| Benjamin Henry Pavy | |
| In office 1910–1936 | |
| Born | October 16, 1874 Coulee Croche St. Landry Parish Louisiana, USA Long-time resident of Opelousas, Louisiana |
|---|---|
| Died | April 19, 1943 (aged 68) |
| Resting place | St. Landry Catholic Church Cemetery in Opelousas |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Ida Veazie Pavy (married 1896-1940, her death) |
| Children | Alfred Veazie Pavy (1899-1979) Albert Lionel Pavy (1902-1986) |
| Residence | Opelousas, Louisiana |
| Occupation | Attorney; Judge |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Benjamin Henry Pavy (October 16, 1874 – April 19, 1943) (pronounced PAH VEE) was a state district court judge in St. Landry and Evangeline parishes, Louisiana, who was gerrymandered out of office in 1936 through the intervention of his political rival, the powerful U.S. Senator Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
Background
Pavy was born in Coulee Croche in St. Landry Parish to Alfred Henry Pavy (died 1908) and the former Laperle Guidry. He was educated in the Opelousas public schools.[1] His brother, Felix Octave Pavy, an Opelousas physician who was a member of the St. Landry Parish Police Jury, the St. Landry Parish School Board, and thereafter the Louisiana House of Representatives, having served from 1932 to 1936, during the time of the administration of Long's gubernatorial successor, Oscar Kelly Allen of Wnnfield in north Louisiana.[2]
On November 4, 1896, Pavy wed the former Ida Veazie (1875-1940) of Opelousas. Their children included three sons, Alfred Veazie Pavy (1899–1979) and the twins Albert Lionel Pavy (1902–1986) and Alfred Dudley Pavy (1902–1930), and four daughters, Yvonne Louise Pavy Weiss Bourgeois (1908–1963), Marie Aline Pavy (1911–1998), Evelyn Laperle Pavy (1904–1974), and Ida Catherine Pavy Boudreaux (1922–2015).[1]
Career
Pavy was employed at the age of seventeen in the parish clerk of court's office. He worked there again when his father was elected as the St. Landry Parish clerk of court. He began his law practice in Opelousas in 1901, after having read law in the office of his future father-in-law, Edward P. Veazie (1850-1916). Pavy was elected as Democrat to the 16th District judgeship in 1910 — at the time there were no Republicans competitive in Louisiana — and served until a change in the district lines caused him not to run again. The new lines placed the anti-Long St. Landry Parish in a revised district with pro-Long voter majorities in Acadia, Lafayette, and Vermilion parishes.[1]
The bitter clash with Huey Long
Pavy is widely believed to be one of the reasons why Huey Long was shot, because shortly before Long died, he had obtained legislative passage of a law changing the configuration of Pavy's judicial district so that it included more Long supporters, a way to defeat Pavy when he ran for reelection in 1936, by which time Long had already been assassinated. One of his sons-in-law, Carl Austin Weiss. Sr., M.D., (1906-1935), was Long's alleged assassin though the Pavy and Weiss families have long disputed that assertion.[1][3]
Elton J. Doucet (1901–1992), younger brother of legendary St. Landry Parish Sheriff Daly Joseph "Cat" Doucet, Sr. (1899-1975), recalled Judge Pavy shortly before Doucet's own death in a 1991 interview: "All the farmers and all the poor people was {sic} for Huey P. Long. The Pavys couldn't get nothing {sic} they wanted from Huey. If he was your friend, he'd help you. If you were his enemy he'd stomp you down."[4]
Huey Long repeated to news reporters an old claim that Edward Veazie had an African American mistress and allegedly warned Judge Pavy that if Pavy continued to oppose him, Long would announce that Pavy's family was tainted with "coffee blood." The charge would also have infuriated the former Yvonne Pavy's husband, Dr. Weiss[5]
Long moved to have Marie Pavy dismissed from her position as a third-grade teacher in Eunice in Evangeline Parish. Marie lived for more than a year with her widowed sister Yvonne Weiss before a change in school administration permitted her to resume her teaching duties. Long also ordered the dismissal of Paul Pavy, another of Ben Pavy's brothers, from his job as the principal of Opelousas High School.[5]
Death at 68
Both Judge and Mrs. Pavy died of cancer some three years apart and are interred at the St. Landry Catholic Church Cemetery in Opelousas.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Pavy, Benjamin Henry. A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (publication of the Louisiana Historical Association), 1988, Vol. 2, p. 635..
- ↑ Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives: St. Landry Parish, 1812-2012. Legis.state.la.us. Retrieved on April 13, 2019.
- ↑ Kingfish's Death: Another Version. Crimelibrary.com. Retrieved on April 13, 2019.
- ↑ "Weiss's Body May Hold Clue". New Orleans Times-Picayune (October 17, 1991). Retrieved on December 15, 2010..
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Carl Weiss. Spartacus Educational. Retrieved on April 13, 2019.
- ↑ Benjamin Henry Pavy obituary, The New Orleans Times=Picayune, April 20, 1943.
See also
- Richard D. White, Jr., Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long (New York: Random House, 2006), pp. 261–262, 264.
- Henry E. Chambers, A History of Louisiana, Vol. 2, p. 377 (Chicago and New York City: American Historical Society, Inc., 1925).
- Donald A. Pavy, Accident and Deception: The Huey Long Shooting (New Iberia, Louisiana: Cajun Publishers, 1999).