Family Ties: the Monotours of Pennsylvania and New Yrok

Our next family is a clan of talented interpreters and traders who successfully bridged the divide between the White and Native worlds.  Though the details are obscured and sometimes confusing, it's still possible to give a rough sketch of this remarkable and talented family.

The matriarch was Isabelle or Elizabeth Couc (1667-1753), the daughter of a French officer and an Algonquian mother.  She was born in Quebec and captured by the Iroquois during her youth, picking up several of their languages.  Like many men who'd had the experience of being raised by Natives, she later made a successful career as a trader and interpreter.  She interpreted for the French military at various forts throughout the frontier, where it was specified that she be paid the same as a man. She became a paid interpreter for the Colony of New York.  Later, she and her family resettled in Pennsylvania.   Like many people of that time period where early mortality was common, she married several times.  One of her husbands was an Oneida leader named Carandawanen, more on him in a later post.  By him, she had at least two children.

Andrew Montour (1720-1772) inherited his mother's business sense and flair for languages.  During the French and Indian War he worked for he British Indian Department, achieving the rank of Captain.  Later, he commanded warriors loyal to the British during Pontiac's Rebellion (1764-1767).  He was granted land in Pennshylvania.  His son, John, served on the American side during the Revolution.

Madame Montour's niece and Andrew's sister, or some sources indicate her niece and thus his cousin, was Catherine Montour, called French Catherine.  She had several children, some of whom joined the family business of interpreting. Margaret, also called French Margaret, married an Iroquois leader and had several children.  She later settled near what is now Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  Like her grandmother, mother and siblings, she was fluent in several languages and was also an interpreter.

 Esther Montour, called Queen Esther by Whites who failed to understand the important place of women in Native society, married a Delaware leader named Echogohund.  She followed him to war, and after his death at the Battle of Wyoming in 1778 (this has nothing to do with the State of Wyoming but was fought in Pennsylvania), she led her husband's warriors.

Her sister Mary, who married a Mingo leader, was fluent in several languages and also served as an interpreter when such was needed.

Roland, another of French Catherine's children, was married to the daughter of a Seneca leader and served on the British side during the American Revolution.  He is said to have died of wounds during an encounter known as the Sugarloaf Massacre in 1780, an battle between Natives and Loyalists on one side, and Patriots and Native allies on the other, which will be covered in a later post.  Despite his British allegiance, his putative grave is marked with a statue.

There are several sites named for this remarkable family, including the town of Montoursville, Montour County, Catherine, New York, Montour, New York, and Montour Falls, New York, just to name a few.