Frank Gary was born in Cokesbury, South Carolina in 1860. He attended Union College in Schenectady, New York and was tutored in the law by his brother, Eugene B. Gary. He was admitted to the Bar in 1882 and practiced in Abbeville.
He married Maria Lee Evans of Florence in 1897 and, upon his death, left one son, Frank B. Gary, Jr., of the Columbia Bar.
A superior public servant as Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives, he also served as a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1895; as a United States Senator, serving out the unexpired term of Senator A.C. Latimer; and as a Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit from 1912 until his death.
His outstanding contributions were patience, fairness, courtesy and knowledge of the law. These attributes were the hallmarks of his service as a judge.
A golden-hearted man of whom it was fitly said “by birth, education and refinement, he was a gentleman.”