Uriah Phillips Levy and Jefferson Monroe Levy were members of one of the most accomplished and notable Jewish-American families. The first family member to come to the New World was Diogo Nunes Riberio. Known as Dr. Samuel Nunez, he was a Portuguese-born physician who escaped the Spanish Inquisition and brought his family to America with a group of other Jews from London. They were among the founders of the Georgia colony in 1733.

What follows is an abbreviated, five-generation family genealogy of the Nunez, Phillips and Levy families:

Diogo Nunes Riberio (Anglecized to: Dr. Samuel Nunez) (1668-)
married Gracia (Rebecca) De Siquera (1678, Portugal -?)
Arrived Savannah, Georgia, July 11, 1733
Seven children: including Maria Caetana (Zipporah) born 1714 in Portugal

Maria Caetana (Zipporah) Nunez (1714 -1799, Phila.)
married Rev. David Mendes Machado (born 1695 in Portugal; died 1747, N.Y.C.) in 1733
Two daughters: first born Rebecca Machado, born Nov. 21, 1746, Reading, Pa.

Jonas Phillips (1735-1803) born in Busek, Germany,
arrived in Charlteston, S.C. in 1756;
married Rebecca Machado (Nunez) (1746-1831) in 1762 near Phila.
Children: 21, Including twins Sarah and Rachel, born May 23, 1769

Michael Levy (1755-1812) married Rachel Phillips (1769-1839) June 1787 in Philadelphia
Children: 10 survived infancy, including Uriah Phillips (April 22, 1792-March 22, 1862), Frances (Fanny) (1804-1857), Jonas Phillips (1807-1883)
Uriah Levy married Virginia Lopez (Sept. 25, 1835, Kingston, Jamaica-May 3, 1925), the daughter of his sister, Frances.

Jonas Philips Levy married Frances (Fanny) Mitchell, Nov. 22, 1848
Children: Four, including Jefferson Monroe April 15, 1852 (N.Y.C.)-March 6, 1924 (N.Y.C.)