Digging Up Your Family

Timothy’s travels in the 1770s were numerous.  Timothy had his trading business back along the Cumberland River by Fall of 1773.  He was greatly respected by the local Native Americans as an honest and trustworthy person. 

Mrs. Whiteford writes that Timothy did not return to Kaskaskia in the Summer in 1775 but instead rode down the Mississippi River to New Orleans with his fur, hides and tallow for trade, as he usually did in Spring.  This was the same year that the start of the American Revolution was declared.

An interesting story is related for the years of 1776 and 1777, straight from the mouth of Timothy, published in the Atlanta Constitution in 1896, and again in 1939 by Mrs. Whiteford.

By Mrs. Whiteford:

“In the spring of 1776, Timothe DeMonbreun makes his regular trip to New Orleans, Louisiana, with his cargo for exchange, but this turns out to be the one he was always to remember.  When he arrived at Deacon’s Pond, now near where Palmyre stands, he met six men and a woman.  This party had lost one of their men, having been tramped to death by a buffalo.  This was the first white man to die in this part of the country, that we have any record of.  The next fell a victim to the barbarity of his own companions—a man they called Big John or John Duncan, who was afterwards buried where Captain DeMonbreun first saw the party, had his wife, the woman above noticed along with him.  About this time she had become tired of him, took up with James Ferguson, alleging that her husband was a lazy man, and a worthless hunter, that she had to support him, and then had no satisfaction in his company; but Ferguson was an agreeable industrious young man, and the best hunter in the party.  She had left (her) husband sick, and induced the party also to leave him.  They went down the river.

Duncan died of hunger, it is supposed, as his appearance to Captain Demumburen (so spelled) wrought that impression on his mind (Draper MSS26CC35).

It was on his last trip from New Orleans, Louisiana, in February, 1777, that Timothe DeMonbreun found this man’s body and buried it.  This act of unkindness of one man to another made a lasting impression on his mind, for when DeMonbreun was an old man he would tell this story with as much interest as if it had just happened yesterday.”

The article in the Atlanta Constitution (December 13, 1896, page 11) refers to a book titled (ready for this one?) Life as it is, or, Matters and things in general containing, amongst other things, historical sketches of the exploration and first settlement of the state of Tennessee : manners and customs of the inhabitants : their wars with the Indians : battle of King’s mountain : history of the Harps (two noted murderers) : a satirical burlesque on the practice of electioneering : legislative, judicial and ecclesiastical incidents : description of natural curiosities : a collection of anecdotes, &c. published in 1842 by John Will M Breazeale.  Breazeale writes:

“In the year 1776, Thomas Sharp Spencer (who I wrote about in a previous post), and a number of others, came to the country, and built some cabins on the Cumberland river.  The majority of the company, however, soon returned, but Spencer and one Holliday remained in the country till 1779.  In the year 1777, Capt. De Mumbrane, a Frenchman, who commenced hunting in the country as early as 1775, met with a company of six men and one woman, at a place called Deacon’s Pond, not far from where Palmyra is now situated.  The company informed him, that a man by the name of William Bowen, who had came out with them, had been ran over and trampled down by a gang of buffaloes, and had lain in the woods eight days before he was found, and died in consequence of the wounds he received by the buffaloes running over him, the day after he was found.  John Duncan, who the company called Big John, had brought the woman along as his wife, but she had become tired of him, and took up with James Ferguson, another of the company.  Duncan was taken sick, and the woman persuaded the company to leave him, and Duncan died.  Capt. De Mumbrane saw his corpse.—This was, no doubt, the first white woman that ever visited the country now denominated Middle Tennessee.  This company, woman and all, having taken water, sailed on into the Mississippi, halted there for a time, and hunted; but they were finally all killed by the Indians in 1779, except one or two;  whether the woman escaped or not is not known, nor is it very material.  If she lived it was only to disgrace her sex, and if she died society sustained no loss.”

Well, that wasn’t a very nice thing to write!

The 1896 Atlanta Constitution wrote the entire section I just transcribed, along with a few other stories from the book.

Breazeale goes on with a story that was repeated, though without as much detail, as Edward Albright’s 1908 book (Breazeale’s book might be the first published account of the story I transcribed on the Thomas Sharp Spencer post):

“In the fall of the year 1777, Capt. De Mumbrane went to the Wabush country, leaving a man in the Cumberland country, to  keep camp, with directions to join him at the mouth of the Cumberland river the succeeding spring.  But the man, not being apprised that Spencer and Holliday were in the country, and seeing Spencer’s huge tracks, (for he was a man of enormous size,) ran off in a day or two, and left the country, supposing he was in the midst of a nation of giants.”

