James Norris Gillett was an American lawyer and politician.
15 Facts About James Gillett
2.
James Gillett was born in Viroqua, Wisconsin, on September 20,1860.
3.
In 1881, James Gillett was admitted to the Wisconsin Bar and began a law practice in Sparta shortly afterwards.
4.
Once in Eureka, James Gillett joined the state militia as a private in the Eureka Guard Company in 1885.
5.
In 1890, James Gillett became the Eureka City Attorney, holding the position until 1895.
6.
James Gillett successfully defended his seat again in the 1904 elections.
7.
James Gillett included within his agenda the expansion of harbors, especially in the case of the Port of San Francisco following the 1906 firestorm, to keep up with the state's expanding commerce and ongoing population boom.
8.
James Gillett pushed bills through the Legislature to create state measures assisting federal food safety laws, particularly for the expanding fruit and California wine industries.
9.
James Gillett's governorship remained continually marred with controversy due to his Republican nomination by party machine business interests.
10.
Indeed, while in office, James Gillett appealed to the railroads to not levy excessive charges on shipping companies and municipalities, yet still warmly welcomed their economic and political presence in the state.
11.
Privately it is believed that his wife, Isabella, did not want James Gillett to continue the governorship.
12.
From 1916 to 1920, James Gillett worked in Washington, DC, as an attorney and lobbyist for the San Francisco-based Associated Oil Company and the Oil Industry Association.
13.
James Gillett's lobbying in the US Congress helped secure passage of the Oil Leasing Bill in 1920, which pertained to leases in the naval petroleum reserves.
14.
James Gillett would go on to represent many oil industry companies and individuals in oil lease matters.
15.
James Gillett died April 20,1937, in Berkeley at the age of 76.