Josephte Nancy Deschamps

  General Notes:

According to a Manitoba affidavit, Isabelle, Nancy's daughter said that Nancy was a half-breed, just as I knew from reports I read.

Isabelle on her affidavit says her mother's name is Nancy; Marie says her mother's name is Josephte

The reason why I believe Nancy and Josephte are the same person is because I found a record noted by Eileen Horan, from Metis Families CD136 2000 Eddition volume 1. It says Jean Baptiste Adam married Marie Mitchell dit Deschamps, daughter of Colonel David Dawson Mitchell and Josephte Nancy Deschamps, 29 Jan 1872.


The article about DD Mitchell says that “white traders returning to the States often abandoned their mixed-blood families on the frontier, but Mitchell’s marriage may have ended in tragedy. In a journal entry dated Sept. 1, 1837, during a period when he was recording the almost daily deaths from smallpox, stated, “Mitchel’s squaw fell to day.” The victim of the prairie scourge of 1837 probably was David Dawson’s wife. Although precise identification is impossible, the American Fur Company records do not show another man of that surname on the Upper Missouri during this time. I believe this to be Josephte Nancy Deschamps. I found a Metis genealogy report showing Mitchell married to Josephte Nancy Deschamps and they had a daughter named Marie Mitchell (not to be confused with Josephte’s sister Marie). They also had a daughter named Isabelle according to a Manitoba affidavit completed by Isabelle.

In August 1833, Prince Maximillian was with David Mitchell at Fort McKenzie and befriended Mitchell's wife, known as Mrs. David Mitchell, a cree Metis according to Karl Bodmer's Studio Art book. He was married some time to her until her probable death of smallpox 1837. This was undoubtedly Josephte.

Josephte married Colonel David Dawson Mitchell, son of Charles Mitchell and Mary "Polly" Garth Mitchell, in 1834 in Fort Union. (Colonel David Dawson Mitchell was born on 31 Jul 1806 in Virginia Louisa county, died on 23 May 1861 in St. Louis and was buried in Calvary cemetery St. Louis.). The cause of his death was Jaundice.