Levy

Reb Shmuel Levy, tall, blond, bearded with blue eyes was born in 1856 Drohitchin, Belarus (or possibly Antopol, 16 miles to the west).

His father was Abraham (how do I know this? it says “Shmuel son of Abraham” on his tombstone) and his mother Rose (this I am not 100% sure about). He settled in Jerusalem and built a sundial clocktower in the Mahane Yehuda area of Jerusalem in Jaffa Road for the synagogue Zoharei Chama, traveling to the US for long stretches of time to raise money for his project. While in Chicago he got Chicago birth certificates for all of his children. The Sundial building housed the synagogue and a hospital for immigrants. It’s still there and has prayer services throughout the day.

Abraham had four children that we know of: Meyer Levy (1873-1941), who married Sadie Matalowsky and settled in New York, Shmuel Levy (1856-1923) who married Chana Ita Gratz and settled in Jerusalem and traveled back and forth to Chicago, Isak “Ike” Levy (1881-1950) who married Rachel Schwartz and settled in New York, and Golda Levy, whose history is as yet unknown.