GILLETT Family Bible

Gillette family bible, carried from England by Jonathan Gillett in 1630 The version of Bible that Jonathan Gillett brought with him from England to America is known as the ‘Breeches Bible’ because the ‘fig-leaf garment’ worn by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden - which is called ‘apron’ in the King James Version - is called ‘breeches’ in this edition. Jonathan's Bible was printed in Amsterdam in 1599 and was one of numerous editions of that translation, which was first printed in Geneva in 1559. This edition was favored by the Puritans in England, and it had a profound effect on the King James translation in 1611. The ‘Breeches Bible’ remains in Windsor. It has been torn and damaged, with many of its pages missing. The Bible passed into the hands of the present Holcomb family. The Gillett-Holcomb Bible became known as the "Bear Bible," because it was placed in a window to keep the sash raised, when a bear, wanting to effect an entrance, clawed it, leaving the marks of his claws so deep upon the edges of its leaves, where it can still be plainly seen. The blank pages between the Old and New Testaments are still intact, and their pen and ink entries establish the copy as having belonged to the early Gillett family. The script of the entries is the very old style, which was in use in England around 1600, in the hand of Jonathan Gillett of the second generation.

Ancestry Chain 1: (10th gr.grandfather) Jonathan Sr. GILLETT (GYLETTE) Immigant b.1604, Mary GILLETT b.1638, Abigail BROWN b.1662, Jonathan FOWLER b.1685, Catherine FOWLER b.1723, Lydia NOBLE b.1768, Horace Datus ENSIGN-76 b.1797, Martin Luther ENSIGN b.1831, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Myrle, sons, grandchildren.

Ancestry Chain 2: (10th gr.grandfather) Jonathan Sr. GILLETT (GYLETTE) Immigant b.1604, Samuel GILLETT, Hannah GILLETT b.1674, Mary TAYLOR b.1708, David BRONSON b.1733, Sylvanus BRONSON b.1769, Mary BRONSON b.1806, Martin Luther ENSIGN b.1831, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Myrle, sons, grandchildren.

Ancestry Chain 3: (11th gr.grandfather) Jonathan Sr. GILLETT (GYLETTE) Immigant b.1604, Joseph GILLETT, Joseph GILLETT b.1664, Elizabeth GILLETT b.1688, Esther MARSH b.1714, Esther SAWYER "GUNN" b.1739, Esther REMINGTON b.1772, Mary BRONSON b.1806, Martin Luther ENSIGN b.1831, Harriett Camilla ENSIGN b.1859, George Ensign SMITH b.1898, Myrle, sons, grandchildren.