Marinus Willett In January, 1776 the enlistments in the regiment expired and the men started home. Willett arrived in New York City in March. In the defence of New York City later that year Willett lost a captain's commission in the 4th New York Regiment and participated as a militiaman. In November, 1776 he was made Lieutenant Colonel of the 3rd New York Regiment which was commanded by Peter Gansevoort. He spent the winter recruiting. In March, 1777 he was given command of Fort Constitution in the New York Highlands. From this fort he engaged in a successful attack on one hundred
Thomas Willett Sir Henry Vane the Elder; the Sir Henry Vanes, elder and younger, played major roles in England at the time of the English Civil War. The Brown(e) family also had ties to earliest Plymouth through the marriage of John Brown(e)'s son, James, to Lydia Howland, daughter of John Howland, one of the Mayflower passengers; Howland collaborated in Willett's early fur-trading efforts. Willett's son, Thomas Willett, was a major in the militia of Queens County and a councillor under Governors Sir Edmund Andros and Henry Sloughter. Mary Willett, eldest daughter of Capt. Thomas Willett and his wife Mary, married in 1658