Last
December I wrote about the Vidito branch of my family tree. I am connected to
this line through my great grandmother, Leafy May Vidito, the mother of my
maternal grandfather, Angus Grant. In that post I traced the line back to Jean
Vittiteau, the first of this line to immigrate to the American colonies in the
mid-1600s. He was a Huguenot who fled France due to religious persecution,
first to Holland and then to New Amsterdam. According to the information I have
been able to piece together I believe he is my 10th great
grandfather.
In last
December’s post I gave a brief overview of each Vidito ancestor. Today I am
going to focus on Jean Vittiteau and his family. One thing is for certain,
there is a large variety of spellings for Jean’s name. First of all, there is
the obvious variation of spellings for his first name: Jean, John and Jan. I am
going to refer to him as Jan through the remainder of this post because most of
the records refer to him as such. Then there is his surname, which there is a
slew of spellings/misspellings for: Vittiteau, Vittito, Vittitoe, Videt,
Vidette, Vedito, Vedette, Videtto, Vidithe, Widelte… and so on. This certainly makes
it challenging to search for him, and in some records his surname was missing
completely! Thankfully Alice L. Priest’s book: Vidito, John Vidito of New York
City and His Descendant, A Huguenot Founder of an American Family; the New
England Historic Genealogical Society’s database, americanancestors.org; and
ancestry.ca have all been helpful in piecing together information on Jan and
his family.
Below is a
timeline for Jan and his family, and I’ve included notable events that would
have had an impact on them, based on the time frame and location:
·
March
3, 1656: Jean and Jannetje were married
in New York, NY in the Reformed Dutch Church. The transcription reads “Jan
Widelte, Van Condom in Vranckryck, en Jannetje Jaspers, Van Amsterdam”. This
translates to Jan Widelte, from Condom in France, and Jannetje Jaspers, from
Amsterdam. This is fantastic because it confirms they were both in New York by
1656.
·
Jan
21, 1657: Jannetje Jaspers is a witness to the baptism of Marie, child of Carel
Margen and Cathalyntie Hendricks. The other witnesses were Jan and Marie Pceck,
and Claes Pauluszen.
·
Apr
11, 1657: Daniel Teneur appears in court requesting to build on the lot granted
him by the city “but as it is understood he has sold the lot to Jan Videt
contrary to order and also that the present middle door is regulated ‘tis
finally received to inspect it.” (Alice L Priest’s book, p.23) I think Daniel’s
last name may be misspelled because there are records for a Daniel Terneur in
New York, NY during the same time as Jan Vidito.
·
Apr
13, 1657: Jan Videt is admitted to be a Small Burgher. He is the 20th
name on the list; one copy has him listed as “Jean Videt, Frenchman” and the
other has him listed as “Jean Videt, French Tailor”. This confirms he is
French, and that he is a Tailor.
·
Apr
26, 1657: Jan Videt’s request to build on Daniel Teneur’s lot is rejected
because “’tis decreed as the lot is cut in two, and a corner house is to be on
it, that such little houses cannot be placed there.” (Alice L Priest’s book,
p.23)
·
Jan
27, 1658: Baptism of Jan Vidette and Jannetje Jaspers’ daughter, Anna Marie in
the Reformed Dutch Church. The witnesses were Mattheus de Vos, Marie Polet and
Anna Bayard.
·
Aug
4, 1660: Baptism of Jan Vidette and Jannetje Jaspers’ son, Jasper in the
Reformed Dutch Church. The witness was Francois Allard.
·
Jun
13, 1662: “in the City Hall. Peter de Rymer, plaintiff v/s Jan Videt,
defendant. Deft. in default”. (Alice L Priest’s book, p.23)
·
Jun
20, 1662 (Tuesday): “In the City Hall. Pieter de Rymer, ptf, v/s Jan Videt,
deft. Pltf, demands from deft, seven guilders and costs. Deft. acknowledges the
debt; says he shall pay, as soon as he receives money. The (illegible) Court
order deft. to pay pltf.” (Alice L Priest’s book, p.23) This gives us insight
into his financial situation, which appears to be a little grim.
