Unmarried
D. after 7 Nov 1731 in (probably) Louisiana, New France2
It’s impossible to know much about the life of Catherine, an Indigenous slave who gave birth to a child fathered by her master Nicolas Chauvin de La Frénière. But the evidence that she existed is written in two documents attached to her daughter, and in the DNA of many of her descendants.
Based on the birth of her daughter Hypolite in January 1718,3 it’s likely that Catherine was born around 1700, although if she was a very young mother she may have been born as late as 1705.1 She was of an indigenous people in Mexico, likely one of the tribes in the southern region (see DNA evidence below). It’s impossible to know if Catherine was born as a slave, or captured later on, so we can only speak in generalized terms of what her early life might have been like.
Map showing tribes of southern Mexico and illustration of a Yucatan woman.
Many of the tribes of early 18th-century northern and central Mexico were nomadic, and if Catherine was born outside of slavery, she may have belonged to a small band of people living off the land. Groups like this were vulnerable to being captured by either Europeans or other Indigenous men to be sold for a profit. Often the captives were worked to death, but sometimes they were used in trades, as seemed to be the case with Catherine.
The place where Catherine came to in Mexico was a garrison along the northern border called Presidio del Norte.4 This was one of many outposts set up to “protect” the colony while it was having a silver mining boom. The Navajos and Apaches were a threat, so putting some of their military on the frontier acted as a deterrent to being attacked.5 The presidios became small remote places where goods could be bartered for, and in the spring of 1717, this brought a group of French men from the Gulf Coast, one of whom was Nicolas Chauvin de La Frénière.6
Chauvin de La Frénière arrived at the presidio in about March or April of 1717.6 He and his colleagues were said to have brought from 40,000 to 60,000 livres worth of goods to trade,6 but little went according to plan. This was mostly because the people of northern Mexico had almost nothing to offer in return. Currency was just about non-existent, and this wasn’t a region rich with agriculture or any other type of production.7
The one thing they had were Indigenous slaves. Soldiers at the presidio were said to be underpaid, and therefore looking for ways to profit for themselves. In his book The Other Slavery, historian Andrés Reséndez wrote, “…garrison commanders and soldiers supplemented their earnings by catching Indians and selling them to the Spanish colonists.”8 From this we can speculate that when some French men came around to trade with them, Catherine would have been offered for barter. More than likely, this was how she fell into the hands of Chauvin de La Frénière. We can date Catherine’s first contact with him to about April 1717, because that’s approximately when she must have become pregnant.
Sometime during the summer, the decision was made by the Frenchmen to return to their home in Mobile (present-day Alabama).6 It’s easy to imagine this must have been a grueling trip for the now-pregnant Catherine, traveling, likely by horseback, across the uninhabited territory between the Rio Grande and the Mississippi River. They must have encountered the hot, humid weather that exists today in southeast Texas. Along with these conditions was the fact Catherine was being taken against her will far away from all that was familiar. Plus the language barrier must have made things even more difficult as she struggled to understand her new circumstances.
Catherine’s baby was born on January 17, 1718, a daughter named Hypolite who was baptized the following day in the Mobile church.3 We may speculate that Catherine continued to live as a slave in Chauvin de La Frénière’s household for at least a few years. He got married in 1724;9 by then he had relocated to the newly established city of New Orleans. One more document mentioned Catherine, and that was the record of Hypolite’s marriage on November 7, 1731, where the bride’s mother was described as “Catherine, former servant of Chauvin de La Frénière.”2 This meant she was living as a free woman, likely part of the Creole culture of early New Orleans.
Creole people of early New Orleans.
DNA evidence of where Catherine was from
Like many people in America who are primarily of European descent, I grew up with a family tradition that we were “part Indian.” This came from my paternal grandmother, Hazel Elwood, and the claim was from her father’s side. Often when genealogy research is done, these types of family stories have no basis in fact. But that wasn’t the case for me — I found two Indigenous connections on my father’s side, and an additional one on my mother’s side, all from French-Canadian fathers.
Of the three, my strongest connection came from Catherine, who was two generations closer to me than the others. My 23andMe test revealed that I have a segment of Native-American DNA on chromosome 10 totaling about .4% of my DNA. The segment clusters with matches in my grandmother’s family, and with people from Louisiana and Texas, a region that isn’t prevalent in my other DNA matches. This led me to believe that this DNA came from Catherine, who has a large amount of descendants tracking through that part of the United States.
Segment on chromosome 10.