Now, during this time that Timothy was in the French Lick area, he was living out of a cave.  Though there are several accounts of Timothy building a sheltering hut to live in, and building cabins to store his furs and tallow, that I imagine were also used as a trading posts, it is well  known that he lived in a cave.  The cave, located on a bluff of the Cumberland River, provided a great shelter for Timothy from the elements and from wildlife and possible attacks by the natives (though, honestly, I can’t imagine he was worried so much about the latter).  The cave can still be seen today.  From the opposite side of the river, and even better by boat.

Photo taken by Wayne Hsieh, August 25, 2011, found on Flickr, Some Rights Reserved, (Source)

It’s difficult to see in the photo (if you go to the source of the photo, however, you can see details much better), but there is a gate that was placed over the cave entrance to keep people out.  It is often pulled away to gain entrance anyway.  My mother tells me that, possibly back in the 1970s sometime, some boys entered the cave and became trapped.  This is why a gate is placed over the entrance.  Mrs. Whiteford published four photos of the cave in her book, one of which is a photo of the “kitchen” area.

It was in this cave that the first known white settler was born.

Ok, onward with the life of Timothy Demonbreun.  Like I had said in the previous post about him (Part Four, found here), I am not certain when Timothy and Therese, along with their newborn daughter, finally arrived in the French settlement of Kaskaskia, Illinois Territory.  Since they still had plenty of time prior to winter weather I would like to assume that, as soon as Therese felt well after childbirth, they set out upon the rivers once more and landed safely soon after in Kaskaskia.  Although, looking at a map, I can’t see how they would have gotten to Kaskaskia by boat unless they went southwest on the Wabush River to present day Cairo, Illinois, then northwest on the Mississippi River to Kaskaskia, Illinois (current population as of the 2010 US Census: 14).  That’s pretty far even now (from Vincennes to Cairo, then to Kaskasia is nearly 300 miles by car).  I may be missing a little river somewhere, though.

According to Mrs. Whiteford (A Genealogy and History of Jacques Timothe Boucher), Timothy was in Kaskaskia by May of 1869 and had been so involved with with his new community that in February of 1770 he was made an “Escuyer”, which she describes as Justice of the Peace.  I did find that Escuyer is pretty much another word for Esquire, and in some cases it did mean Justice of the Peace…or lawyer…or squire.  I’m just going to assume that the record that she is referring to actually says Justice of the Peace on it.  She then goes on to say that she believes that he may have stayed in Kaskaskia for a while, at least until 1777 when he moved to Vincennes, then returned in 1779 to Kaskaskia.

It was in Kaskaskia, Illinois on February 12, 1770 that Timothy and Therese’s second child, first son was born.  He was named Timothy (or Timothé) Felix Demonbreun.  This son was baptized on April 6, 1770 by Father Gibault.  At some point during his life, Timothy Felix dropped the Timothy part of his name and only went by Felix Demonbreun.

And this is where it’s about to get pretty interesting. 

According to the Timothy Demonbreun Heritage Society, in 1771 Timothy’s great-uncle or second cousin Captain (Charles) Louis Boucher de GrandPre, who was at the time the governor of New Orleans (he is also listed as one of the founding fathers of Mississippi), granted him a hunting license for Arkansas Territory (which, from what I understand, did not go so well).  It is believed that this is when he set up shop trading with the Native Americans all along the Mississippi and Cumberland Rivers.  In George R Zepp’s 2009 book Hidden History of Nashville, he states that Timothy first traveled to the Cumberland Valley area now known as Nashville about 1769, and started trading then.  If you recall my earlier post Coming to America, then you will recognize the name of Josephus Conn Guild.  In his book, after describing the arrival of Timothy and his companions to “French Lick”, he goes on to describe their first night and waking up the next morning:

“…they noticed a movement among the bushes at one point.  One of the men lowered his gun, but DeMonbreun ordered him not to shoot, as their object was to trade and not make war.  At length they arrived at a level basin, covered with a thick forest.  Here they found a bubbling spring running into the stream that they had ascended.  They looked around and found many signs of buffalo, deer, and bear.  Using every precaution against a surprise, they encamped for the night, cooked their victuals, and slept upon their arms…the next morning they hung out their trinkets, beads, blankets, and other articles calculated to attract the fancy of the Indians…the effort proved successful and a profitable trade was inaugurated…”

Guild goes on to say that Timothy ended up making frequent trips from Illinois to Nashville and back.  And the Heritage Society does agree that Timothy was spending his winters in Kaskaskia and his summers in prime hunting grounds around the Cumberland Valley. 

