Levin, Lewis C. (Lewis Charles), 1808-1860

LEVIN, Lewis Charles, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born in Charleston, S.C., November 10, 1808; was graduated from South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) at Columbia; moved to Woodville, Miss., about 1828 and taught school; studied law; was admitted to the bar and practiced in several States; settled in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1838; one of the founders of the American Party in 1842; editor of the Philadelphia Daily Sun; elected as a candidate of the American Party to the Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Congresses (March 4, 1845-March 3, 1851); chairman, Committee on Engraving (Thirtieth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1850 to the Thirty-second Congress; resumed the practice of law; died in Philadelphia, Pa., March 14, 1860; interment in Laurel Hill Cemetery.

<p>Lewis Charles Levin (November 10, 1808 – March 14, 1860) was an American politician, Know Nothing, and anti-Catholic social activist of the 1840s and 1850s. He served three terms in the United States Congress (U.S. House of Representatives, 1845–51), representing Pennsylvania's 1st District. Levin is considered to have been the first Jewish Congressman, although David Levy Yulee served as a territorial representative from Florida prior to Levin's entering Congress.</p>

<p>Though not Protestant himself, he supported the concept of nativist Americanism supported by northern Protestants ideologically against Catholics. Levin was famous as a political orator and a mouthpiece of xenophobia: he played a leading role in inciting the Nativist Riots of 1844 in Philadelphia, which led to the killing of over 20 Irish Americans, the burning of many of their homes and the destruction of three Catholic churches associated with their community.</p>