This reading also showed up in my results on Family Tree DNA, and the segment has been identified as Amerindian – Central & South Mexico. Others in my family who are on FTDNA have gotten similar results, so this doesn’t seem to be a false read. Ancestry DNA doesn’t measure my Indigenous DNA because it’s under 1%, but my aunt and cousin, who have larger amounts of Catherine’s DNA, have readings of “American Indigenous – Yucatan Peninsula.” By doing a “hack” on my own Ancestry ethnicities, which reveals small amounts that Ancestry doesn’t include in their report, I got a reading of .41% of Yucatan DNA.
Did Catherine have another child?
Among my DNA matches whom I can identify as sharing the segment on chromosome 10, there are 24 who don’t seem to be descendants of Hypolite, and have another person as a most recent common ancestor (MRCA): Joseph Gregoire Guillory (1769-1853).10 I believe this indicates that Catherine had another child, and this may have been Joseph Gregoire Guillory’s mother, Marguerite (born about 1730).
Marguerite was referred to in records as being a negresse, a French designation for having African heritage. While there is no mention that Marguerite was possibly half-Native American, a person who was half-African would likely identify as black. Marguerite had a notable story, in that she had four children with a French man who were openly acknowledged by him, and when he died, his white children wanted to claim Marguerite’s children as their slaves. She had to fight for their freedom in court, which was granted after she paid a sum of money.11
Could these DNA matches have gotten the segment another way? I think the only possibility was if Catherine had a close relative who came with her as a slave from Mexico. But this doesn’t seem likely because it would mean that she and her relative would have been kept together by whoever may have captured her in Mexico, then both traded to Chauvin de La Frénière or another French man who was with him. Given the rough circumstances of people in this time and place, this scenario seems very unlikely.
While I may have found evidence of another child for Catherine, for now this must be looked at as speculation. I’m hopeful that with further DNA study, I’ll be able to draw a more solid conclusion about this.
Child by Nicolas Chauvin de La Frénière:
1. Hypolite Chauvin de La Frénière — B. 17 Jan 1718, Post Mobile, New France;3 D. before 15 May 1758, (probably) Opelousas Post, Louisiana, New France;12 M. (1) Joseph Turpin, 7 Nov 1731, New Orleans, New France;2 (2) Joseph de La Mirande, 19 Mar 1750, Kaskaskia, New France13
Sources:
1 Statement that she was born before 1706 is based on the fact she gave birth in January 1718 and must have been at least 13-years-old then.
2 Marriage record of Hyppolitte and Joseph Turpin, The New Orleans French, 1720-1733: a collection of marriage records relating to the first colonists of the Louisiana Province, Winston De Ville, 1973
3 Baptismal record of Hypolite Chauvin de LaFreniere, Sacramental records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Mobile, Volume 1, Section 1, 1704-1739, Michael L. Farmer and Ann Calagaz, eds., 2002
4 “St. Denis’s Second Expedition to the Rio Grande, 1716-1719,” Charmion Clair Shelby, The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Jan., 1924, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Jan., 1924), p. 200
5 The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America, André Reséndez, 2016, p. 197-198
6 “The Chauvin Brothers: Early Colonists of Louisiana,” Gary B. Mills, Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Spring, 1974), p. 123-124
7 From TexasBeyondHistory.net (Big Bend Presidios): “Life was very hard for the soldiers and scouts of the presidios. They often suffered from hunger, thirst, and lack of sleep and were forced to perform their duties in the most inclement weather with tattered uniforms, damaged weapons, and worn out horses. They worked long hours, leaving them with little time for their families or for instruction in reading, writing, religion, or military arts. Life… was made even harsher by the position of the presidios at the very end of the northern frontier supply line, and a harsh local climate that hindered farming efforts.”
8 The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America, André Reséndez, 2016, p. 205
9 WikiTree listing of Nicolas Chauvin
10 I have built a cluster of DNA matches who share at least some of the segment on chromosome 10, and the majority of them are descendants of Joseph Gregoire Guillory. In addition to the 24 matches with known pedigrees, there are 6 who don’t have known pedigrees and are likely also his descendants. Of these matches, there are 16 who show 1% or 2% Indigenous Americas DNA that's either Mexico or Yucatan Peninsula. Many of these people are descended from Marguerite multiple times which could account for that much south-of-the-border DNA.
11 “Index to Spanish Judicial Records of Louisiana,” The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, 1935, p. 204-212
12 Marriage contract of Joseph Lamirande and Marie Catherine Frederic, establishing that Hypolite Chauvin was deceased, 15 May 1758, Opelousas, Louisiana, The Louisiana Historical Center, Louisiana State Museum
13 Généalogie du Québec et d'Amérique française listing of Joseph Dulignon De LaMirande
