Peter Lavies or Lavis, Sr. (''c.'' 1790 – ''c.'' 1876) was a German-American farmer, tavernkeeper and sometime moneylender from Root Creek,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, who was

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

there, and served three one-year terms as a Democratic member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

from

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...

. His son Hubert Lavies succeeded him at different times as postmaster, and as Assemblyman. Lavies was born in Niederdrees (now a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of Rheinbach) in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

, around 1790. In 1844 he, his wife Margaret, and their three sons and four daughters came to the Greenfield, Wisconsin area from Prussia, buying eighty acres of land at the intersection of roads which are now Cold Spring Road, South 76th Street, and Forest Home Avenue. In addition to farming, he ran a tavern, was postmaster, and lent money since there were no banks nearby (he charged interest rates from seven to ten percent). By 1864, when his son Hubert Lavies became postmaster of Root Creek, Peter was a widower, and retired. He died at the age of 86 as the result of a fall from a wagon.Roesler, Robert. "Memories of Root Creek" ''Milwaukee History'' Vol 25, Nos. 3 & 4 (Fall-Winter 2002); pp. 58-60

References

1790s births 1870s deaths People from Rheinbach Prussian emigrants to the United States Wisconsin postmasters Farmers from Wisconsin People from Root Creek, Wisconsin 19th-century American legislators Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly {{Wisconsin-WIAssembly-Democratic-stub