D. DeWitt

Ancestors

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Biography

In 2008 when Y_DNA testing at FamilyTreeDNA became available I tested and found that I did NOT match any of the descendants of Tjerck DeWitt of Kingston NY. For years I had been stuck at a brick wall with our ancestor John DeWitt (1758-1820). [1]

Some writings by a great great aunt around 1919 claimed our clan came from France and came over with Lafayette. However I also found a South Carolina DeWitt clan claiming the same idea! The idea that our clan is French obviously came to my aunt from some source but her published biography of her husband Thomas Buffington DeWitt is the earliest discussion of a possible French heritage. This idea ws published in: HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY CALIFORNIA WITH Biographical Sketches OF The Leading Men and Women of the County Who have been Identified with its Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present. History by Paul E Vandor. Illustrated Complete in Two Volumes Historic Record Company Angeles, California 1919

For 20 years I had not been able to find any link back to the Kingston, or South Carolina DeWitts.

I checked my dad's DNA just to make sure I was his biological son and was relieved to find that we matched. My brother also matched us too. But was there an adoption (or other non-parental event (eg, affair or rape)? further back in our clan and so perhaps we were biological Jones or Smiths, etc? That would explain why we three did not match any other DeWitts.

A year later I was notified of a very close match with a descendant of Larkin DeWitt. He had family info about Benjamin Witt/DeWitt being Larkin's father and had heard rumors that Benjamin came from Massachusetts and was a descendant of the Witt clan.

A year later I got another match... not quite as close but significant enough to suggest we had a common ancestor 8-10 generations back. He was from Canada! Wow! His family history connected back to Witts who left America during the Revolutionary times because they sided with England.

With that info I started researching the family of John Witt (1617-1675). He lived in Lynn, Essex county, MA most of his life but had left England for the British Colonies. You can read his FAG memorial biography at: [2]

My ancestor John Witt DeWitt (1758-1820)'s FAG memorial is at: John Witt Dewitt (1758-1820) - Find a Grave...

After researching the Witt clan iincluding present day Witt descendants I found that many changed their name from Witt to DeWitt. Not sure why. Perhaps they had heard about the famous Dutch DeWitts and wanted people to think they were decendants?

Anyway... I found a living man who still used Witt for his last name. He had a family history all of the way back to John Witt. I paid for his Y-DNA analysis! We matched!!!!!!

So we are all Witts!!!!

I have found several other John Witt descendants (mostly DeWitts and 1 other Witt) who match Y-DNA

I am the DeWitt Research group coordinator at FamilyTree DNA You can see our data at: [3]

Sources

• First-hand information. Entered by D. DeWitt at registration.