, and now we may never be able to learn anything from that
end.
"My father, Lazarus Benjamin, came to the United States in the latter
1850's. When people emigrated in those days, they usually had family
connections to whom they could appeal for counsel and assistance until
they became established in their new affiliations. So my father went first
to Charleston where he had an older brother, Simon. Two other brothers
came with him form Germany - Solomon and Ben, who located in the South
Carolina city, but my father, more of a pioneering spirit, came to
Florida, and located in Ocala in 1860, just shortly before the War between
the States.
"He had become an American citizen and when the south seceded, he promptly
enlisted in the Confederate army, serving throughout the war.
"The only letter I ever saw from Judah P. Benjamin was one directed to my
father's brother, regarding his discharge from the Confederate forces. It
was in our possession for some time, but I loaned it to my cousin in
Atlanta, who is a direct descendant of the paroled soldier, and have not
seen it for some years. I do not know if the letter could be located now.
"My father had a continuous residence in Florida from the time he located
in Ocala until he died in the late 1880's. I remember hearing him say that
on his return from the war he staid all night at Joe Beckham's house in
Waldo. Waldo had been a railroad center and quite a town before the war.
Mr. Beckham operated a store there.
"On returning to Ocala he engaged in the trucking business, and Geo.
Munger who used to clerk here in the Duval County Courthouse told me he
checked freight delivered by father to the boat line running from Palatka
to Silver Springs, his first job as a young man just starting out on his
own.
"My father built the first artificial ice plant in Ocala in 1880, and
later installed two more in that section of Florida.
"My brother, Roy, and I were both born in Ocala. We were educated in
Atlanta, Georgia.
"My first trip to Jacksonville was by train in 1888. I was just a little
boy and had on a new pair of shoes, of which I was very proud, so I was
delighted when we got off at the depot - the railroad station at Hogan's
Creek - to see the plank walk that ran up to Bay Street. There were very
few sidewalks here at that time, and I did not relish the idea of
ploughing through the deep sand and spoiling my brand new shoes.
"I located here permanently in 1907, but right after the fire of 1901 I
did considerable work in the restoration of the West Building, the Dyal-Upchurch
Building, and the Gardner Building where the Cohen Brothers Store was.
These buildings were left standing, but had been badly damaged.
"When I established my home here, Jacksonville had a population of about
30,000. The fire was a blessing in disguise, as it really put the town on
its feet, it started taking steps forward and has never stopped. And now
we have the naval air base finally assured; very few people now realize
the magnitude of this project and the asset it will be to Jacksonville.
"While we are talking about disasters, the best thing that ever happened
to the State of Florida generally was the big freeze of 1895. It took
attention away from the 'all-eggs-in-one-basket crop of citrus, and
started the development of the truck and small fruit business, providing
an all the year round income instead of depending on the one crop.
"I remember father telling me when he first came to Ocala that a great
deal of long staple cotton - the Sea Island variety - was raised in that
section. There were big plantations, and the picking and ginning and
shipping of cotton in Alachua and Marion counties was a rather momentous
business. I am glad to see the revival of planting of Sea Island cotton
again in those sections, since the agricultural experts have conquered the
boll weevil.
"Speaking of history, a friend of mine sent me from Connecticut a book
called 'The New Florida, published in 1887, a very good word picture of
Florida in those days, and dwells particularly on the treatment of negroes
in the state, the author, whose name I do not now recall, stating the
black race was well treated, considered in most cases family
responsibilities, and at no time was there visible any such distressing
incidents as dwelt upon by Harriet Beecher Store in her Uncle Tom's Cabin.
I shall be glad to bring, it down to my office where you can get it when
you come back again.
"Another recent interesting article - just published in the May issue of
The Military Engineer - one of the leading engineering publications, is a
seven days diary of a Confederate Soldier on his journey from Petersburg,
Virginia, to the surrender of Lee's Army at Appomatox in 1865. The morale
of the rugged, weary, starving soldiers, had not been broken or undermined
and they were still willing to carry on.
"I have not family papers or documents of importance, but do possess a
muster roll, an original manuscript written in a most legible hand by my
mother's brother, member of a Charleston, South Carolina, regiment. The
Captain's name was Fox, and every name on the roll is Irish. The
interesting part is that the record was kept up to date - it tells the
full name of each enlisted soldier, where he was from, and promotions;
also what became of him, if he was paroled, on sick leave, killed or
captured. My mother gave it to me years ago.
"Fifteen years ago I spoke at a banquet
in Charleston, referring to this muster roll, and Captain Fox was still
living, being present at the dinner. They wanted me to give it to them for
the Charleston Museum, but I did not, although I suppose I should, as it
is really South Carolina history and there is where it belongs.
"What has been my most interesting job? Well, I would not be able to say,
offhand. They are all interesting, some present difficult problems, but
for the most part they are just routine.
"My son, who is also an engineer, expects to have considerable work in the
establishing of the new Naval Air Base. No doubt this will be most
interesting, since this is in line with newer subjects and most modern
construction methods.
"Returning again to historical matters, our family has always understood
that Senator David Yulee and Judah P. Benjamin were cousins through some
relationship of their mothers. Each was born on St. Thomas, Island, in the
West Indies - Yulee in 1810 and Benjamin in 1811 - and it is mere
conjecture as to where the kinship of the two women drew the respective
families together on this British possession at about the same time. The
paternal Yulee was racially Portuguese, whose father, through
participation in Moroccan affairs in an official capacity had been
designated a Prince of the empire. The overthrow of the dynasty forced the
Yulees to flee from Morocco to England and when in the course of time
their son was forced to go into business, the mother insisted on his
assuming her family name of Levy to avoid the loss of caste of a Prince's
son engaged in common trade. So, when David came along, he was known first
as David Levy, later assuming his correct family name of Yulee.
"The Benjamins, so far as we have been able to investigate, have always
been Benjamins - generation after generation - but the switch of the
Yulees to Levy and back again to Yulee has resulted in a slight 'bend' in
the family tree.
"But, as I said before, my son is an indefatigable researcher and ardent
Southerner - he always wants to fight the war of the Confederacy all over
again - and I am in hopes he will have the opportunity at some time to get
the full relationship of the two families straightened out."
May 16, 1939.
Julien Philip Benjamin
Construction and Drainage
Engineer, Machinery
312 Bisbee Bldg.
Jacksonville, Florida.
Rose Shepherd, Writer.
Text from: Library of
Congress, Manuscript Division, WPA Federal Writers' Project Collection
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