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Guide to the James Norris Gillett Collection, 1880-1971
Part I: 1076-1108 Part II: 1109-1110 Part III: 1111  
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Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Administrative Information
  • Access Points
  • Contents
  • Biography
  • Correspondents
  • Material Transferred from the Collection

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: James Norris Gillett Collection,
    Date (inclusive): 1880-1971
    Box Number: Part I: 1076-1108

    Part II: 1109-1110

    Part III: 1111
    Creator: Gillett family
    Extent: 36 boxes
    Repository: California State Library
    Sacramento, California
    Language: English.

    Administrative Information

    Access

    Unrestricted.

    Conditions of Use

    Please credit California State Library.

    Publication Rights

    Copyright has not been assigned to California State Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing. Permission for publication is given on behalf of California State Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], James Norris Gillett Collection, California State Library.

    Access Points

    Aeronautics--California
    Irrigation districts--California
    Petroleum industry and trade
    Petroleum law and legislation
    United States--Politics and government
    California--Politics and government--1850-1950
    Gillett, James Norris, 1860-1937

    Contents

    Correspondence relating to family and social life, business, political matters and law practice. Legal and business papers, ephemera, unidentified and non-California photographs, diaries, scrapbook, poetry and miscellaneous personal papers.

    Biography

    James Norris Gillett was born in Viroqua, Wisconsin, September 20, 1860 to Cyrus F. Gillett and Sarah Jane Norris. He graduated from high school in Sparta, Wisconsin. He was admitted to the Wisconsin Bar in 1881. He came west, first to Montana, then Washington and in 1884 to California. He opened a law practice in Eureka. He became Eureka City Attorney in 1890. He was later elected State Senator, 1896, Congressman, 1902 and 1904, and Governor of California, 1906. He served as Governor 1907-1911, after which he retired from politics to enter law practice in San Francisco.
    As an attorney he handled a wide variety of cases large and small. He spent most of the years 1916 to 1920 in Washington as attorney and lobbyist for the Associated Oil Company and the Oil Industry Association. He was instrumental in securing passage of the Oil Leasing Bill in 1920, which pertained to leases in the naval petroleum reserves. He subsequently represented many oil industry companies and individuals in oil lease matters. In the 1920s he also completed over twenty years' work in obtaining compensation for the owners and crews of sailing vessels seized by the United States government in the Bering Sea between 1886 and 1894. Mr. Gillett retired from law practice in 1929, but began a new practice in 1934 in Oakland in partnership with his son, James, Jr. He died April 20, 1937.
    Mr. Gillett married first Adelaide Pratt in 1886. They had three children, Effie, Ethel and Horace. His first wife died in 1896. In 1898 he married Isabella Erzgraber. They had one son, James, Jr., born in 1901.
    James N. Gillett, Jr., who was Senior Referee of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board in Sacramento, died in 1964. His widow, Gwendolen died in 1971.

    Correspondents

    Major Correspondents

    Part I:

    • James Norris Gillett
    • Bank Of Eureka
    • Barnett, John T.
    • Bell, William J.
    • Dodds, C. B.
    • Gillett, Effie
    • Gillett, Ethel
    • Gillett, James Norris, 1860-1937
    • Gillett, James Norris, Jr.
    • Harriman, Henry R.
    • Johnson, Hiram, 1866-1945
    • Matson, William
    • Pearsall, Clarence Eugene, 1863-1928
    • Preble, E. A.
    • Richardson, Friend W.
    • Roberts, Guy
    • San Francisco Fly Casting Club
    • Sherman, Moses H.
    • Shortridge, Samuel Morgan, b. 1861
    • White, Harry
    • Whitehorn, James
    • Wilson, Rufus R.

