Arthur Lumley Levy was the first of ten children born to Joseph and Esther Levy of London. The family moved to New York sometime in the 1820s, and Levy’s youngest siblings were all born there. In 1840, he married Louisa Barnard in London and returned with her to New York. Among the few documents that have survived pertaining to Levy’s life, we find a bill for two seats purchased in Congregation Shaaray Tefila’s new 44th Street synagogue.
