Joseph Gillett

Joseph Gillett, Jr. (November 20, 1664 - July 9, 1745) was an early settler of West Hartford. He arrived to the region in 1694 and established his home on one of the sections of land south of Park Road to Farmington. He was an original member of the Congregational Church of West Hartford in 1713 and the earliest West Hartford ancestor of the Gillett family. His grandson, Jonathan Gillett, was a prisoner of war during the American Revolutionary War.

Life and Death
Joseph Gillett, Jr. was born on November 20, 1664 in the Hartford area to Joseph Gillett, Sr. and Elizabeth Hawkes. He married Mary Griswold and settled in West Hartford in 1694, establishing his home south of Park Road. Years later, he was a signer of the petition in 1710 that requested a West Division of Hartford. In that year, the population of what would later become West Hartford was 164 people. He served in the military, probably as an officer in the local militia or in the defense of his colony.

He died on July 9, 1745 and left his children:
 * Joseph Gillett III (1693-1764) - father of Asa Gillett
 * Jonathan Gillett (1696 -1714) - m. Mehitable Dickinson, father of Jonathan Gillett
 * Mary Gillett (1699-1786) - m. Caleb Andrews
 * Esther Gillett (1701-1753) - m. Nathaniel Bancroft
 * Hannah Gillett (b. 1702) - m. Nodiah Burr
 * Sarah Gillett (1704-1792) - m. Stephen Goodwin
 * Abigail Gillett (1705 - c. 1743)
 * Matthew Gillett (1707-1789) - m. Anne Merrill
 * Dorothy Gillett (1710-1767) - m. Ebenezer Buell