    Other Correspondents

    Part I:

    • James Norris Gillett
    • Ach, Henry
    • Aitken, A. D.
    • Aitken, L. L.
    • Alameda County Title Insurance Company
    • Alisky, C. W.
    • Allen, C. J.
    • American Bar Association
    • American Law Book Company
    • American Legion Endowment Fund
    • Amweg, Frederick J.
    • Anderson, F. A.
    • Andreasen, F. W.
    • Andrews, Nora B.
    • Anglo-American Exposition
    • Anglo & London Paris National Bank (San Francisco, Calif.)
    • Anglo London Paris Company
    • "Anon De Plume"
    • Anonymous
    • Armentrout, Sue
    • Armstrong, Allen H.
    • Arneson, Nils
    • Associated Sportsmen of California
    • Astronomical Society of the Pacific
    • Atherstone, Thomas S.
    • Auto Clearing House
    • Backus, Samuel
    • Bair, E. L.
    • Baldwin & Stetson
    • Ball, J. H.
    • Bancroft-Whitney Company
    • Bank of Italy
    • Barbour, Henry
    • Barnes, C. E.
    • Barrett, Paul
    • Barrett, W. J.
    • Barrows, David Prescott, 1873-1954
    • Bartlett, James W.
    • Bartlett, Louis
    • Bausman, Frederick
    • Bayless, W. S.
    • Beckwith, F. W.
    • Bedford, L. E.
    • Belcher Abstract & Title Co.
    • Bennett, William S.
    • Berkeley Chamber of Commerce
    • Berkeley High School
    • Bertram, Edward A.
    • Bircher, D. O. (Mrs.)
    • Blockinger, E. A.
    • Bohemian Club (San Francisco, Calif.)
    • Bonner, E. C.
    • Bontz, Helen
    • Bontz, L. E.
    • Bowman, Carrie
    • Bowman, R. H.
    • Boy Scouts of America
    • Bradford, Charles F.
    • Branstetter, L. P.
    • Bridges, H. J.
    • Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison
    • Bronson, Roy A.
    • Broussard, E. S.
    • Brown, Alice
    • Brown, Frank L.
    • Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co.
    • Buena Vista Oil Company
    • Burdett, Robert J.
    • Burdick, E. G.
    • Burgess, Robert Noble, 1878-.
    • Burgess, W. C
    • Burke, Hugh M.
    • Burleson, C. M.
    • Burman, John
    • Burnham, Clark
    • Burns, Rodney
    • Buskirk, J. W.
    • Butler, John
    • "C"
    • Calhoun, C. C.
    • California Almond Growers Exchange
    • California. Board of Medical Examiners
    • California. Dept. of Investments.
    • California. Dept. of State.
    • California Development Board
    • California. Highway Commission.
    • California National Bank
    • California. National Grange.
    • California Optical Company
    • California Painting and Decorating Co.
    • California. State Board of Bar Examiners.
    • California. State Prison at San Quentin.
    • Californians Inc.
    • Campbell, J. C.
    • Campbell, James H.
    • Campbell, Sterling
    • Campe, George
    • Cannon, Joseph
    • Canon City, Colorado Senior High School Debate Association
    • Carlin, Keith
    • Carson, J. M.
    • Cashman, W. E.
    • Cavagnaro, Henry A.
    • Chadwick, Edward W.
    • Chamberlain, May, Denby and Webster
    • Chandler, Harry
    • Chandler, William E.
    • Charles A. Davis & Co.
    • Chesebro, H. E.
    • Chessher, H. B.
    • Civic League of Improvement Clubs and Associations of San Francisco
    • Clark, E. T.
    • Clark, Fred P.
    • Clements, F. W.
    • Collier, D. C.
    • Commercial Law League of America
    • Commonwealth Club of America
    • Compton, H. T.
    • Condon & Phelps
    • Connelley, Anna D.
    • Consaul, Charles F.
    • Coonan, J. F.
    • Coonan, J. F., Mrs.
    • Cooper, Elizabeth
    • Corbitt, Willis E.
    • Creeley, Edward J.
    • Crocker, William H.
    • Crothers, George Edward, 1870 -
    • Cryan, James
    • Curry, Charles Forrest, 1858-1930