It was around 1770 that Therese disappears from all records.  There are several family stories behind her disappearance.  One I read was that Timothy moved her and the children down to French Lick, which would explain the lack of records.  The family lore, however, is that Therese was kidnapped by Indians, either in Tennessee or Illinois, depending on the source.  The details of the legend are cloudy.  Some say she was riding a horse with a child on her lap.  Some say it was during one of the frequent raids on French settlements.  Either way, she is unaccounted for at this time. 

A couple of years after the disappearance of Therese, Timothy’s mother passed away on November 29, 1772 in Boucherville.  Nearly five months after her death Timothy’s father passed away on April 14, 1773 in Boucherville.  Mrs. Whiteford writes that more than likely Timothy AND Therese returned to Boucherville at the death of his parents.  Apparently they may have made more than one trip.  Mrs. Whiteford writes:

“…their son Timothy (Felix) made a statement, March 28th, 1852, which Dr. Felix Robertson wrote down for him, he tells of their return trip from Canada, when attacked by the Indians only a day or two, out from Canada, where in a party of thirty five, only five were spared, that the Indians knew Timothe DeMonbreun from trading with him—and he and his wife and three others were left unharmed, but robbed and left in the wilderness…”

Felix Demonbreun, it seems, did not know the date of this event exactly, but he put it sometime after 1783…which leads me to believe that it is possible that Therese’s disappearance and this story of an Indian attack somehow got mixed up.

I can only assume that it was sometime in the early days of Timothy arriving on the Cumberland River that he set up his first home:  the legendary cave. 

But more on that later.

There appears to be some confusion over when Timothy Demonbreun first left New France for America.  In Mrs.  Whiteford’s 1939 book about Timothy she mentions Judge Josephus Conn Guild’s 1878 book Old Times in Tennessee (yay!  another public domain!).  According to Judge Guild, Timothy (or Timote, as it is spelled in his book)…you know what?  Let’s just go through Judge Guild’s book

According to Guild, Timothy was born in 1731 in France (look!  more lore!).  In Guild’s own words, “After attaining his majority, he joined the army of his native country, and participated in the great battle of Quebec, between the British and the French, in 1759.  His term of service having expired, he remained in Canada until 1760, when he left there and settled in Kaskaskia, Illinois.  Here his given name was Anglicised to Timothy.”  I would LOVE to know where he got this information.  We already know he was born in Boucherville in 1747, not France in 1731.  And then, as Mrs. Whiteford points out, the possibility of Timothy having even traveled to the Kaskaskia area in 1760 is slim, considering he would have been only about 13 years of age.  Guild goes on to say that Timothy wanted to build a trade with the Native Americans in Middle Tennessee, so he set out in the Fall of 1760 in a small boat down the Cumberland River (known back then as Warioto by the Native Americans-having been named so by the Shawnee, and Shauvanon by the French) accompanied by two companions.  Now, this is where Guild starts getting creative.  So, as his story goes, a Native American man spotted the three men floating down the river and, having never seen a boat such as theirs or white people, his first thought was that it was a warship from the Great Spirit Lake.  He wrapped himself in his buffalo robes and went running back to his cabin to tell the others (totally ignoring the tasty deer frolicking about).  Guild’s words, not mine.  Not the part about tasty deer—those are my words.  THEN the three men, being thirsty, dipped down into the water for a drink.  “It was remarked by one of themen (sic) that there was a ‘lick’ where this water came from and another said, ‘Where there is buffalo there is red Injuns, by jingo!’ They again tasted the water.  ‘Sulphur as Limbo down below!’ exclaimed one; ‘Salt as Lot’s wife!’ chimed in another.  ‘Give me the flask to wash my mouth with, Franco,’ and the flask went around of the party.”  I am going to suppose at this point that this is the “story” of how French Lick, now known as Nashville, got it’s name. 

