Colonel John Chester (Continental Army)

• Daughter of the Daughters Revolution Ancestor #: A021449
• Service: CONNECTICUT Rank: COLONEL
• Birth: 1-18-1749 WETHERSFIELD CONNECTICUT
• Death: 11-4-1809 WETHERSFIELD CONNECTICUT
• Service Description: 1) CAPT.9TH COL. 2ND REGT. MAJ 6TH REGT, 2) COL. BATT. OF FOOT

John Chester was among the soldiers at Bunker Hill, and afterward a member of the Connecticut convention which ratified the United States constitution.

Born in Wethersfield on January 18, 1749, John Chester became a local war hero. In 1767, he graduated from Yale College (now Yale University) and in 1771, he was a Lieutenant in the Local Militia (9th Company of the Sixth CT Regiment) which had been organized in 1640. The unit prided themselves on their uniforms “wholly blue turned up with red”. In 1775, when the Lexington alarm came, John Chester led a picked body of about 100 men which ranked as the most select body in the Provincial Army and were distinguished at Bunker Hill. John Chester was commissioned Colonel in June 1776 and retired from the army at the close of the war. During the remainder of his years, he was devoted to public service in Wethersfield. He died November 4, 1809, at the age of 60.