What if you always thought you were the second generation on
both sides of your family to be born in Canada? What if you also thought that
both sides of your family were from Scotland, but then as you started to
research you discovered only one grandparent was actually born in Scotland?
What if, in fact, you had very deep roots in Canada and in the colonies prior
to the American Revolution? That is what I discovered and it fascinated me!
In genealogy, you start with what you know and work your way
backwards. To my surprise it led me to ancestors carving out a life for
themselves in the New World after fleeing religious persecution in France, up
until the time they had to again seek refuge in a new land following the
American Revolution. My great grandmother on my maternal grandfather’s side,
Leafy May Vidito comes from a long line of early settlers that, like a neatly
wrapped Christmas gift, are astonishingly well-documented. Here is an overview of the Vidito line:
My great grandmother, Leafy May Vidito was born in
Bridgetown, Annapolis, NS on January 29, 1901 to her parents, Elias and Mary
Jane (Sabean) Vidito, who were also born in NS.
My 2nd great grandfather, Elias was born in
Nictaux Falls, Annapolis, NS on June 10, 1864 to his parents, Samuel and
Elizabeth (McKenzie) Vidito.
My 3rd great grandfather, Samuel was born in Annapolis
Royal, NS to his parents, Robert Weatherby and Mary Ann (Vidito) Vidito.
My 4th great grandfather, Robert was born about
1816 in Annapolis, NS to his parents, Jacob and Mary Elizabeth (Weatherby)
Vidito.
My 5th great grandfather, Jacob Vidito was born
about 1781 in Long Island, NY to his parents, John and Sarah (unknown) Vidito.
My 6th great grandfather, John was born about
1737 in Long Island, NY. His father’s name was also John Vidito, but I have yet
to discover his mother’s name. John
served in the Seven Years’ War (known as the French and Indian War in America)
in 1756 and 1759 according to the Collections of the Connecticut Historical
Society. To quote vol. IX, French and Indian War Rolls, 1755-1757, vol. 1
(pp156, 157): “Campaign of 1756, Fourth Regiment, “Against Crown Point etc in
the Pay of the Colony of Conn, 1756… Eighth Company, Capt. Wood, of Danbury…
John Videto one of the privates. A
report on the condition of the forces, called ‘This muster roll, signed by
Henry Leddel Muster Master General, is dated at Camp at Fort William Henry Oct
13, 1756’ (State Library, Adams Papers). Of this Eighth Company, 24 were ‘Sick
at Alby’, including the captain, 1st lieutenant, sergeant”. And from vol. II, 1758-1762 (p 150),
“Campaign of 1759, Third Regiment, Fifth Company…John Videto, one of the
privates, enlisted April 3, and was discharged Dec. 3, and there is a star
indicating that he was one of those who had ‘servd’ ‘in a former Campaign’.”
This was the first of the Vidito line to settle in Nova
Scotia. John and Sarah moved their family to NS sometime between 1781 and 1784.
It had to have been between these years because Jacob was born in Long Island,
NY about 1781, and his mother died in Annapolis Royal, NS in 1784. According to
the book, Vidito, John Vidito of New York City and His Descendants: A Huguenot
Founder of an American Family, by Alice L. Priest, Brookline, it states that
the first ancestor to settle in Nova Scotia, John Vidito did so “with the
Loyalists”. Alice L. Priest quotes from the book: Queens County, New York
(published 1882), “Their resistance to the encroachments of regal power was as
uncompromising as that of the people in other regions; though, by the force of
circumstances, many were loyalists during the Revolutionary struggle… It must
be remembered that Long Island had about three hundred miles of vulnerable
coast, which could not have been successfully defended against a marine force…
Motives of personal safety and the preservation of their property would
necessarily induce many either to remain inactive or join with the ranks of the
opposition… The inhabitants who continued on the island were compelled to
subscribe to the oath of fidelity to the king.” She also quotes Mrs. Sarah
Vidito, a descendant of this Vidito line, born 1847 as saying that “she always
understood that the Vidito family in Nova Scotia were refugees from the
American Revolution”.
My 7th great grandfather, John was born Nov 11,
1714 in Danbury, CT to his parents, John and Sarah (Pickett) Vidito. (Side
note: Sarah Pickett is the daughter of Thomas Pickett and Sarah Barnum. Both
the Barnum and Pickett families are of the original settlers of Danbury, CT. I
will write future posts about these families)
My 8th great grandfather, John was born about
1686 in Greenwich, CT to his parents, Jasper and Sarah (Palmer) Vidito.
My 9th great grandfather, Jasper was born about
1660 in the Netherlands to Jean and Jeanjte (Jaspers) Vittiteau. He was
christened shortly after in New York, NY.
My 10th great grandfather, Jean Vittiteau was
born about 1630 in Condom, France. Jean was the first Vittiteau settler in the
colonies. He was a Huguenot, who fled France due to religious persecution. For
those unfamiliar with the Wars of Religion that were fought between 1562 and
1598, Huguenots were French Protestants inspired by John Calvin’s writings in
the 1530s. As their numbers grew, Catholic hostility also grew, resulting in
the wars until the Huguenots were granted religious, political and military
autonomy under the Edict of Nantes. However, fighting started again in the
1620s and the Huguenots were defeated and their political and military
privileges were taken away. They kept their religious freedom until Louis XIV
abolished it by issuing the Edict of Fontainebleau (1685), forcing the
Huguenots to convert. Many were killed or submitted, but about 500,000
Huguenots fled France by the early 18th century.
Again citing from Alice L. Priest’s book on John Vidito it
states that Jean fled with his family to Holland and subsequently to New
Amsterdam with the Dutch settlers of New York. Alice L. Priest’s book is a
treasure trove of Vidito family history, documenting each family member and
their offspring from 1630 in Condom, France all the way up to the early 1900s
in Nova Scotia. It has been an invaluable resource in the research of my Vidito
ancestors.
For those of you who, like me, are stuck on where Jean
Vittiteau is from… yes, I find it incredibly humorous that my 10th
great grandfather, the man responsible for vast amounts of descendants, is from
Condom. I hate to ruin the fun but it has nothing to do with the English word.
It comes from the Gaulish (an ancient Celtic language) phrase condate-o-magos,
meaning market of the confluence. Not as funny but pretty cool. This is as far
as I have researched the Vidito line so far, but felt it was well-worth writing
about. Hopefully, I can dig even deeper and do a future post on the Vidito line
again.
Happy researching, fellow genealogy geeks!
