Re: Vawter XV century Italy?
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In reply to:
Vawter XV century Italy?
Giovanni Simone Valtorta 4/03/05
Hello Giovanni,
It is nice to see our European cousins doing family research as well. :) I can tell you what we know of the Vawter family so far in America.
The Vawter family came to America about 300 years ago from Southwest England. Several old records show the importation of Vawter brothers and their wives. They worked as indentured servants, which meant they had to work for their master for 7 years. Then they were freed and given land and money. They also learned good skills while they were indentured. There are many records of Vawters serving in the Revolutionary War in the late 1700s.
Before that time, the Vawter family traces back to southwest England, and then before that to Normandy, France. Normandy was settled by Vikings who embraced Christianity. The word "Norman" means "northmen". Although these Christian Vikings did learn to speak French, they most likely kept their Viking family names. This would mean the early Vawter name, spelled as Valletorte in Normandy, was an old Swedish Viking name.
The name "Vawter" apparently comes from the early VIking Norman word for "guards", which today we see in Sweden spelled as "Vakter".
"vakter" = "guards"
"vakt" = "guard", with the "er" = "s"
It is highly likely the Vawter family during Norman times were guards. Just as in England we see a family named "Baker" was called this because their trade was as bakers, and a family named "Carpenter" had the "carpenter" skill.Similarly, the Vawter family were likely "vakters" (guards) in early Norman times.
We don't know much about Vawter ancestors in Italy, but it it would be interesting, especially with the beautiful history of the Vatican. Although many Vawters in America were Protestant, a lot of Vawters today are embracing and returning to the Catholic Church because of the church's teachings that promote a close, happy family. :)