Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Mrs. Nathan Gillett

Female Bef 1617 - 1671  (> 54 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Mrs. Nathan Gillett 
    Born Bef 1617  of, , England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Died 21/21 Feb 1670/1  Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I2177  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Family Nathan Gillett,   b. Abt 1611, of Kingstone, Somerset, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 15 Sep 1689, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 78 years) 
    Married Bef 1639  of Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F1295  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. "The American Genealogist," No. 223, Vol. 56, No. 3, July 1980, Article "Nathan Gillett's Earlier Descendants," by George E. McCracken:
      "All writers on the Gillett family listed in our recent bibliography (TAG 55:170) are unanimous in stating that Jonathan Gillett had with him in Windsor, Connecticut, a brother named Nathan Gillett, yet the great majority of them, having once mentioned Nathan, drop him like a hot potato, and the few exceptions give brief and faulty accounts of him. It is therefore high time that some attention be given Jonathan's earlier descendants.
      Before 1641 Nathan had by powers of attorney made some conveyance to his father, the Rev. William Gyllett, rector of Chaffcombe, Somersetshire, as indicated in the father's will. Whether he came to America with his brother Jonathan, either on the first trip or the second, is not certain, but Nathan was made a freeman of Massachusetts Bay in 1634 and by 1635 he had removed to Connecticut where he lived at Windsor, serving in the Pequot War in 1637, for which service he received in 1671 a grant of 50 acres (Connecticut Colonial Records 2:161).
      His wife was so shy that her name has not been recorded, though she was above 50 in 1667 when a patient of John Winthrop (TAG 23:126), and her name is not stated by Matthew Grant when he listed her children, nor when she died in Windsor on 21 Feb 1670/1. Some have claimed her name was Elizabeth but we have seen no evidence of this.
      Following the death of his wife, Nathan moved to the new settlement of Simsbury, but his death on 15 Sept. 1689 was recorded at Windsor but not at Simsbury..."

      2. The publication "Search for the Passengers of the "Mary & John" 1630," by Burton W. Spear (Toledo, OH; The Mary & John Clearing House, 1989-2004), 1:33-34:
      "NATHAN GILLETT-b. England, d. 5 Sept. 1689, Windsor, Conn. m. ___, a. 1637, who d. 21 Feb. 1670, Simsbury, Conn.
      Nathan Gillett was the younger brother of Jonathan and son of Rev. William Gillett, Rector of Chaffcombe, Somerset in 1609. It has been claimed that Nathan came on the "Mary & John" in 1630, but he may have accompanied Jonathan in 1634 when he returned with his bride in 1634. In his father's will in 1641, it was mentioned that land in England was turned over to Nathan by a letter of attorney. Nathan first settled in Dorchester, Mass. where he became a freeman in 1635. He served in the Pequot War in 1637, for which he received land in 1671. He moved to Windsor and finally to Simsbury, Conn.
      Nine children (1639-1657) (TAG 56:129), 25 grandchildren, and 56 great-grandchildren identified.
      Children:
      1. Elizabeth Gillett-b. 6 Oct. 1639, d. after 1697. m. Nicholas Gozzard, Jr., a. 1671, who d. 3 Aug. 1692, Simsbury, Conn., s. of Nicholas Gozzard. Res: Simsbury. Three children (1672-1682), and 12 grandchildren.
      2. Abiah Gillett-b. 22 Aug. 1641, Windsor, Conn. m. (1) Isiah Bartlett, 3 Dec. 1663, Windsor (1641-1665), s. of John Bartlett of Windsor. m. (2) John Slater, 15 July 1669, Windsor, who d. 13 May 1713, Simsbury. (Savage and Stiles calls him Slaughter). Res: Simsbury, Conn. One child by first husband (1664), and one by second (1669) (TAG 56:131), and 4 grandchildren.
      3. Child-d. 1646, Windsor.
      4. Rebecca Gillett-b. 14 June 1646, Windsor, d. 13 July 1655.
      5. Elias Gillett-bpt. 1 July 1649, Windsor. m. (1) Sarah Griffin, 29 Oct. 1676 (b. 1654), dau. of John Girffin & Hannah Bancroft. m. (2) Rebecca Kelsey, dau. of Mark Kelsey & Rebecca Hoskins (Hoskins #3), and widow of Nathaniel Messenger. Estate: 18 pounds, 1732. Four children by first wife (1678-1685), and one by second (1700) (TAG 56:131), and 14 grandchildren.
      6. Sarah Gillett-b. 13 July 1651, Windsor, Conn. m. Eleazer Hill, 29 Dec. 1679, Simsbury, who d. 3 Mar. 1724, Windsor. There was an Eleazer Hill (b. 1657), s. of Luke Hill & Mary Hoyt, who moved from Windsor to Simsbury in 1669. Four children (1681-1694) (TAG 56:132), and 3 grandchildren.
      7. Benjamin Gillett-b. 29 Aug. 1653, Windsor. d. 13 July 1655, Windsor, same day as his sister Rebecca, age 13.
      8. Nathan Gillett, Jr.-b. 17 Apr. 1655, Windsor, d. 30 Jan. 1757, Windsor. m. Rebecca Owen, 36 June 1692, Windsor (b. 1666), dau. of John Owen & Rebecca Wade. History of Windsor mistakenly, says he m. (2) Hannah Buckland, but she m. his nephew, Nathan Gillett (b. 1683), s. of Elias Gillett (#5 above). Four children (1693-1701) (TAG 56:133), and 15 grandchildren.
      9. Rebecca Gillett-b. 8 Dec. 1657, Windsor, d. before 1698. m. Thomas Whaples, Jr. (1656-1713), s. of Thomas & Margery Whaples of Hartford. He m. (2) Mary ___. Seven children (1684-1691) (TAG 56:134), and 8 grandchildren.
      References:
      NER 100:272 (Gillett Ancestry).
      TAG July 1980, p. 180 (Descendants).
      Gillette Families, Some of the Descendants of Jonathan & Nathan Gillett, by Barton Ezra Gillett, 1955."

      MARRIAGE:
      1. From the book "New England Marriages Prior to 1700," p. 304 for the Gillett family: "Gillet, Nathan (-1689) & ?? (-1670-1); b. 1639; Windsor, CT." [Probable mistake: b. 1639 should be m. 1639.]

      DEATH:
      Manuscript from the Windsor CT. Historical Society Library of Jay Mack Holbrook entitled "Conn. Colonists - Windsor 1635-1703" has the following listings for Gillets. I am not sure what the references refer to, but they appear to be a compilation of mentioned names in original sources. I have rearranged the entries to be chronological rather than alphabetical as presented by the book compiler:
      Gillet, Nathan Sr.; death, 15 Sep 1689; WEL898:57.
      Gillet, Nathan's Wife; death, 1670; CHS930:83.
      Gillet, Nathan's Wife; death, 21 Feb 1671; WIN638:44.
      Gillet, Nathan's Wife; death, 21 Feb 1671; WEL898:22.