    • Curtis, Jesse William, 1865-
    • Cutler, F. A.
    • Cutler, T. B.
    • Cutten, Charles P.
    • Cyrus Peirce & Company
    • Damon, E. C.
    • Darling, C. H.
    • Davison, M. M.
    • Dawson, Clyde
    • DeArmour, D. A.
    • Dean Witter & Co.
    • Decarli, M. C.
    • Del Ray, Ed.
    • Del Ray, Gertrud
    • Deneen, Gov. Charles
    • Dennison, W. E.
    • Dickinson, Agnes Goodwin
    • Dietrick, James
    • Dines, Thomas A.
    • Dinkelspiel, Henry G. W.
    • Dixon, Robert V.
    • Dr. Nathan Tucker Asthma Specific
    • Dollar, Robert, 1844-1932
    • Dorais, L. P.
    • Dorrance, C. E.
    • Down Town Association (San Francisco, Calif.)
    • Downey, Stephen W.
    • Downing, Warwick
    • Dowsey, James L.
    • Drobisch, Walter E.
    • Duisenberg, Walter
    • Dulany, H. Rozier
    • Dunlap, Frank E.
    • Dunn, Kate B.
    • Dunn, W. H.
    • Durgin, T. E.
    • East Bay Water Company
    • Elks (Fraternal order). Oakland Lodge No. 171 (Calif.)
    • Ellis (?)
    • Ellis, F. E.
    • Ellis, W. R.
    • Elviage, R. T.
    • Emmons, E. A.
    • Erzgraber, Therese
    • Esch, John
    • Eureka Chamber of Commerce
    • Eureka Guard Company "A"
    • F., W. W., Mrs.
    • Farrington, E.
    • Federal Mutual Liability Insurance Company
    • Ferrari, B., Mrs.
    • Fidelity and Deposit Company
    • Finger, H. J.
    • First National Bank of Eureka
    • First National Bank of Pleasanton
    • Fisher, C. A.
    • Fitzhugh, William M.
    • Flaherty, Thomas
    • Flanigan, Mollie
    • Flint, M. H.
    • Foley, Daniel J.
    • Foltz, Clara Shortridge
    • "A former admirer"
    • Foster, Harry W.
    • Free, A. M.
    • Funston, Frederick, 1865-1917
    • Gates, Ida B.
    • Georgeson, F. W.
    • Gibbs, A. W. J.
    • Gill, Joseph S.
    • Gillett, Bruce
    • Gillett, F. A.
    • Gillett, F. L.
    • Gillett, H. K.
    • Gillett, I. W.
    • Gillett, Isabella
    • Gillett, L. C.
    • Gillett, Louis H.
    • Gillett, T. R.
    • Gillett, Thomas Wayman
    • Glynn, Theresa C.
    • Goode, M. H.
    • Goodwin, Henry P.
    • Gosslin, William G.
    • Grandi, F. L.
    • Graves, C. W.
    • Green, Charles E.
    • Green, Lyman
    • Griffiths, W. B.
    • Gunther, Robert
    • H. H. Buhne Co.
    • Hadley, J. A., Dr.
    • Hadsell, Dan
    • Hall, A.
    • Hall, Josephine A.
    • Halsey, T. N.
    • Hammond, A. B.
    • Hanson, D. W.
    • Harding, Warren G., Senator
    • Harper, H. T.
    • Harrington, D. M.
    • Harrington, John Lyle
    • Harrison, Gregory A.
    • Hart, James
    • Haskell, Arnold
    • Hastings Clothing Co.
    • Hatfield, George J.
    • Hathaway, W. L.
    • Hatton, George
    • Hayes, E. A.
    • Hayes, J. O.
    • Hayes Street Improvement (Eureka, Calif.)
    • Helmke, F. M.
    • Henderson, F. B.
    • Henry, John L.
    • Henshaw, Frederick William, d.1929
    • Herbst, Edward
    • Herrick, Frank
    • Herrick, Samuel
    • Herrin, William F. (William Frandlin), 1854-1927
    • Hersch and McNulty
    • Hettman, Walter E.
    • Hill, Louise T.
    • Hill, W. W.
    • Hinrichs, H. Stanley
    • Hodge, Clare
    • Hofius, J. C., Mrs.
    • Holmes Collection Agency
    • Hook, George H.
    • Horst, E. Clemems
    • Howard, John C.
    • Hubbard, C. B.
    • Humboldt County Clerk
    • Humboldt Fish and Game Club
    • Humboldt Times
    • Hunter, F. Donald
    • Hunter, G. W.
    • Hutchinson, G. D.
    • J. R. Mason & Co.
    • Jenks, E. A.
    • John Smallwood Typewriting and Mimeographing
    • Johnsen, A. J.
    • Johnson, George C.
    • Johnson, George W.
    • Jones, Edgar
    • Jones, F. M., Mrs.
