Joseph Andrew GAVAGAN, Congress, NY (1892-1968)

GAVAGAN, Joseph Andrew, a Representative from New York; born in New York City August 20, 1892; attended the public and parochial schools; was graduated from the law department of Fordham University, New York City in 1920; during the First World War enlisted as a private and later was promoted to second lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps and served from August 20, 1917, to October 13, 1919; first lieutenant in the Quartermaster Reserve Corps 1920-1925; was admitted to the bar in 1920 and commenced practice in New York City; member of the State assembly 1923-1929; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Royal H. Weller; reelected to the Seventy-second and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from November 5, 1929, until December 30, 1943, when he resigned, having been elected a justice of the New York Supreme Court in November 1943 for a fourteen-year term; chairman, Committee on Elections No. 2 (Seventy-second through Seventy-sixth Congresses), Committee on War Claims (Seventy-seventh and Seventy-eighth Congresses); reelected in 1957 for a second term as a justice; died in Bennington, Vt., October 18, 1968; interment in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, N.Y.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present