Scope and Contents:
This collection contains photostats of letters from Peter Lavis of Milwaukee, Wisc., to his wife and family. The letters, written in German, discuss the Know-Nothing movement and Lavis's service in the Wisconsin legislature, 1854-56.
The Wisconsin Historical Society holds a duplicate set of these letters For the context of this correspondence, see Joseph Schafer, "Know-Nothingism in Wisconsin," Wisconsin Magazine of History, 8:1 (Sept. 1924), 3-21.