Hello,
Having spent some time being stumped by northern Vermont genealogy myself, I thought I might know where to locate your ancestors. But I've spent several hours trying to solve your puzzle, and I'm absolutely out of "tricks up my sleeve." Sorry.
So, for your notes or your further research:
1860 US Census Fairfield, Franklin Co., VT
John BRUSO age 40, farmer, Real estate valued $240; personal property at $30; born Canada, cannot read or write
Margaret, age 25, b. Canada, cannot read or write
Zoa, age 5, born in Vermont
Melissa, age 2, born in Vermont
1870 US Census Highgate, Franklin Co., VT
(Indexed at Ancestry.com as BRACE)
NOTE: all reported born in Canada this census
John Brocu, 42, farm laborer
Margaret, 36, keeping house
Zoa, 15, at home
Joseph, 10
Lilor (?) (female), age 7
Louise, 3
1880 US Census Sheldon, Franklin Co., VT
John Bruso, 59, laborer, b. Canada
Margaret, wife, age 56, keeping house, b. Canada
Louisa, daughter, 14, b. VT
Levi, son, age 12, b. VT
1900 US Census Highgate, Franklin Co., VT
John Bruso, b. Sept 1819, 80 years old, married 54 years, b. Canada. ARRIVED 1825, NATURALIZED
Margaret, wife, b. June 1825, age 74, mar. 54 yrs; has had 9 children and 4 are living; b. Canada; ARRIVED 1831.
Louise, daughter, b. March 1867, age 33, single
Joseph, son, b. Aug 1861, age 38, Divorced; Farm laborer
Levi, son, b. Dec. 1868, age 31, single, Laborer.
(They are enumerated just before Peter and Zoe Lambert and their family, including two of their grandchildren.)
NOTE: IF the above 1900 entry is true, both John and Margaret arrived in the US as young children - perhaps other relations can be found in earlier censuses. In addition, John is Naturalized, which required applying and giving birth date and location. These application and citizenship certificate should exist, probably at the state level. I've never sent for a Vermont naturalization before, so I'm not sure where you would write.
Before the French Catholic Church in Swanton opened its doors in 1854 (although you have a 1853 date for Zoe's baptism?) the French in this area either waited for Missionaries to arrive and perform the sacraments, OR they traveled back to Quebec. Sometimes baptisms and even wedding "blessings" were performed YEARS after the actual event. Not all of these records survived, unfortunately, in the case of the missionaries. An excellent explanation where many were performed is at:
http://www.vt-fcgs.org/catholic.htmlOther thoughts:
There is a Quebec name that is spelled PIN. In fact, one Jean Baptiste PIN married Tharsille SAUVAGEAU (an early French Canadian name with origins in France) on 18 Oct. 1825 at Ste-Martine. This same couple was living in unstate New York State when a missionary registered their child's baptism at St-Jean-Chrysostome:
(Translated) 12 April 1840, baptized Marguerite, age 6 months, daughter of Jean Baptiste PIN, farm laborer in New York, and Tarsille Savageau. Godparents: Charles Gagne and Felicite Savois.
Another possibility for PIN is the PAYAN family from St-Hyacinthe, which is in your "MASKO" area. There is a possible Marguerite Payan baptized there in 1826.
Also, it was common in northern Vermont and New York to shorten French names - so ARPIN, DESPINS or DEPIN, as well as LEPINE, might well become simply "PINN."
Other information:
The LDS at familysearch.org, in the IGI has some transcribed records from the State Vital Records of Vermont. These pertain to your BRUSO family:
13 March 1866 Highgate Township, a "(female)" BRUSO, born to John BRUSO (This is Louise, most probably)
9 Sept 1868 Highgate Township, Levi BRUSO, to John and Margaret.
9 Sept 1868 Highgate Township, Oliver BRUSO, to John and Margaret.
(We can't tell from this if they were actually twins - it might be a variation on the given name, at the transcribers discretion.)
Perhaps of interest in this same State Vital record transcription:
18 April 1865, at St. Albans, Victoria L BRUSO, to Theodore and Mary.
This Theodore is in St. Albans as early as 1850, where you will find him indexed at Ancestry.com as BURSOT, but it is actually written BRUSOT.
Good luck!
Shari Strahan