Gillett, Orville, 1832-1914

Orville Gillett (last name also found as Gillet and Gillette) was born on 23 Dec. 1832, in Lewiston, N.Y., the son of Orville Gillet, Sr., and Chastine Harendon. He enlisted as a corporal in Company I, 3rd Michigan Cavalry, on 10 Sept. 1861. He re-enlisted in the same unit at Denmark, Mich., in Feb. 1864. In May of that year he was posted to Arkansas as an ordnance clerk and was stationed at Duvalls Bluff and Huntersville. On 12 Nov. 1864 he was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the newly organized 3rd Arkansas Cavalry. He was assigned to Company G and placed in charge of its ordnance stores at Lewisburg in Conway County. Gillett served in Arkansas until the close of the war and was discharged on 30 June 1865 at Lewisburg. On 29 June 1865 he married Julia Ann Ducas in Lewisburg. After the war Gillett returned to Michigan, where he lived until 1907, when he moved his family to Little Rock, Ark. Gillett died there on 30 Oct. 1914 and is buried in National Cemetery.