    • Jordan, Frank
    • Juster and Baird
    • Kahn, Florence P.
    • Kaplan, J.
    • Keeling, Herbert V.
    • Kehoe, William
    • Key System Transit Company (Oakland. Calif.)
    • Kiesel, Fred W.
    • Kildale, L. B.
    • Killingsworth, W. M.
    • Knight, Charles E.
    • Knowland, Joseph Russell, 1873-1966
    • Kountz, WilliamH.
    • L., F. B. (?)
    • Lamberson & Lamberson
    • Landis, J. B., Judge
    • Lea, Clarence F.
    • League of Loyal Americans
    • Leeds, Walter R.
    • Leonard, F. A.
    • Leeper, L. V.
    • Levasseur, William H.
    • Lincoln Highway Association
    • Lindley, Hervey
    • Lineberger, Walter F.
    • Longworth, Nicholas
    • Loomis, Francis B.
    • Lord-Hanson Co.
    • Los Angeles County Sheriff
    • Louderback, Harold
    • Lund, George N.
    • Lurie, Louise N.
    • Lutgens, Harry
    • Lyders, Eric
    • Lynch, Ruth
    • McBean, William
    • McCauley, T. N.
    • McConaghy, W. J.
    • McCormick, Charles R.
    • McDonough, Peter
    • McDonough, Thomas
    • Mace, Delos A.
    • McGowan, Blaine
    • McGowan, Frank
    • McLachlan, James, 1852-
    • McLaughlin, Charles E.
    • McMechan, John
    • McNab, J.
    • McNeil, B. N.
    • McPike, H. H.
    • Madden, Martin B.
    • Madeley, Fred Y.
    • Madison, F. D.
    • Magell, J. R., Mrs.
    • Mahan, L. E.
    • Martin, Lou
    • Maryland Casualty Company
    • Mathews, P. W.
    • Matson Navigation Company
    • Mays, Edwin
    • Meadows, C. W.
    • Meckel, Albert C.
    • Mellman, Fred B.
    • Mills, Susan B.
    • Minor, T. H.
    • Miocene Oil Company
    • Mockel, C. V.
    • Monroe, A. J.
    • Monson, Walter
    • Moore, W. S.
    • Moran, Nathan
    • Morgan, L. C.
    • Morris-Noble Co.
    • Morrow, William W., 1843-1929
    • Moseley, D. W.
    • Motion Picture Utility Corporation
    • Municipal Railway Carmen's Annual Ball
    • Murphy, James L.
    • Murphy, Neal
    • Murray, George D.
    • Nason, Arthur G.
    • National Cyclopedia of American Biography
    • National Geographic Society (U. S.)
    • National Highways Association
    • National Reclamation Conference
    • National United Americans
    • Nelson, H. C.
    • New York Life Insurance Company
    • Newell, Albert
    • Newton, Phillip
    • Nickerson, J. C.
    • Nixon, Cora J.
    • Norris, Clair
    • Norris, Gertrude
    • Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
    • Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company
    • "Noted Californians"
    • Nuzum, George W.
    • Nyce, Peter Q.
    • Oster, Frank F.
    • O'Sullivan, Charles
    • Oxnard, Henry
    • Pacific Coast Advertising Men's Association
    • Pacific Finance Corporation
    • Paine, Archie
    • Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.)
    • Parke, E.
    • Paskus, Martin
    • Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company
    • Perkins, George C. (George Clement), 1839-1923
    • Pettengill-Merryman Co.
    • Peveler, J. R.
    • Phares, Clifford
    • Phillips, E.
    • Pinkham, Charles B.
    • Pioneer Furniture Store
    • Pittman, Key
    • Plummer, J. A.
    • Poindexter, Miles, 1868-1946
    • Pollak, A.
    • Pratt, James W.
    • Prevatt, Preston
    • Proir, D. H.
    • Puter, L. F.
    • Quill, Harry
    • Quinn, John F. (Dunsmuir, 1907)
    • Quinn, John F. (Eureka, 1934)
    • Ralston, Lillian
    • Ralston, William Chapman, 1826-1875
    • Rathbone, E. J.
    • Raymond, Albert, 1864-
    • Recorder Printing and Publishing Company
    • Redwood Empire Association
    • Reeder, Bertha
    • Reid, John S.
    • Republican National Committee (U. S.)
