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The paternal grandparent of John Gillett, the 

 subject of this sketchy was a native of Connecticut, 

 and married, Nov. 14, 1754, Abigail Hough, and 

 had a family of nine children, of whom Joseph, the 

 father of Captain John Gillett, was born in Connecti- 

 cut also, and in youth removed to near New Lebanon 

 Springs; then settled in Steuben County, then Painted 

 Post, now Corning, previous to his marriage. He 

 was among the very early pioneers of this county. 

 He married Miss Catherine, daughter of Aaron and 

 Catherine Hunt, of Wyoming, N. Y., Sept. 6, 1795. 

 Miss Hunt was born April 20, 1778, and Joseph 

 Gillett was born Dec. 8, 1771. Of this union nine 

 children were born, of whom Captain John was the 

 second son and third child. Captain Joseph was a 

 farmer by occupation. He was one of the promi- 

 nent men of Painted Post ; was magistrate for some 

 fourteen consecutive years, also supervisor of the 

 town. He was a soldier in the war of 181 2, and acted 

 in the capacity of captain. He was wounded in one 

 of the engagements, and was brought home. He 

 died Sept. 29, 1848, and his wife died Oct. 18, 1841. 



Captain John Gillett was born in the old town of 

 Painted Post, four miles from Corning, toward 

 Elmira, Nov. 15, 1801. He lived with his parents 

 until he was about twenty, when he married Miss 

 Betsey Butcher, daughter of George Butcher, of 

 Luzerne Co., Pa., Dec. 14, 1821. John learned the 



gunsmith trade when a boy. Mrs. John Gillett was 

 born Jan. 5, 1794. Of this union of Mr. and Mrs. 

 Gillett eight children were born, viz.: George, Wil- 

 liam, Sarah H., Mary E., Catherine E., George (1st), 

 Joseph, and Rhoda M. Of these, George (1st), 

 Sarah H., Catherine E., and Joseph are dead. Mrs. 

 Gillett died July 18, 1869, and Mr. Gillett married 

 his present wife Sept. 16, 1877. Captain John came 

 into Caton in 1822, and settled May 9, 1823, and 

 is one of the oldest settlers of the town, and is living 

 on the same farm he settled on at that early day. 

 He formerly was a Democrat, but of late years he 

 has been identified with the Republican party. He 

 has been justice of the peace for eight years, and 

 supervisor for one term, and assessor for eight years ; 

 in fact, he has held nearly all the important offices 

 of his town. For more than fifty years he was pilot 

 down the Chemung and Susquehanna, and was con- 

 sidered one of the best on these rivers, but his prin- 

 cipal business has been farming. He still resides 

 on the " Old Home" where he settled in 1823. He 

 has been one of the leading farmers of Caton, and a 

 man highly respected by those who know him. His 

 present wife is a native of New Jersey, and settled in 

 Steuben County in 1851. 



Mr. Gillett's two wives have been members of the 

 Baptist Church, and Mr. Gillett a regular attendant 

 on the same. He was chorister for many years. 



