BIOGRAPHY

SAMUEL GILLETT - OF STAFFORD, NY

Gillett, Samuel, was born in Orange County, N. Y., August 6, 1823, a son of Isaac and Eleanor (Vail) Gillett, natives of Orange County, N. Y., of which the family were pioneers. The maternal grandfather, Benjamin Vail, was a captain in the Indian wars and was killed at the battle of Minnesa. Isaac and Eleanor Gillett came to the town of Stafford, Genesee County, in the spring of 1844, purchased a farm and lived there until their death; they had six children, three of whom are living. Isaac Gillett died in 1867. Samuel Gillett was educated at Montgomery and Chester Academies; he taught school for several winters, beginning when sixteen years of age; the first winter he taught for $13 per month. He has been engaged in farming for many years, owning sixty acres where he resides, having sold several hundred acres; he has also been engaged in other business, being interested in a hardware store in Sioux City, Iowa. He has been supervisor of the town several years and was president of the Le Roy Academic Institute for a number of years; has been assessor and highway commissioner, and has been prominent in nearly all public affairs and is a valued citizen. Although now seventy-five years of age, he is yet quite active. On February 16, 1848, Mr. Gillett married Susan Board; they have eleven children living. Mr. and Mrs. Gillett celebrated their golden wedding in 1898, there being present all their children and twenty-five grandchildren, and Mrs. Gillett's sister and her husband who stood up at the wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Gillett are members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he has been an elder for many years.

Source: Our County and its people, A descriptive work on Genesee County, New York, Edited by: F. W. Beers, J.W. Vose & Co., Publishers, Syracuse, N. Y. 1890