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Dickinson (JACOB MC GAVOCK an American)
JACOB MC GAVOCK, an American public official, born in Columbus, Miss., in 1851. He graduated from the University of Nashville in 1871 and studied law at the Columbia University and at foreign universities. He was admitted to the bar in 1874 and from that date until 1899 practiced law in Nashville, Tenn. From 1899 to 1909 he was engaged in practice in Chicago. He was appointed assistant attorney general of the United States in 1895, serving until 1897. In 1903 he was counsel for the United States before the Alaskan Boundary Tribunal. He was on the legal staff of the Illinois Central Railroad Company from 1889 to 1909. He was appointed Secretary of War by President Taft in 1909, serving until 1911, when he resigned. In 1907 and 1908 he was president of the American Bar Association. During the World War he was honorary president of the Chicago Branch of the National Security League.