Author: Gary Lane Gillette
Jonathan Gillett was approximately twenty-five (25) years of age in the year 1630, when along with his younger brother Nathan, they traveled to the new world. The brothers were but 2, of the 140 passengers, on the ship named “the Mary and John”, which was the lead ship, full of folks who would form the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It is believed that both brothers left England, like many others, because they felt strongly that their civil and religious liberties were unavailable at home. Like most that migrated to the new world, Jonathan was an indentured servant, and according to the town records, it wasn’t until May of 1635 that he became a “Freeman”. After Jonathan became a “Freeman”, he and his family migrated to Dorchester, Mass, and then sometime in 1636, they moved on to Windsor, Conn. There is a monument in Windsor today that recognizes the “founding fathers” of the city. Jonathan Gillett’s name is on that monument.

Aaron Gillett was the great grandson of Jonathan Gillett. Aaron was one of 11 children and lived most of his life in Colchester, Conn. He was born on 23 May 1732 in Colchester, and died on 14 Jun 1786 in Colchester. He’s buried in the Colchester Burying Grounds. Aaron was married to Anna Pratt on 31 Mar 1757 in the First Congregational Church in Colchester by Rev Ephraim Little. Like most folks in those days, Aaron was a farmer, just trying to survive.

Then, on 26 Apr 1775, a special order was issued by the General Assembly of the Governor and Company of the Colony of Connecticut. This order enacted that “one forth part” of their Militia be “forthwith lifted, equipped and assembled for the Special Defense and Safety” of the Colony. Although many of the Colony’s residents had already been participating in the Revolutionary War efforts for many years prior to this order, the Order made things official for the Colony.

In the order they defined payment for the volunteers. They described it as “encouragement for the able bodied and effected men”. A regular volunteer would receive Fifty Two Shillings and each Sergeant would receive Fifty Eight Shillings. Plus, if you bring your own “Arms…with a good bayonet and Cartouch-Box” (a box of cartridges) you would receive an additional ten Shillings.

There’s not much written about Aaron Gillett’s Revolutionary War service. Records however, show that he served as a Private, under Captain Frier’s Company, in Colonel Erastus Wolcott’s Regiment in Boston, Mass in 1776. He also served as a Private in Lt. Charles Seymour’s Company in the Militia Regiments in June of 1776 and again in Captain Roger Grant’s Regiment in 1778. It also appears that he served for a period of time as a Private under Captains Abner Prior and Boswell Grant, and then also under Colonel Thomas Belden.

In the National Archives, “Revolutionary War Rolls 1775 – 1783”, it shows in the 5 Jul 1778 Muster Roll of Captain R. Grant’s Company, in Colonel Roger Enos’ Regiment of the Continental State Troops, that Aaron Gillett was “sick in camp” on that day. However, on a later Roll, on the same date, he’s listed as “on duty”.

After the war, Aaron returned to Colchester to live out his life. There, he and his wife Anna would raise eleven (11) children (five boys and six girls). One of these sons (Ely) would also go on to serve in the military.