Jim Leavy

For several years I believed he spelled his last name, Levy. I knew he was born in Dublin, Ireland but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be Jewish. And, Levy is a Jewish name. It turns out his name was actually spelled Leavy and he wasn’t Jewish. But he was a good man with a gun and is one of the most overlooked in western history. I did a quick check on the Internet and nearly everything on him says he was Jewish.

Historian Erik Wright writes, “The early life of James H. Leavy is riddled with mystery. His last name is often misspelled “Levy,” but letters he wrote and legal documents show the addition of an “a.” He was born in Ireland, probably in 1842, and though he was likely Catholic, much of Leavy’s modern legend as a shootist rests upon the fact he was thought to be Jewish (no evidence has turned up to support this claim).”

Jim Leavy was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1842. His name was often misspelled Levy and this has led some to believe he was Jewish. Leavy is an Irish name it comes up as a derivative of Dunleavy or Dunlevy, recognizably Irish and from the Gaelic.