Following up on my earlier post, The John Poteet/Petit/Poteat who came to America in 1638 from England and brought his wife Ann over the following year, was French. On October 23, 1666 he submitted a request for Naturalization to the Grand Assembly in Jamestown. He referred to himself as a Frenchman and wanted to become Naturalized. This document is in York County, Virginia, Volume 4, Page 151.
On 1 December 1669, John Poteet (Surgeon) prepared his Will and it was probated on 26 April 1670. We know that this is the same John Poteet/Petit as he signed his name John Poteet “Chirurgen” (Surgeon) on almost every document.
Throughout his existence in Charles River County, then York County, very nearby his Francis Poteet who disappears out of Virginia after 1668.
As John’s Will is on file in York County Virginia, and he states that he had children in his naturalization papers, I hope that the Will can be obtained and examined to get an exact list of his children.
No where in any of the documents found so far in Virginia does it suggest or state that this John was named Giovanni. I can find no records of a Giovanni Poteet anywhere! As for the John Poteet in Baltimore who was a possible son of Francis, in only one document dated 1729 which was a land deed where he gave all his lands to his children (all named) it refers to his name as John Poteet “Italion” That is the sole place/document where I find the term Italion. It is not spelled Italian, which begs the question what does Italion mean? If he is the son of Francis Poteet who was the son of John the 1638 immigrant, than he cannot be Italian – the nationality. He would be part French. That 1729 document with the word “Italion” seems to be the only document that people are relying on to state that this Poteet line is Italian. Again, there are no documents in Virginia or Baltimore Maryland that I can find anywhere with the name Giovanni on them. It appears to be an urban legend.
I hope descendants of this line will continue to research this line and share their findings. I think if we locate the Will and learn the names of his children, this will clear up a lot of confusion since there are so many descendants with the same name and people are confusing them as one person. For example, I am the descendant of Thomas Poteet who married Jane Taylor. Thomas had a brother named Squire Poteet. They are buried side by side in the Poteet Cemetery in Overton County TN. Many people have combined my Thomas and Squire and even added a sons name Richard to the mix, and so in many records you find a Squire Richard Thomas and there is no such person.
LM Fancher