    • Rhodes Scholarships
    • Rice, Jennie Pickett
    • Rice, R. H.
    • Richards, R. A.
    • Ricks, H. L.
    • Riggs National Bank of Washington D. C.
    • Ritter, J. K.
    • Robbins, Lloyd McCullough, 1875-1955
    • Rolph, James, 1869-1934
    • Ronsaville, May
    • Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
    • Root, Elizabeth Jane
    • Root, John M.
    • Ross, Ida M.
    • Ryan, Pierce H.
    • Sabin, Mary E.
    • Sacramento Chamber of Commerce
    • Sage, W. A.
    • Salvation Army
    • San Francisco-Alameda County Bridge Commission
    • San Francisco Art Leather Company
    • San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
    • San Francisco chronicle
    • San Francisco Tax Collector's Office
    • Sanborn, Lamoreux & Party
    • Sanders, Everett
    • Savings Bank of Humboldt County
    • Schreiner, C. T.
    • Schuyler, Karl C.
    • Scott, George W.
    • Searl, Albert
    • Sequoia Union High School
    • Sespe Light and Power and Company
    • Shepard, A. D.
    • Sherman, James S.
    • Short, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1862-1920
    • Short, John Douglas
    • Shoup, Paul, 1874-1946
    • Silva, Maude
    • Sisemore, L. C.
    • Slump, C. B.
    • Smith, Crowder
    • Smith, Fred
    • Smith, Samuel C.
    • Smith, William A.
    • Solinsky, F. J.
    • Sonntag, Charles P.
    • Soule, C. P.
    • Spradling, J. W.
    • Spurrier, S. M.
    • Spurrier, W. W.
    • Stabel, F.
    • Standish, Miles
    • Staton, P. A.
    • Steen, Mabel
    • Steinhauer, May
    • Stewart S. Lowery & Co.
    • Stiles, Ben A.
    • Stoddard, A. H.
    • Storey, H. M.
    • Stratton, F. S.
    • Stutchul, Ken
    • Studebaker Bros. Company of California
    • Sturm, Joseph
    • Swan, Floyd G.
    • Swan, H. N.
    • Swan, Lydia
    • Swing, Phil D.
    • Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930
    • Terry, Wallace T.
    • Thomas, A. L.
    • Thomas, William
    • Thompson, Frank
    • Thorp, H. P.
    • Tibby, B. W.
    • Tindolf, Wiley
    • Tisdale, Charles L.
    • Trollness, H. T.
    • Tyrell, John R.
    • Underwood, Oscar Wilder, 1862-1929
    • Union Safe Deposit Bank
    • United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
    • United Spanish War Veterans
    • United States. Dept. of Justice.
    • United States. General Land Office.
    • United States. Government Printing Office.
    • United States. Office of the United States Attorney Southern District of California.
    • United States. Shipping Board.
    • United States. Treasury Dept.
    • United States. War Department.
    • United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company
    • University of California, Berkeley. Associated Students.
    • Utah Oil Refinery Company
    • Van Fleet, William C.
    • Van Velser, Leroy W.
    • Veale, R. R.
    • Voorheis, E. C.
    • Waggoner, W. W.
    • Waite, George W.
    • Walker, A. Lincoln
    • Wallace & Ames
    • Ward, Willis C.
    • Warne, J. T. B.
    • Waste, William Harrison, 1868-
    • Watson, James E.
    • Watterson, W. W.
    • "A well-wisher"
    • Wells, Sam
    • Wells Fargo Bank & Union Trust Company
    • Western Union Telegraph Company
    • Wheeler, Minerva
    • Wheeler, W. R.
    • Whitaker, George E.
    • Whitney, Parker
    • Wm. Cavalier & Co.
    • Willis, W. G.
    • Wilson, E. W.
    • Wilson, Frank S.
    • Wilson, Horace
    • Winter, George.
    • Wisconsin State Society
    • Woodman, S. M. M., Mrs.
    • Woodworth, Marshall B.
    • Woolery, M. D.
    • Worthly, Gerald L.
    • Wright, Howard E.
    • Yates, Richard
    • Young, C. C.

