Lake County IN Archives Biographies.....Gavit, Frank N. 1864 - 
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Author: T. H. Ball (1904)

FRANK N. GAVIT.

    It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of a state lies not in its
machinery of government nor even in its institutions, but in the sterling
qualities of its individual citizens, in their capacity for high and unselfish
effort and their devotion to the public good. Regarded as a citizen, Frank N.
Gavit belongs to that public spirited, useful and helpful type of man whose
ambitions and desires are centered and directed in those channels through which
flow the greatest and most permanent good to the greatest number, and it is,
therefore, consistent with the purpose and plan of this work that his record be
given among those of the representative men of the state. He is now an attorney
of Whiting, and his ability classes him with the prominent representatives of
the bar in northwestern Indiana. He has been connected with much important
litigation as the representative of private interests, and he was also a
defender of Whitings interests in its contests with Hammond. In this way he has
become widely known, and his efforts in behalf of the city of his residence were
untiring, effective and beneficial.

    Mr. Gavit was born in Walsingham, Ontario, Canada, on the 21st of October,
1864, and comes of a family of Irish lineage. Several generations ago
representatives of the name left Ireland for the new world, becoming residents
of the United States. The paternal grandfather, Albert M. Gavit, was born in New
London, Connecticut, and was a farmer by occupation, following that pursuit
throughout his entire life in order to provide for his family. His son, Albert
A. Gavit, father of Mr. Gavit, was also a native of New London, Connecticut, and
there spent his boyhood days. When a young man, however, he accompanied his
parents on their removal to Canada. He had been reared to the occupation of
farming and also made it his life work. Leaving the Dominion he went to Oakland
county, Michigan, where he resided for five years, and then took up his abode in
Saginaw county, Michigan, where he still makes his home. He was united in
marriage to Miss Bridget Highland, who is a native of Ireland and was brought to
America in early girlhood. Mr. and Mrs. Albert Gavit occupy a pleasant home in
Michigan, and the father is now sixty-eight years of age, while the mother has
reached the age of sixty-one years. They were the parents of ten children, eight
sons and two daughters, and five of the number are now living.

    Frank N. Gavit, the second child and second son of the family, was seven
years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal from Canada to
Michigan. He was educated in the common schools of that state and in the
Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, where he was graduated. His
literary course being completed, he then determined to make the practice of law
his life work and entered the law department of the Northwestern University at
Evanston, Illinois, being but twenty-four years of age when he was graduated
there. He located for practice in Saginaw, Michigan, where he remained for about
two and a half years, and then came to Whiting in 1892. Here he has resided
continuously since and has won some notable successes at the bar. He has enjoyed
a large private practice and has also served as city attorney and as deputy
prosecuting attorney. He is attorney for the two banks of Whiting and stands
to-day as one of the strongest representatives of the Lake county bar, being a
strong advocate before the jury and concise in his appeals before the court. He
is notable among lawyers for the wide research and provident care with which he
prepares his cases. In no instance has his reading been confined to the
limitations of the question at issue, and his logical grasp of facts and
principles and of the law applicable to them has been another potent element in
his success, while his remarkable clearness of expression and adequate and
precise diction enables him to make others understand not only the salient
points of his argument but his every fine gradation in meaning.

    In politics Mr. Gavit is a stanch and unfaltering Republican, and was
nominated on that ticket for supreme judge in 1896, but lost by a fraction of a
delegate vote and in 1900 by two delegate votes. At a meeting of the bar of Lake
county he was endorsed by the bar for the position of circuit judge to succeed
Judge Fulett. He was at one time candidate for mayor of Whiting and was defeated
by only two votes. Mr. Gavit drew up the incorporation papers for the town of
Whiting and afterward incorporated it as a city, and he has represented Whiting
in all of the litigations between this place and Hammond.

    In 1893 Mr. Gavit was married to Miss Minnie Tweedy, a daughter of David and
Susan (Baxter) Tweedy. Mrs. Gavit was born, reared and educated in Saginaw,
Michigan, and this marriage has been blessed with two children who are yet
living, Albert and Ruth. Fraternally Mr. Gavit is a Mason and has attained the
Knight Templar degree. As a lawyer and progressive citizen he is well known, and
Whiting has profited by his efforts in her behalf.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF
Genealogy and Biography
OF
LAKE COUNTY, INDIANA,
WITH A COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY 
1834—1904

A Record of the Achievements of Its People in the Making of a Commonwealth and
the Founding of a Nation.

REV. T. H. BALL
OF CROWN POINT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO   NEW YORK
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1904

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