Happy Timothy Demonbreun Day!
The events of the last decade of the 18th century are a little fuzzy concerning Timothy and his families. In 1786 Timothy resigned from the military. By 1790 he moved permanently to Nashville. He still had his wife Therese in Kaskaskia, Illinois and his common law wife Elizabeth in Nashville.
From what I understand, and this is family lore mixed with a bit of fact that I can actually find sources for, is that after Timothy moved to Nashville for good and had a really good trading post/tavern/actual house (the house was situated, from what I understand, at the corner of what is now Third Avenue and Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee) set up, he then moved his Kaskaskia family to Nashville. I can’t say if this is true or not because no one knows exactly when or where Therese died. Different accounts say she died in Boucherville, Kaskaskia, or Nashville. Different accounts say she died anywhere from 1790 to 1800. One family tale that has been passed down for generations is that soon after Therese moved to Nashville she was out riding her horse with little Marie Louise and she was attacked by the Native Americans, with little Marie Louise being torn from her arms and murdered and scalped in front of her, but Therese left unharmed. Another story is that she, too, was (again) kidnapped by these natives, but (once again) escaped. Either way, except for her birth there is no mention of Marie Louise ever again. I find the number of accusations made against different tribes of kidnapping and murder concerning Therese and her children (especially when some children have gone missing) suspect.
Anyway, I don’t know if Therese ever actually moved to Nashville. However, I can only imagine the awkwardness that must have occurred with the situation between Therese and Elizabeth. Apparently some agreement was struck with Elizabeth, because on March 12, 1793 Elizabeth married Timothy’s French/Cherokee friend Joseph Desaque (as it appears on the marriage record itself…though later it will change to all sorts of possibilities, including: DuRat, Durard, Gerard, Durrat…oh, it goes on and on). Oh, even though this post isn’t about Elizabeth, I have to mention this just because it’s funny: Elizabeth gave birth to Joseph Desaque’s son Joseph Dougherty Durard in 1791, a year prior to giving birth to Timothy’s daughter Mary Polly Demonbreun. Yup.
So, anyway, I had mentioned before about the possibility of MORE common law wives for Timothy. Betsy Phillips (author of the blogs Tiny Cat Pants and Pith in the Wind-Nashville Scene, also author of A City of Ghosts, which is a totally fantastic book) in an article for Pith in the Wind describes her discovery of some information contained in the William Alexander Provine Papers (1552-1935, held at the Tennessee State Library and Archives). According to Mr. Provine (and I totally can’t wait to get up to TSLA to see these for myself!):
“Timothy Demonbreun lived with three women as “common-law wives” –his legitimate wife was Agnes Gibeau (close enough, I guess?), the other women were:
1. Elizabeth Himslar
Timothy Demonbreun also lived with a woman by the name of Crutcher, by whom he had no children.
Timothy Demonbreun also lived with Martha (Patsy) Gray, (who was an aunt of Wm Bennett), by whom he had two children – a boy and a girl. They were quite small when Bennett visited them & does not know what became of them, he thinks this woman was from Georgia.”
I wonder how much of that is true? And yes, what did ever happen to these other wives and the children?
hi. i am your visitor from baton rouge. i descend from joseph dougherty durard and wife catharine lnu. i have followed betsy phillips’s articles for a few years. i am not sure who you are, but am participating in a genealogy course on line following joseph dougherty as my project. they are my 3rd ggpts.
Hi Susan!
I descend from Jean Baptiste Demonbreun, a son Elizabeth had with Timothy Demonbreun while she was married to Joseph Durard/Girard/Duraque/etc.
It’s good to meet you! You’re genelogy course sounds exciting! Who is it through?
My grandmother was a descendant of Timothy Demonbreum,I have heard talkabout his wife and his mistress from my mother.My grandmother was born in 1880.She had told my mother her version.Her name was Mary Elizabeth Demonbreum.
Hi Carolyn! I would love to hear the version in your line!