Martha Elizabeth (Taylor) Gillette (1905 - 1993)

Born 4 Feb 1905 in Atlanta, DeKalb, Georgia, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Paul Clifford Gillette — married 31 Oct 1927 in Frankfort, KY

Died 9 Mar 1993 at age 88 in Maui, Hawaii, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Fred Prisley [send private message]

Biography

Life-Saver, World's Fair Draftsman, and Author

Martha was born in 1905 at Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of Edmund Haynes Taylor II and Ann Mary Arnett. ^{[1] [2]}

At the age of 15, she was awarded the Girl Scouts of America Bronze Cross medal for saving the life of a drowning swimmer. ^{[3] [4]} She studied English and art and graduated from Hamilton College in Lexington, Kentucky. She worked for a time with an architect in Louisville and developed skills in drafting, design and printing.

It was during this time period that Martha met her husband-to-be, and she married Paul Clifford Gillette on 31 Oct 1927 in Frankfort, Kentucky. ^{[5] [6]}

By 1930, Martha and Paul resided in New York City ^[7] and from there they took up their shared passion to travel the world. Their first big international trip was an extended cruise of the Caribbean, Central, and South America, about which Martha wrote a detailed account. ^{[8] [9]}

From 1937-1939, Martha worked as the leading draftsman for the 1939 New York World's Fair, planning and laying out the fair's roads and walkways. She was treated as somewhat of a minor celebrity by a Kentucky newspaper because she was a woman doing a "man sized job." ^[10] The New York City newspapers, on the other hand, focused first on how "cute" she was, ^[11] how "fair" she was, ^[12] and how "feminine" she was, ^[13] in the telling of her story as the senior engineering draftsman for planning and specifying the Fair's roads and walkways.

They were still in New York in 1940, ^[14] but not for long, as Martha's husband Paul would become a U.S. Navy Seabee and serve as an engineer in the Pacific, during and after the war.

Martha and Paul took up their world travels again after the war, visiting Manila, Honk Kong, and Japan in 1957-58. ^[15] They returned to Japan in Sep 1958 for Paul's work, which kept them there through Jun 1959, and Martha kept a diary of their time there. ^[16]

After reading Martha's diary of their time in Japan, her friends encouraged her to write a book; ^[17] so she did just that. Martha returned to Japan in 1960 to visit Nagano, Tokyo, and Hakone; ^[18] and her book Nagano, The Alpine Prefecture of Japan, with coauthor Tetsuji Akasofa, was published by the Nagano Sightseeing Association later that year. ^[19] Her book quickly made the Best Sellers list for non-fiction in Apr 1961 and was the subject of a storefront display at a the Honolulu Book Store. ^[20]

A column in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, written about Martha and Paul, mentions that Martha also wrote poetry, ^[21] but none of her poems were included in the papers passed down to her niece Jouett Taylor Prisley.

Martha and Paul had no children. Martha passed away on 09 March 1993 in a nursing home on Maui and is buried with her husband Paul at Maui Veterans Cemetery. ^{[22] [23]}

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVK7-LP8 : accessed 22 July 2018), Martha E Taylor in household of Edward H Taylor, Precinct 22, Hillsborough, Florida, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 33, sheet 18A, family 392, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 161; FHL microfilm 1,374,174.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNYP-Q56 : accessed 22 July 2018), Martha W Taylor in household of Edmond H Taylor, Ballast Point, Hillsborough, Florida, United States; citing ED 34, sheet 15B, line 56, family 403, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 222; FHL microfilm 1,820,222.
3. ↑ "Miss Hough Awards Bronze Cross and Golden Eaglet", a clipping from an unidentified Tampa newspaper, dated May 1920
4. ↑ Girl Scouts of America Bronze Cross medal awarded to Martha Elizabeth Taylor, 1920.
5. ↑ "Kentucky, County Marriages, 1797-1954," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2D4-6LGL : accessed 22 July 2018), Paul C Gillette and Martha C Taylor, 31 Oct 1927; citing Frankfort, Franklin, Kentucky, United States, Madison County Courthouse, Richmond; FHL microfilm 1,843,004.
6. ↑ Wedding announcement clippings, probably from Kentucky or Florida newspapers, on or after 31 Oct 1927
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4K4-TW8 : accessed 22 July 2018), Martha T Gillette in household of Paul C Gillette, Manhattan (Districts 0001-0250), New York, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 63, sheet 15B, line 94, family 434, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1546; FHL microfilm 2,341,281.
8. ↑ Martha's account of their Caribbean Cruise, dated 1936.
9. ↑ "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:242L-WBQ : 12 March 2018), Martha Gillette, 1939; citing Immigration, New York, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
10. ↑ "Martha Arnett (sic) Gillette Does 'Man Sized Job' Planning Intricate Road System For World's Fair---Her Mother from Woodford", undated clipping from The Woodford Sun, presumably 1937-39 time frame.
11. ↑ "Leading Women in the Big Performance of Building a World's Fair on Flushing Meadows", The New York Sun, New York, 19 Oct 1937
12. ↑ "Fairest of the Fair", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, 31 Jan 1938
13. ↑ "Woman Supervises World's Fair Roads", New York Times, page 6D, dated about 1938.
14. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQG1-2VN : accessed 22 July 2018), Martha Gillett in household of Paul C Gillett, Assembly District 2, Queens, New York City, Queens, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 41-196, sheet 5A, line 35, family 126, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2724.
15. ↑ Our Trip, 08 Dec 1957 - 15 Jan 1958, Honolulu - Manila - Hong Kong - Japan - Honolulu, by Martha Taylor Gillette, Jan 1958.
16. ↑ Japan Diary, by Martha Taylor Gillette, 17 Sep 1958 - 04 Jun 1959.
17. ↑ "Why don't you write a book about Japan?", a paper by Martha Taylor Gillette, 11 Sep 1959
18. ↑ Nagano - Tokyo - Hakone, 12-19 Apr 1960, by Martha Taylor Gillette
19. ↑ [https://www.amazon.com/Nagano-Martha-Akasofu-Tetsuji-Gillette/dp/B000UTEGF6 Amazon: Nagano, The Alpine Prefecture of Japan, by Martha Gillette and Tetsuji Akasofa, published by Nagano Sightseeing Association, 1960
20. ↑ Nagano at the Honolulu Book Store, Apr 1961
21. ↑ "Rambling 'Round Maui with Charley Young", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 04 Dec 1961, pg. B15
22. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #117105487 for Martha Elizabeth Taylor Gillette (4 Feb 1905–9 May 1993), citing Maui Veterans Cemetery, Makawao, Maui County, Hawaii, USA; Maintained by Find A Grave (contributor 8).
23. ↑ "Hawaii Obituaries Index, ca. 1980-present," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVPC-J99G : 17 March 2018), Martha Taylor Gillette, 1993; citing Hawaii, United States, The Honolulu Advertiser, The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, The Kauai Garden Island News, The Maui News and The Hawaii Tribune-Herald. Joseph F. Smith Library at Brigham Young University - Hawaii, Laie; FHL microfilm 100,544,970.

See also:

• Memoirs of Sarah McIntosh Taylor, Bradenton, Florida, Feb 1979, transcribed 1995 by Jouett Taylor Prisley with footnotes and illustrations in 2019 by Frederic Arnett Prisley