·
Aug
28, 1662: Baptism of Jan Vedite and Jannetie Jaspers’s son, Francois in the
Reformed Dutch Church. The witnesses were Francois Velyn and Roose Nelle.
·
Aug
29, 1663: Baptism of Jan Vedette and Jannetie Jaspers’ son, Francois in the
Reformed Dutch Church. The witnesses were Francois Selyn and Marie Dopsen. As
there are two Francois with very similar birth dates, it is possible there has
been an error in the recordings of the event, and they are one and the same
person. However, it is also possible, that the first Francois died within his
first year, and they bestowed the same name on their next born child.
·
Sep
8, 1664: New Amsterdam is seized by the British and the name is changed to New
York in honour of the Duke of York.
·
Oct
21st, 22nd, 24th, 26th, 1664: Jan
Videt is one of the “Names of the Dutch who swore Allegiance after the
surrender of New York”. (Alice L Priest’s book, p.23)
·
Apr
19, 1665 (Wednesday afternoon): “List of Burghers and Inhabitants of this City
that are Assessed:” (to supply/pay for lodging of soldiers) “…The Cingel or
City Hall; (Ten names, Jan Videt the third, 1 (illegible)orin.)”
·
May
20, 1665: Baptism of Jan ----- and Jannetie Jaspers’ son, Pieter in the
Reformed Dutch Church. The witnesses were Nicolaes Dupu and Annetje Abrahams.
·
Oct
15, 1666: Jannetje Jaspers was a witness to the baptism of Johannes, son of
Hendrick Vandoesenburg and Marritje Hendricks. The other witnesses were Pieter
Janszen Van Werckendam and Evert Duicking.
·
Oct
24, 1666: Baptism of Jan (blank) and Jannetje Jaspers’ daughter, Jannetie in
the Reformed Dutch Church. The witnesses were Jan Gerdyn and Hester Vincent.
·
Dec
7, 1667: Baptism of Jean Vedette and Janneken’s son, Hester is baptized in the
Reformed Dutch Church. The witnesses were Jan Gerdyn and Hester Vincent.
·
Oct
12, 1670: Baptism of Jean Vidithe and Janneken Jaspers’ son, Thene in the
Reformed Dutch Church. The witnesses were Thene Gayneau and Lydia Metrou.
·
1673:
The Dutch briefly regained the city
·
Nov
1674: The Dutch relinquished control of the city to the English in accordance
with the Second Treaty of Westminster.
For those of
you who like me, hadn’t heard the term Small Burgher before, it is part of a
system New Amsterdam had between 1657 and 1668 to guard the citizens’
commercial interests against non-resident trade. The two titles were Great
Burgher and Small Burgher. It basically created an aristocracy since the title
Great Burgher was hereditary, and awarded them access to the highest public
positions in the colony. That being said, it is viewed as having been built on democratic
principles because any citizen could become one, depending on a few rules and
the payment of a fee. In 1657 there were 20 Great Burghers and 216 Small
Burghers. Over time these numbers grew.
Unfortunately,
this is where the document trail ends for Jan and Jannetje. I know their son,
Jasper, who is my 9th great grandfather was living in Greenwich, Connecticut by
1686, but as to whether he moved there on his own or with the rest of his family
is unclear. As per usual, I don’t feel done, and wish I had been at least able
to find documentation of their deaths, to confirm if they had stayed in New York
or not.
Until next
time, happy hunting fellow gene geeks!
Sources:
New England Historic Genealogical
Society (americanancestors.org):
·
The
American Genealogist, Record 1933, Vol. 10, p.42
·
New
York, NY: Parents and Witnesses at Baptisms in the Reformed Dutch Church,
1639-1801, pp. 44, 48, 57, 66, 70, 79, 84, 89, 99
·
New
York, NY: Marriages in the Reformed Dutch Church, 1639-1801, p.20
Vidito, John Vidito of New York City
and His Descendants: A Huguenot Founder of an American Family, by Alice L.
Priest
Ancestry.ca
Wikipedia.org
iloveny.com
