John Boyd Avis

John Boyd Avis (July 11, 1875 – January 21, 1944) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Education and career Avis was born in Deerfield, New Jersey, the son of a New Jersey assemblyman, and the great-great grandson of a Revolutionary War soldier who had fought at Valley Forge. He read law from 1890 to 1894 with John S. Mitchell and from 1897 to 1898 with David O. Watkins in Woodbury, New Jersey. Avis married Minnie G. Anderson on September 27, 1899. In 1900, he and Watkins became partners, and the partnership lasted until 1907, from which time Avis practiced alone until his appointment to the bench in 1929. Avis was a Republican member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1902 to 1905, serving as the Speaker from 1904 to 1905. He was a member of the New Jersey Senate from 1906 to 1908. In 1912, he attended the Republican National Convention, where he was a delegate for Theodore Roosevelt.