Document text
mAy lb. 1939.
JUlion Philip manjmain
uonstruotion and prain-
*Age sugineere maJhinery
312 misbee
Jauksonvi lle noritit.
NOos Aephord. writor.
MIA PHILIP is:iNJ,YIN
he,. aaked about hi relationship to the famous Judah ehilip
balljAmill, member of Jeffmrplon Davis' uabinet of the ,:onfed-
erauy, mr. Benjamin said:
"4boat third or fourth csoueins a little too far baok
to brag about but it is true that hie great-grandfather
'aid m riat-great grandfather were brothers. my great -groat
grundfmther vai3 4/Judah menjamin, and there have alealys been
Judahs, Jaliens, and rhilipe among the boys of the family.
our forebears %ere Jarman Jews.
"Judah Y. Oohjamin's father bent to :ingland und from
there to the Wain indims. His name was khilip Benjamin,
bon. ,.tout 1782. His mother was Hebeooa de menden Benjamin,
and thei emigrated from London, ;ngland, to et. Thomas, British
Yost ndies, in 1808, shortly after their marriage. Judah
was born there Lagnet Gio 1811, in the town of st. uroix. There
w49 un elder brother, uharles, and two sisters younger. The
sonjamine mcved to the united :$tates, %hero they had originally
intended to go, about 1818, landing at,wilmington, B. O.
Young Judah attended sohool for three years at Yayetteville,
north oarolina, later ttending Yale Univareity, 182181827,
which he Left at the end of the three year period without tak-
inz a degree. The family removed to uharl)ston, zoath uarolima,
and after many vioissitudes, during vhich the futhsr died, set-
tled in New urleane, %here Judah O. had established himself
25992
Julion Y. benjellith 2.
ats a lawyer, V000ming assoolatod vith Thomas 611(1811, who
later beoamo Uhief Justioe of Louisiana. mis oldor sister
married A.braham Levy in 1826, and his younger sister beeams
the mother of Julius Xruttsohnitt, the railroad managor and
promoter, who w:J.e born in new urloans in 1864. His own
mother, aeb000a de mendes OOLiamill, died thlra in 1047.
"You soe I am interested in hiPtory, ami a few years
ago i made a opeoial trip to now vrloans to get olore light
on Judah P. oonjamin's life in Louisiana, but there is not
muah to be laurned now.outsido of what ham boon originally
published in Hero, sutler's 'Hiograpb4 of Judah e. oenjamin,
and :ester oiarnik's 'History of the acme in merica.'
"It seems from investigation that Judah had a very bad
habit of tearing up all personal lettors and oommonts, so that
vary few personal documents have over been available.
"My son has been most anxious to oonsult original family
reoords in gormany, vith a view to building a 'family tree'
so to sneak, but o-gditions there for the past sovoral years
halm mde that an utter impossibility, and now *a mai novas
be atla to learn anytinT Irom that end.
goy father, Lazarus oonjamin, coma to the united otates
in the latter 18bOle. Than reopla emigrii.ted those days,
they usually htbd family oonneetions to whom theyeoul& ap-
peal for ,:.:ounsel and aaolotanoe until the4 became established
in their now affilibtiens. my father went lirst 60
uhurleston her he d an alder brother, oion. Two other
brothers awn° with him teem oermany :4)lomon and WM, who
Julien r. kenjamin
;:loaated in the couth uarolina aity, but saw futher, more of
a ploneoring spirit, ,ume to Florida, and located -in void* in
18GO, just flhortly beforo the war betraen the, state*.
"He had become an Amerioan (attain andwhon tho loath
*seeded, he promptly enlists& in the confederate army, serving
throughout the war.
"The only letter I ever saw from Judah r. benAmin ws
one direoted to my father's brother, regarding his disaharge
from the ccnfodorate forces*. It was in Our Dossession for
sow) time, Lut I loaned it to my aousin in Ltlanta, sho is
a direat desceildant of lhe paroled moldier, and have not
seen it for dome years. i to not knot if tha latter eelliel
be locatod now.
"ay father had continuous resideaue in rloridu from
the time ho looated Int/a/Ala until ho died in the ULU, 1880's.
i remember hearing him say th4t on hie roturn from the ear
he staid all night ut Joe neOkham's house in wade. wuldo
had boon u railroai oentor and quite u town tefore the war.
neokham onorated a store there.
"on roturning to Gaul& he eniuged in the truaking business,
and Oeo.munger who used to clerk hero in the uuvul county
courthouse told ma he ()hocked frei4it delivored by futhor to
tha boat line running from tqaatk“ to bilver t rings, his
firvt job as young man just starting cct on his •wn.
"my father built the first artifioial is plant in Ocala
in 1880, and luter installed two more in that section of
Florida.
"MY brother, day, and I were both born in Ooala. We
Julteu P. boniest* 4.
were educated in Atlanta, Ueorgia.
"MY first trip to Jacksonville Wail by train in 1888.
I was net a little boy and had on a new pair of shoes, of
which i. was very proud, so 1 was delighted when we got off
at the depot the railroad station at Hogan's Cr3ek to
sac the plank walk that run up to Buy ftreet. There were
vor;;, :tow sidewalks h4re at that time, arJi I did not relic, the
idea of ploughin„r throu h the deep sandaM poiling my brand
shoes.
"I located here permanently in 1907, but ri,rht after the
fire of 1901 1 ill ri olAddlruble work in the restoration of
the West Baildi.g, the nyal-Upohurch Building, and the lurdner
Building wi't tha uohen Brothers tore was. These buildings
wore left atanling, bat had been badly ftumuled.
