OTHER RIDEOUTS IN AMERICA AND CANADA
OTHER RIDEOUTS IN AMERICA AND CANADA
There appear to have been at least two distinct groups of people with the surname Rideout (or Ridout) who came to North America. One group went to New England and Canada. The other group went to Virginia and possibly other southern colonies.
The New England group is well researched and documented. There is a book titled Rideouts in America by Golda Rideout Soffe that is available on microfilm from LDS family history centers. The majority of information on Family Tree Maker and other sites relates to this group of Rideouts. Their line originates with Abraham Rideout, born about 1685 in England, died unknown date in Cumberland, Maine. As far as I know, there is no connection between this group of Rideouts and my ancestor, Elijah Rideout.
The Virginia Rideouts (and Ridouts) are not quite as well documented, but we are working on correcting that. One published report has appeared in Southside Virginian, vol. 1, no. 4, titled The Rideout Family by Norman J. Flythe. This article states that there was an Andrew Ridout of York County, VA who was appointed executor of the estate of Wm Whitehead. No other information is given about this individual, so there is no way of knowing how he might relate to later Ridouts.
Various other documents (census and taxation) show that there was a family with the Ridout surname in Virginia at approximately the same time that Elijah Rideout lived there, and in approximately the same part of Virginia. This family is descended from Giles Ridout, who reportedly arrived in Virginia from England about 1730. He married Frances ____ about 1752, and they had four children, John, Mary, William, and Giles Jr. (who died in infancy). Giles Sr. died only a few years later, and Frances remarried. Records show that Elijah lived in Dinwiddie County (where he was supposedly born), while Giles lived in Brunswick County, right next door. Because there is no record of Elijah's parents, it is tempting to speculate that he might have been related in some way to Giles. However, there are problems with this theory.
First, all written documents relating to Elijah spell his last name with an "e" in the middle. All written documents relating to Giles and his descendants spell it without the "e". It is interesting that Elijah’s spelling is the same as the northern group, while all other Ridouts in Virginia spelled their name without the "e". Whether this means anything is unknown, but it is a pattern that goes back to the earliest written documents.
More importantly, there is nothing whatsoever to link Elijah to these other Ridouts. He was not the son of Giles and Frances unless his birth was completely overlooked or covered up. The children of John, Mary, and William are well documented, and Elijah is not among them. The bottom line for now is that we have only speculation on where Elijah came from. One possibility is that he was not born in Virginia. If he came over from England, we may eventually find him in the transcription of immigrant ship passenger lists. If he was born in a colony other than Virginia, we may find him by researching the other Rideout lines.