From what I can find, it appears that Timothy actually set out for America about 1768 with pregnant Therese, Therese’s cousin Father Pierre Gibault and Father Pierre’s mother and his sister Marie Louise Gibault.  Timothy’s uncle Pierre Boucher de Monbrun de La Soudraye was Captain of the Militia at Kaskaskia, Illinois.  Timothy’s great-uncle or second cousin (depending on the source) Captain (Charles) Louis Boucher de GrandPre was the governor of Florida.  There seemed to have been a worry that the French were going to turn over the churches to the British and that unrest may have been why they decided to leave for Kaskaskia. 

According to Mrs. Whiteford and the Timothy Demonbreun Heritage Society, on August 18, 1768 Therese gave birth to her and Timothy’s first child, a daughter, at Fort River St. Joseph in Illinois.  She was baptized the next day on August 19th and named Therese Archange after her mother, but was known as Agnes.  Again, I have not seen the record of this, and I did search for it online in case someone had posted it somewhere.

It is not known how long the family stayed in this area.  Father Pierre Gibault arrived in Kaskaskia in the Fall of 1768 and began his duties as parish priest.  Whether Timothy, Therese and Agnes were with him or if they came a bit later is unknown.

Now, before I end this post I want to share the story behind the Timothy Demonbreun statue.

                       Photo courtesy of Wikipedia contributor Gorovich.

We will go back to Judge Josephus Conn Guild’s book.  From what I understand it was his dramatic description of Timothy that was the basis of this statue, which was sculpted by Alan LeQuire and erected in 1996 overlooking the Cumberland River.  The description Guild gave was “DeMonbreun wore a blue cotton hunting shirt, leggins of deer-hide, a red waistcoat that had once been in the French army, and a fox-skin cap, with the tail hanging down his back.  He was a tall, athletic, dark-skinned man, with a large head, broad shoulders and chest, small legs, a high, short foot, an eagle eye, and an expression of daring about his mouth.”  Which leaves me to imagine something a bit more comical than the statue itself.

I searched and searched on the exact location of the statue, and after help from my mother (who found it pretty quickly on Google Maps) I can now give the exact location for anyone else who is wondering (the main problem I had when searching it out being that ten different people online give ten different locations for the statue).  Pretty much if you are standing at Fort Nashborough reconstructed site facing the Cumberland River, you would turn to your left and start walking up 1st Avenue, past the statue of the two guys shaking hands (James Robertson and John Donelson), to Gay Street.  You then take a right on Gay Street.  Follow that down until almost the red bridge (Woodland Street) and the statue is on the right.  Timothy isn’t facing the river, but rather looking off into the distance at the WKDF station sign.

This is what it looks like when you’re coming up on the statue (source Google Maps Street View)

And this is an aerial view of the location of the statue (source Google Maps)

Please go HERE for a word on lack of documentation.

So, I recently came across a book written in 1939 by Kathryn DeMonbreun Whitefort titled A Genealogy and History of Jacques Timothe Boucher Sieur De Monbreun and His Ancestors and Descendants.  How I have never come across this book before, I don’t know.  Anyway, she states in the introduction “There were no individual family genealogical records to help me in my research—just a few scattered dates from here and there, which when pieced together, as my grandmother could piece together odds and ends of cloth, resulting in a beautiful old fashion crazy quilt—so I have a wonderful family genealogy started.”  And that’s about where I am at with Timothy Demonbreun.  Let’s get to this!

So, I have to go back to the marriage between Timothy and Therese.  In the book (which is public domain, so I can freely transcribe huge sections!) there is a transcription of a postnuptial agreement between the bride and groom. 

November 26, 1766

Thimothe Boucher Montbrun and Marguerite-Archange Gibault

Were present Mr. Thimothe Boucher, Esquire, Lord of Montbrun, son of Mr. Etienne Boucher, Esquire, and of Marie Racicot, his father and mother, living in Boucherville Manor and stipulating for himself and in his name, party of the first part,

And Miss Marguerite Archange Gibault, daughter of Mr. Etienne Gibault and of Mrs. Dubois, actual wife of Mr. Pierre Reaume, business man, living in Boucherville, party of the second part:

Both parties having said that they have been in love for a long time and the beautiful Gibault (girl) finding opposition to her marriage with Mr. Boucher, who, in order to succeed in it, is about to have recourse to the authority of the gentlemen Justices of the Peace of His Majesty in this city, consequently cannot have the consent of said gentlemen—Mrs. Reaume having had stipulated the articles and conventions that they* wish to have executed, nevertheless said parties finding that they were sufficiently authorized to contract said marriage, despite the lack of consent of Mr. and Mrs. Reaume, have made in presence of Messrs. Pierre Lafrance, Joseph Gauthier, Jacob Letard, and Mr. Du Vigneau, surgeon of Boucherville, the following conventions:

The parties have consented that the wealth (property) that they will acquire together will belong to them and each one will own half on the day of their death (without?) children, except for the following clauses:

It remains absolutely understood between both parties that the wealth, real estate and buildings that they own now will enter into common ownership.

