1855. Levin and other Nativists helped tilt the 1852 Presidential election toward Democrat Franklin Pierce and away from the Whigs' candidate, the popular Mexican–American War leader General Winfield Scott. There were Catholics in Scott's family, and he was accused of papist connections. Levin was an organizing speaker of the first Know-Nothing Party convention in March 1855. Though in notably failing health, he was a featured speaker at the American Order's rally that autumn in a New York City park. Levin was enraged and disgusted by the new Republican Party's nomination of John C. Frémont for President at the convention in Philadelphia in June 1856. He wrote a lengthy diatribe against Frémont, which he delivered at a rally in Philadelphia's National Hall (now Independence Hall) shortly after Millard Fillmore had been nominated by both the Know Nothings and the Whigs. However, Frémont partisans pulled him off the stand. Personal life Levin's exact family tree is difficult to determine. He was the brother of Lipman Theodore (L. T.) Levin, listed in 1861 as a member of the Richland Rifles. L. T.'s funeral in 1892 was attended by his brother, Nathaniel, thus showing Lewis C., L. T., and Nathaniel to be brothers. Levin married Ann Christian Hays (b. 1812) of Virginia and Tennessee in January 1833. Ann was related by marriage to future Tennessee governor and US President James K. Polk (her uncle John Hays was married to Polk's younger sister Ophelia). Ann died a year later, in January 1834. Levin then married a young widow named Julia Ann Gist, née Hammond (1814–1881) in Baltimore. Levin claimed to have met Julia while they were both shopping for tombstones for their late spouses. Levin never hid his religious identity and was self-described as "by descent an Israelite", however he was an advocate for Protestantism and his first marriage was officiated by an Episcopal priest and his second marriage by a Protestant priest. In addition to Julia's daughter from her first marriage, Lewis and Julia Levin had one child, a daughter called Louisa (1840–1919). (It is occasionally reported erroneously that there was a son named Louis.) Insanity and death According to newspaper reports, Levin suffered a complete mental collapse and became so "deranged" that he was placed in the Philadelphia Hospital for the Insane. Newspapers report him being committed on a later occasion in June 1859, after a visit to a brother in Columbia, South