    Part II:

    • James N. Gillett, Jr.
    • Allen, Bruce
    • Brown, Edmund G. (Edmund Gerald), 1905-
    • California. State Prison at San Quentin. Dept. of Education
    • California. State Prison at San Quentin. Furniture Dept.
    • Cook, W. Coburn
    • Dickinson, Phillip P.
    • Engle, Claire, 1911-1964
    • Gros, Robert
    • Hatfield, George J.
    • Library of Congress. Copyright Office
    • Mulvany, Robert F.
    • North, Hart
    • Oakland Junior Chamber of Commerce
    • Overland monthly (San Francisco, Calif. : 1868)
    • Peterson, Emmett J.
    • Shugart, Howard E.
    • Smithsonian Institution. Astrophysical Observatory
    • Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology
    • United States. Atomic Energy Commission
    • University of California. College of Letters and Sciences.
    • University of California. Office of the Chancellor.
    • Warren, Earl, 1891-1974

    Part III:

    • Gwendolen Gillett (Mrs. James N. Gillett, Jr.)
    • Blair, Roy W.
    • Bursch, James Frederick, 1894-
    • California. State Library
    • Carter, Joseph L.
    • Chandler, Norman
    • Citizens for a Residence for California Governors
    • Copley, James S.
    • Dirksen, Everett S.
    • Finch, Robert H., 1925-
    • Grunsky, Donald L.
    • Ketchum, William M.
    • Knight, Goodwin, 1896-1970
    • Kuchel, Thomas H.
    • Library of Congress. Copyright Office.
    • Lobner, Kneeland
    • McClure, Richard N.
    • Mathews, Francis B.
    • Moore, Celia
    • Motion Picture Alliance
    • Mrak, E. M. (Emil Marcel), 1901-
    • Munger, Bob
    • Murphy, George, 1902-
    • Nichols, E. E.
    • Nixon, Edward
    • Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-
    • Reed, Carlyle
    • Schrade, Jack
    • Schultz, W. A.
    • Stevens, Bob
    • Tarnowsky, E. R.
    • Torrance, Calif. Office of the City Clerk.
    • United States. Office of Student and Youth Affairs.
    • University of California, Davis. Library.

    Material Transferred from the Collection

    • 1 account book, photographs, sample periodicals, scrapbook, specimen newspapers