About The Johnson-Witt Family
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This site explores the connections to our ancestors and their families who arrived in North America in the early 1600s and our ancestors who arrived later, some as recently as the 1800s and early 1900s. The experiences of our early immigrant ancestors paralleled the events that culminated in the founding of America and contributed to what has resulted in our unique American traditions. As a nation of immigrants, our customs and way of life have been influenced in a significant way by our immigrant ancestors.
Like many Americans, our ancestry includes a variety of nationalities. Some of our ancestors arrived in America centuries ago (Huguenots from France, Puritans and Quakers from Great Britain, and Dutch and Danish immigrants who settled in New Amsterdam in the 1600s). Our English and Scots-Irish Quaker ancestors arrived from Yorkshire, England (Scholey) and Great Britain (Anderson) in the late 1600s and 1700s. Others arrived relatively recently (immigrants from Germany, France and England in the 1800s and Finland in the early 20th century). This endeavor represents a partial listing of our Johnson and Witt ancestors and relatives. It contains original research and material compiled from published sources. Source information is provided.
Among those who arrived in the 1600s in New England, many of whom came with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630:
Connecticut: BELDEN, BOSTOCK/BOSTWICK, BRINSMEAD, BROWN, BUSH, CABLE, CARTER, CURTIS/CURTISS, FERRIS, FROST, GRAY, GROVES, HARDY/HARDEY, HAYES, HOBBY, HOLMES, HUSTED/HUESTED, HUTCHINS, JAMES, JORDAN, KITCHELL, KNAPP, KNOWLES, LLOYD, LOCKWOOD, MEAD, MITCHELL, MOREHOUSE, NORMAN, PARDEE, PEAT/PEET, PECK, PORTER, SCOFIELD, SHEAFE, SHERMAN, SHERWOOD, SMITH, TAYLOR, TURNER, WATERBURY, WEBSTER, WHITE, WHITMAN, WILSON, WOOD, YALE.
Massachusetts: BROWN, CARTER, MEAD, NORMAN, TAYLOR.
West Jersey/New Jersey: ANDERSON, KITCHELL, SCHOLEY/SCHOOLEY.
Rhode Island/New Jersey: BURTON, FOWLER.
New Amsterdam/New York: BLANCK, BOSCH/BUSH, CLAES/KLAES/KLAESZEN, OSBORN, SMITH, VAN BOSWIJCK, WILLEMS.
Virginia: Among those who arrived in Virginia in the 1600s: WITT, DAUX.
Maryland: Our English ancestors who arrived in Maryland in the 1600s: BELT, SUMMERS. French Huguenot ancestors who arrived in Carolina (which became the South Carolina Colony in 1721) in the 1680s: DUBOSC/DUBOSE, COUILLANDEAU, FOUGERAUT.
Ancestors and descendants of immigrants who arrived in the 1800s from England, France (GODSMARK and MORRIS-DEVERE), and Germany (BOLZMANN, GALL, GRASSMANN); and in 1905 from Finland (JOHANSSON-BÄCKMAN, surname changed to JOHNSON after immigration).
The family line that I have researched most thoroughly is the MEAD line through my immigrant ancestors William Mead (1592-ca. 1660) and his son John Mead (ca. 1628-1699). My earliest documented Mead ancestor was Richard Mede/Mead, (born around 1515) in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. He was buried at Watford on March 2, 1559/60. His estate inventory was executed there on October 26, 1560.
I am descended through two sons of the John Mead-Hannah (Brown?) Potter family of Fairfield County, Connecticut: John (circa 1658-1693; married Ruth Hardy/Hardey) and Ebenezer (1663-1728; married Sarah Knapp).
Participation in surname research groups - such as the Mead/e, DuBosc/DuBose, Johnson-Bäckman, Scholey/Schooley, and Witt/Whitt forums - has helped focus our research through communication with persons who share a particular surname and who eagerly share their family and genealogical research.
DNA research is a useful adjunct to traditional genealogical research. Through the combination of Y-DNA testing and Witt/Whitt family genealogical research provided by the W(h)itt Surname Project, we were able to determine that my husband’s immigrant “Witt” ancestor was John Witt/Whitt, who was born in 1645 in Herefordshire, England. After immigrating to Virginia, he married Ann Daux circa 1673 in Charles City County, Virginia. Our specific Y-DNA results indicate that the Y-DNA haplogroup is I1A (a haplogroup that occurs at greatest frequency in Scandinavia, with rapidly decreasing frequencies toward the edges of the historic Germanic- influenced world) and that the mitochondrial (mtDNA) haplogroup is U5a (an early and Europe- specific haplogroup). Information about DNA research can be obtained from many sources, including the books written by Dr. Bryan Sykes, a geneticist at Oxford University in England. His Oxford Ancestors website is at: http://www.oxfordancestors.com.
Please note that this genealogical information is for personal use and may not be used for commercial purposes. No genealogical data or photographs may be posted on any other websites or redistributed or disseminated without prior approval of the webmaster in any format whatsoever.
This family history is a work in progress. Any corrections or additional information about the families listed here would be greatly appreciated.
We hope that this website will be of value to those of you who are interested in our Johnson, Witt and related ancestries.
Sandra Johnson Witt, PhD
Gainesville, Florida
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