Moses Raphael Levy

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Moses Raphael Levy (1665-1728).

Husband of Grace Mears of Spanish Town, Jamaica and a Jewish Merchant in 18th Century New York. He made a vast fortune by investing in Real Estate in New York during the early Colonial period. He was also involved in the Shipping Trade importing Sugar, Rum and Molasses to New York from Jamaica in the West Indies. He married Grace Mears (1694-1740), the daughter and heiress of Jacob Mears, a wealthy Jewish Merchant and Planter of Spanish Town, Jamaica, who owned Mears Estate, a large Sugar Plantation in Clarendon.

From an Oil Painting by Gerardus Duyckinck, c.1720-1728. Collection: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, U.S.A. (Courtesy of Brett Ashmeade-Hawkins, Jamaica Colonial Heritage Society)