"V hex astablished my home h)re, Jacksonville had a
population of about 30,000. The firs ray. a blessing in diaguisi,
aS it raaLly put tha town on it f:let, it started taking steps
forward And has nov4r stopped. And now we huve the naval air
b4,4441 finally assured; vog7 few p4onle now realize the magnitude
of this orojeot aLd the asset it rill be to Jac vonville.
vie are talking iLL011t disasters, tho beet thing
that lvirt happeeed to the :Auto of Florida generally way the
big freeze of 189g. It took attention away from the 'all-
e;gs-in-one-baskat* crop of citrus, and started the development
of the truok axle, small fruit business. ProvidinR an all the
yqur round income instead of depending on the one crop.
"I renumber father telling me when he first Jame to
Ocala that a ;reat deal of long staple cotton the 6ea
Island variety wl.is raised in that oection. There were
Julien P. BAUJAMia
vig Taantations, and the pioking and ginning and shipping
of cotton in Alsohuu and marion oounties we a rather memento's).
business. I am glad to see the revival of planting of ;e44
Ielatid cotton again in those seotions, since the ugrioultural
experts huve conquered the boll weevil..
,46peaking of history, a friend of mine sant ma irom
Conneotiout u book called '?he New Florida published in
1887, a very goOd word pioture of Ploridu in those duys,
and dwells particularly on tho treutment of'negrooe in thfl
state, the uuthor, whose name I do not no reaull, stutilw
the black row,' *um well treated, oconeidered in most oases
family responsibilities, und ut no time W48 thero visible
uny suoh distressing incidents us dwelt Up= by Hurrist
Beeeher :Acorn in hit Uncle Tom's Cabin. I shill be glud
to bring it down to my officio eihr,re you clan get it When you
UOM4 (Jack again.
",inother re.::ent intsreating urtiole :ust published in
the may issuo of The Military Ruineor one of the leading
engineering publications, is u seven duys diu.rw of u Confedor-
ate Soldier on hid journey from Petersburg, Virginia, to the
surrender of La' s c,irLy ut ,-ppomatoi in 188b. The morale of
the rug.ged, weary, starving soldiere, 11(4 not teen broken or
undormined &cad thy viere still willin3 to carry on.
"1 have not fumily papers or documents of importance, but
do poesees u muster roll, an original manuseript written in
m most legible hand =Maim by my mother's brother, member cf
charleston, 5outh Oarolina, regiment. The Oaptuin a Inane'
was 'ox, and overy uume on ti roll is Irish. The interesting
part is that the reword was kept up to date it tells the full
tali= P. Benjamin 6.
name of email enlisted soldier, whore he was from, alai promo-
tioloot„ also what boutame Ci: him, if no vitae paroled, on slat
leave, killed or captured. 14 moth_ r gave it to Lir) *a' ago.
”Ipiit,ren years &Ago i ipoe ut a banquet in tlharleaton,
referring to this muster roll, and ut.ptain lox was still living,
being present at th4 ditutor. They wuntod me to Kiva it to
them l'or the uharleston JellUGUDI, but did not, although I
all»pot30 I should, the it is really L'Iouth C;arolina history and
%bora Ili Wki0S1, it belongs.
"What has loan al most intereeting job? cil, I would
not be aele to eaw, offittnxi. Thew ..re all interesting, HOMO
present diffioult problem'', but for U) most part they are
just routine.
"Hy eon, vOu; ...8 eafg.naer, expote to have con-
eid:)rablo ..,,ork in thi establiehihg c.t t.) /Ow Bto/41. iSu0e.
Io ioubt 11 bo moat interaeting, sines this is in line
newer killbjeots a.nd molt modern 00.110ruution mothode.
ilietaruing afriAin to hiotorical matters, our family has
eVm a underotooct that onator Davia Yule* and Judah P. Benja-
min wore Jotjn througi- some relationship or their =there.
:iauh wu!! been on t. Thomas, island, in 1. he west Indies
Yule° in 1810 uhd itehjamin in 1811 and it is mere conjecture
as to whither the kinship o two wol:-..en drew the reereative
faMili3d togethor on this Britiroh 71Oodeasion at a•uout the same
time. Tho paternal xulee was rucialiw .7ortuguese, whose .f4tAer,
through partioipaLion in ;toroacan affairs in an oirloial oallo-
ity had been designated. Prinoe or the empire. The overthrow
of the dynasty foreed the luleee to flee from nor0000 to Itigland
Julien 1). SOnimmis
T.
M&1 vhec n thn aouree of time their son *us forued to go
into business, the mother insksted on him assuming har family
nama of Levy to avoid tho loos of aaste oi prinoeis son
Ingaged in aonmon trade. Sd, wham David (same low, Le was
knorn firmt au David Lnvy, litter assuming his aorreot family
num,' of Yulni.
"Th njamine, ao far 444 vo have Loon able to inveti-
gatn,hava alvtaws beer. onnjamine generation alter genera-
tion but thn usitah of an yulnee to bevy and buck aain.
to Yana has rovulted in a slight 'band' in the fuwiletre
"But, as I maid boforo, my man iu un in4efatigable
research,* ard an ardent aoutherner he always Punts to
fight ihi war of the L;onfederaay all ovar again and I am
in hones ha will hays the orportuLit t ofrie ti ma to gat
thi full ralationshin of thn to familiae straightened out.1