If it should happen that said husband should die before his said wife, with living children from this marriage, said wife will take and will have on all the property of said husband, without deduction of her half, the amount of two hundred pounds of income annually, which will be paid to her beginning the day of his death, as long as she will live, and in this connection will be constituted a fund for the security of said income.

The survivor of the said couple, if there are children, will take at the death of the other his bed in the condition which it will be, together with clothes, linen and jewels to use as he pleases, all independently of his share.

And as the parties wish to give to each other certain proofs of their reciprocal love, they have made and they make each other by this document entire donation, pure and reciprocal, of all of the wealth, buildings and real estate acquired or to be acquired, in such a manner that said wealth be owed to and acquired by the survivor of the two; said survivor is to accept whatever will have belonged to the first deceased, at the day of his death, provided that at said day there are no children or will not be any from said marriage, otherwise the present donation will be nullified, but will again be in force if said children were to die in minority or before being provided by marriage, all in case that said donation take place, to enjoy by said survivor from the benefit of it as his own property and to use as he pleases, as well as (his heir who causes?), for such is the wish of these parties, who, as proof of their own consent to the present agreement despite all opposition and lack of parents of said wife, have signed in Boucherville this twenty-sixth day of November One Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty-six with Mr. Vigneau, witness and us, notaries, undersigned, after reading, Messrs. Lafrance, Gautier and Letard have put their mark.

(signed) Therese Gibault

    Timothe Boucher de Montbrun

                              Vigneau

Pierre La

x france                     Joseph

                               x Gautier                   Jacques

                                                                Letard

                                         L. Decourville

                                                   Notaire

There are a few things to note about the contract.  The first of which is that Therese’s father had died sometime between 1759 and 1761, but I can’t read French and the church records, of course, have the numbers written out.  Something else about this contract:  it appears that Therese’s mother never gave consent, but they married anyway.  Mrs. Whiteford, however, states in her book that her mother did eventually give consent.  If she did, I am just not seeing it. 

A few items of interest in the book pertaining to Timothy’s childhood (I wish I had found this book before I started this series!):

Timothy was apparently given his first name Jacques after his maternal grandfather, Jacques Racicot.

The above Jacques Racicot was also his godfather.

Pelagie Robin Racicot, his aunt (through marriage of his uncle Charles Racicot) was named his godmother.

The Seven Year’s War happened while Timothy was a child and the word on the street is that as “an old man he would tell of the horrors of this battle, and many seemed to think that he had taken part in this ever memorable battle (to which the author is referring to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, aka the Battle of Quebec”).  According to the Timothy Demonbreun Heritage Society there was a story that Timothy fought in the battle
and was wounded, but they do say it is unlikely since at the time Timothy was only twelve (also mentioned in the book). 

Anyway, it’s important to keep this postnuptial in mind for later in Timothy’s life. 

I have been searching for some, any, information on Timothy Demonbreun’s childhood.  I can’t find anything at all.  Not until he his in his late teens, pretty much well after childhood. 

Timothy was able to grow up in luxury, due to being a member of a “royal” family.  I can’t help but wonder if that’s what led to the way he lived as an adult.  I searched around for something about Timothy’s possible education, but couldn’t find anything.  The only mention of an early school in Boucherville that I could find at all was found here and just mentions that the first boy’s school was opened in 1692.  I’m guessing it’s safe to assume that Timothy attended this school in his youth. 

Timothy was a devout Catholic as an adult, so I can imagine that a large part of his childhood was spent studying catechism. 

After Timothy’s birth/baptism, the next record I can find for him is his marriage record.

Timothy Demonbreun, as Jacques-Timothé Boucher Sieur de Montbrun, married Therese Marguerite Archange Gibault (sometimes seen also as Marguerite Therese Archange Gibault), the daughter of Etienne Gibault and Marie-Catherine Dubois, on November 16, 1766 in Boucherville, Quebec, Canada.  The wedding was officiated by Pierre Gibault, priest in Boucherville, who also happened to be Therese’s cousin.

Again, I apologize for the quality.  And I still don’t know French.