DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Dr. Albert Moses Levy. Now, some men drift through history leaving barely a ripple.
Albert Moses Levy was not one of those men. He came over from the Netherlands — a Dutch immigrant arriving in the United States in 1818. He took his time finding his calling, but when he did, he found it properly.
By 1832, he had graduated from medical school, and he set up a medical practice in Richmond, Virginia. That lasted until about 1835, when something pulled him west and south. He left for New Orleans.
And New Orleans, as it turns out, was not his final stop either. In the service of the New Orleans Greys, Levy took on the role of chief surgeon. And here is where the story gets its weight — because December of 1835 brought the Siege of Bexar.
That was not a comfortable place to be a surgeon. That was not a comfortable place to be anyone. But Levy was there, doing the work that needed doing.
After Bexar, he wasn't finished with the fight. He went on to serve aboard the Brutus, in the Texas Navy. A Dutch immigrant who had practiced medicine in Virginia, passed through New Orleans, survived a siege, and then took to sea — under the Texas flag.
Eventually, Albert Moses Levy came ashore for good. He settled in Matagorda, where he married Claudina O. Gervais and made himself a fixture in state and local affairs.
The man had crossed an ocean, crossed a continent, crossed a battle line, and crossed a deck at sea — and he wound up right here in Matagorda County, putting down roots. Not every story ends with a bang. Sometimes the most remarkable men just... stay.
What the marker says
Dutch immigrant Albert Moses Levy came to the United States in 1818. After graduation from medical school in 1832, he practiced medicine in Richmond, Virginia, until about 1835, when he left for New Orleans. In the service of the New Orleans Greys, he served as chief surgeon in the Siege of Bexar (Dec. 1835) and later served on the Brutus in the Texas Navy. Levy settled in Matagorda, where he married Claudina O. Gervais and was active in state and local affairs. (1986)