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[This information is from Vol. III, pp. 1039-1041 of Hudson-Mohawk Genealogical and Family Memoirs, edited by Cuyler Reynolds (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1911). It is in the Reference collection of the Schenectady County Public Library at R 929.1 R45. Some of the formatting of the original, especially in lists of descendants, may have been altered slightly for ease of reading.]
The family name of Gavit, or Gavet, as it is sometimes to be found in old records, is derived from the title of a town in Savoy or Dauphiny named Gavet, a French province.
The first of the name to come to America was Phillipe Gavet. He is supposed to have been born on the Island of Guernsey, May 2, 1631, and he emigrated to this country about 1650. The earliest record shows that he married, at Marblehead, Massachusetts, September 6, 1681, Hannah Macchone, who died at Salem, Massachusetts, December 1, 1713, Phillipe being still alive at that date. There is a letter in existence, in his handwriting, telling of her death. It is thought he was a carpenter. Children:
Whether the Albany family is descended from John Gavit and Mary Carter, or Joseph Gavit and Susanna Carwick, is a matter of uncertainty, there being no absolute record, and the date of birth of a son, John, of Joseph and Susanna, and of John, grandson of John Gavit and Mary Carter, being so nearly alike, that it is impossible to state, absolutely, which is the correct one.
(III) Joseph, son of John and Mary (Carter) Gavit, was born at Salem, Massachusetts, August 4, 1723. He married, February 28, 1750, Lucy, daughter of Job and Rebecca (Diamond) Cressy, of Beverly, Massachusetts, she was baptized November 30, 1727. They had seven children.
(IV) John (2), eldest son of Joseph and Lucy (Cressy) Gavit, was baptized November 7, 1756, at Salem, Massachusetts. He had been apprenticed to an uncle at Salem, from whom he ran away to be a drummer boy in the revolution. Receiving his discharge near Marlboro, he took up his residence there. He married, March 9, 1777, a Miss (Catherine?) Bloomer, at Marlboro, and it is believed he died in New York. They had a son, named Joseph Bloomer Gavit, see forward.
(V) Joseph Bloomer, son of John (2) and Catherine (Bloomer) Gavit, was born in 1782, died in New York City in 1822. He married, in 1814, Eliza Brown, the latter marrying for her second husband, William Edmands, of New York City. Children:
(VI) John Edmands, son of Joseph Bloomer and Eliza (Brown) Gavit, was born in New York City, October 25, 1817, died there August 25, 1874. He became very prominent as an engraver, and founded the firm of Gavit & Company, of Albany, New York, in 1842. About 1863 he removed to New York City, where he was the principal organizer of the American Bank Note Company, of which he was the president at the time of his death. He was a foremost member and enthusiastic spirit of the old American Institute, devoted to and progressing its field of usefulness. He married, November 28, 1840, Margaret Sophia, born June 11, 1819, died in New York City, April 23, 1902, daughter of Dr. Gain and Chloe (Bradish) Robinson. Through her line the recent generations of the Gavit family traces descent to the "Mayflower." Children:
(VII) Joseph, son of John Edmands and Margaret Sophia (Robinson) Gavit, was born in Albany, New York, December 22, 1842, died in New York City, May 14, 1887. He received his education at Scramm's school, Sand Lake, New York, where he also taught for a time. In 1863, upon his father's departure for New York City, he took up the engraving business of Gavit & Cowell, in 1910 known as Gavit & Company, in which he continued to the time of his death. He was well known as a singer, being for many years the tenor soloist at the Cathedral of All Saints, and was a charter member as well as organizer of the Schubert Club. He was a member of the Albany Zouave Cadets, of which he became third lieutenant, after serving for a time as commissary-sergeant of the Tenth Regiment, National Guard Society of New York. He was also a prominent and energetic member of the old Albany Protectives, of which he was president at the time of the disbandment of the organization. He invented and put into operation in the Protectives' headquarters in Albany the first device by which the stroke of the gong unhitched the steamer horses and instantly released the doors. He was a lifelong Republican, and at one time an enthusiastic member of the Albany Yacht Club, sailing on its cruises in the "Quickstep."
Joseph Gavit married, at Albany, October 10, 1867, Fanny Breese Palmer, born at Albany, September 9, 1848, and was living there, No. 5 La Fayette street, in 1910, daughter of Erastus Dow and Mary Jane (Seamans) Palmer. Children, born at Albany:
Erastus Dow Palmer, father of Fanny B. (Palmer) Gavit, was born in Pompey, Onondaga county, New York, April 2, 1817, died in Albany, March 9, 1904, having attained world-wide prominence as a sculptor. He attended the school in his native village until eleven years of age, when he began work as a carpenter and joiner, which occupation he continued until he was twenty-nine years old, when he turned his attention to cameo cutting. The first cameo made by him was one showing the head of his wife, which, with tools made by himself, he cut on a bit of shell. He removed to Albany in 1846, where he carved more than a hundred of these on the order of friends and a great number of persons of prominence, as shown by the accurate record kept by him. The first piece of sculpture created by him was the "Infant Ceres," executed in 1852. He then commenced making portrait busts of well-known local individuals, and from that was led into making full figures, both in life and heroic size. His statue of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, heroic size, stands in the Hall of Representatives in the National Capitol; the "Angel of the Sepulchre" was completed April 29, 1868, for the lot of General Robert Lenox Banks in the Albany Rural cemetery, and has been greatly admired. His statue, "The White Captive," was given the place of honor as one of the four gracing the corners of the entrance rotunda of the Metropolitan Museum, of Art in New York; his "Night" and "Morning," bas-reliefs. were commended at the Centennial celebration in 1876, as was also his "Faith" and "Indian Girl Contemplating a Crucifix," and the "Sleeping Peri" and several others are widely-known representations of his skill. He married (first) in 1839, Matilda Alton, born at Dunkirk in 1819, died there August 17, 1840. Married (second), August 17, 1843, at Utica, New York, Mary Jane, daughter of James Easterbrooks and Hannah (Cook) Seamans; she was born October 11, 1826, and was living at No. 5 La Fayette street, Albany, in 1910.
(VIII) Erastus Palmer, son of Joseph and Fanny Breese (Palmer) Gavit, was born in Albany, New York, July 22, 1872. He attended the Albany Boys' Academy, the city schools and the Albany high school. The following year he became connected with the car accounting department of the Delaware & Hudson railroad, continuing in that position for eleven years. In 1891 he became secretary to State Architect Heins, with office in the Capitol, which position he occupied until in July, 1904, when he was elected secretary and treasurer of the Municipal Gas Company of Albany. In politics he is a Republican. He is a member of the Fort Orange Club, of the Albany Country Club and Albany Club of his native city. He married, at West End, New Jersey, September 24, 1901, Flora Myers, born at Albany, daughter of Anthony N. and Marcia Ann (Myers) Brady. Children, born in Albany:
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