GILLETTE, HON. Guy M. - 1914

GILLETTE, HULL, BENDER, JACOBSEN, FREEMAN, PARSHELL

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 7/7/2009 at 01:38:05

HISTORY OF
Cherokee County
IOWA
VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1914
by Thomas McCulla

HON. GUY M. GILLETTE.

Yet a comparatively young man, Hon. Guy M. Gillette has not only become one of the foremost lawyers of Cherokee county, Iowa, but has made himself felt in public affairs, representing at present a senatorial district in the upper house. Moreover, he has served as county and city attorney, giving highly satisfactory service and placing himself in the good graces of the public to such an extent that his election to the state senate resulted, although he is a democrat and his district is overwhelmingly republican. A native of this county, Mr. Gillette was born two miles west of Cherokee on the 3d of February, 1879, and is a son of Mark D. and Mary (Hull) Gillette, the former born in Mendota, La Salle county, Illinois, September 11, 1853, and the latter in Springville, Marion county, Iowa, March 12, 1854. The father was educated in Mendota, Illinois, but in 1871, when he was eighteen years of age, both his family and that of his wife moved to Cherokee county, where the father taught school for one year. He then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, so continuing for two years and moving at the end of that period to Cherokee, where he established himself in business as a furniture dealer, conducting a store for five years. The call of the open, however, brought him back to farming and for the next fifteen years he was successfully engaged along that line, returning at the end of that period to Cherokee with a comfortable competence and engaging in the realestate business for ten years. He also was elected justice of the peace and combined the duties involved in this position with the conduct of his business. He was successful in closing a number of important realty deals and has enjoyed a high reputation for impartiality and a legal understanding seldom found in one not trained and educated in the profession. In 1911 Mr. and Mrs. Mark D. Gillette removed to Steele City, Nebraska, where they now reside, the former having retired from all business cares. His father, Daniel S. Gillette, is also still living and makes his home with his son, Mark D., having reached the remarkable age of ninetyfour years. He is a native of Connecticut. The parents of our subject are members of the Presbyterian church and in his political views the father is a republican and fraternally a member of the Masonic order. In their family were the following children: Delia M., who married Charles Bender, of Crete, Nebraska; Ella, the wife of Richard Jacobsen, of the same city; Guy M.; and Claude S., ensign in the United States navy.

Guy M. Gillette was reared under the care of his father and mother and educated in the public schools of Cherokee, there preparing himself for his professional studies. He then entered the law department of Drake University, graduating with the class of 1900, and in 1901 began to practice in Cherokee, having so continued to the present time. As the years have passed Mr. Gillette has been connected with much important litigation and has been a prominent figure in the courts of the county. His reasoning is logical and he has the rare gift of setting forth his point in such clear and concise language that he is not only understood by men of the legal fraternity but by practically any lay mind which can make a distinction between right and wrong. It is therefore but natural that his arguments should have a powerful influence upon juries and that he has seldom been on the losing side of a case. His legal knowledge has been extended as the years have brought him experience and he is today recognized as one of the foremost lawyers of the county, and his reputation is based upon accomplishment and a thorough understanding of legal and judicial principles. As- has been indicated before, Mr. Gillette has given much time to the interests of the general public, having served in various official capacities. Although a democrat in his political views, a true adherent of democratic principles and an admirer of democratic ideals, he has been called to high public office in a strongly republican district. In 1907 he was elected county attorney of Cherokee county and served as such with conspicuous ability for one term, taking the best of care of all the cases of the people. In 19x19 he was made city attorney, continuing in office until 1911, and in 1912 was elected to the state senate, surely a high place to come to one of his years. The usual republican majority of his district is thirtyfive hundred and it seemed that his election would be entirely out of the question or that a miracle would have to happen to bring it about. The miracle happened and he was elected by one vote.

On the zyth of June, 1907, Senator Gillette was united in marriage to Miss Rose Freeman, a daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth (Parshell) Freeman, of Randolph, Iowa, the former a native of Russia and the latter of Germany.

Senator and Mrs. Gillette are very popular not only in Cherokee society but also in the state capital. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and fraternally is connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Masons. At present he is worshipful master of the lodge at Cherokee and has served as grand marshal of the Iowa Masonic lodges. An interesting military chapter in his life record covers ten years in the Iowa National Guard, in which he enlisted in 1893 as a private for service in Company M, Fourth Regiment, the company being stationed at Cherokee. He served in the ranks for five years, or until the SpanishAmerican war, when he was mustered into the volunteer service, his company being made a part of the Fiftysecond Iowa Volunteers. He rose to the rank of sergeant, being for one year on active duty, at the end of which time he was honorably discharged. He then organized Company M, Fifty-sixth Iowa Regiment, in the year 1909 and for three years served as captain, resigning in 1912. He fully recognizes the importance of the state troops and their mission in time of peace during riots or other unlocked for situations and in time of war as the first bodies of men to fall back upon in replenishing United States forces. Senator Gillette besides his extensive law practice gives some time to the insurance business and has built up a valuable patronage along that line. He is as considerate of the interests of others as he is of his own and gives the best that is in him as readily to the general welfare as to his own interests. He has made use of his time to good purpose in gaining a position of importance but he has at heart as much the interests of the public and particularly of his constituents. Although he is young in the senate his ability has already been recognized and he is listened to with attention in committee rooms and on the floor. In his public duties, in his private life and during his military career he gave and gives an example of true patriotism and loyal American citizenship.