Aaron Levy

Aaron Levy was born in Amsterdam in 1742. He went to America at an early age and settled in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. He engaged in trade with the Indians and furnished supplies to the proprietary government, and, during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), to the colonial army.

In 1778 Levy moved to Lancaster, engaged in land speculations, and soon became one of the largest landed proprietors, owning immense tracts in nearly every county in Pennsylvania. Through the influence of Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution, Levy loaned a large amount of money to the Continental Congress for the purpose of carrying on the war.

In 1779 Levy bought a large tract of land in Center County, Pennsylvania, upon which he laid out the town of Aaronsburg, the earliest town in the county, the plan of which was recorded at Sunbury on Oct. 4, 1786; it is the first town in the United States that was planned by, and named after, a Jew.