Jacques Mete

Recently Debra Metty Beveridge wrote to me with this inquiry: Happened across some interesting information when I was looking up something on the Lewis and Clark expedition for our fifth grade curriculum. There was a Jacques Mete who was an interpreter to the Indian tribes during this trip. He's mentioned in their journals and referred to by L & C as "Mr. Metty". I looked up some of the Indian Treaties with the U.S. govt., and he's listed as an interpreter for the govt. for almost every single one! It must be the same Jacques Mete as our grandfather, don't you think? My response: I was delighted to receive your information concerning Jacques Mete. I found your comment about his being mentioned in the L & C journals and referred to as Mr. Metty very intriguing. I tried searching the journal online and was unsuccessful in finding any references to Jacques. However, this Jacques cannot be our immediate ancestor, although I do believe that he is related. I have been attempting to find information on for a good many years. Here are a few notes I have found concerning the expedition: "The captains drew their men from three principal sources: Anglo-American frontiersmen from the Ohio Valley, U.S. Army enlisted men, and the French settlers of Illinois and Missouri." "Some backwoodsmen from the Illinois and Missouri settlements may have joined during the winter, but for a number of men there is no indication of when and where they first joined or whether they were already in the army. All those not already in the military service who were chosen for the permanent party enlisted as soldiers, except York, Clark's slave, and George Drouillard, the civilian interpreter and hunter. Two French boatmen with experience in the Indian trade on the Missouri, Franois Labiche and Pierre Cruzatte, enlisted for the permanent party. " "Most of the returning Frenchmen were certainly engagés—hired boatmen—who had been with the expedition from the start. It is quite clear from the records that the captains regarded their status to be entirely different from that of the enlisted men. They were not soldiers and did not require the same care in record keeping as that demanded by the army. Clark's usual difficulties in spelling were compounded with French names, and Lewis's spelling of French names was not much better." You must remember that our direct ancestor Jacques Mete was married in 1730 in Boucherville and the time of the Lewis & Clarks expedition was 1803-1806, so by age alone this Jacques who is listed as an interpreter is disqualified. However, the Jacques married in 1730 did have a grandson, son of Joseph, who was named James and born on 30 November 1777 at Assumption, Sandwich, Canada and this individual would be of the proper age for the time period in question. The Peoria Historical Society provided the following: Jacques Mette lived in the New Village from 1801? until 1812. In 1812 the village was burned by Captain Thomas Craig and his troops after a raid on the village. Bradley University in Peoria stated: We found mention of Jacques Mette in The Inhabitants of Three French Villages at Peoria, Illinois. Listed under "Dwellers in La Ville de Mailet" is Mette, Jacques, 1801?-1812 while under Trading House is Mette, Jacques; court interpreter, 1825 and Mette, Marie Louis, nee Dervin, wife of Jacques. In the Illinois Territorial Papers page 229 - reference is made to interpreter Mette as being an employee of Governor Edwards. Pages 378-383: Memorial to Congress from the inhabitants of Peoria list among it signatures that of Jacque Mette; page 401: In a letter from Governor Edwards to Secretary of War, dated 30 Sep 1816, Kaskaskia Illinois Territory, Jacques Mette is listed as an interpreter of the Pottowatomie language. His compensation being one dollar and one and a half rations per day he was born at Detroit while that post belonged to Great Britain. This last entry is the most substantial clue I have found connecting him to our line of descendant. He is also listed in the Kansas Territorial Papers as being the interpreter for many of the Michigan Indian tribes in their treaty negotiations. Among them, are the Kickapoos, Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottowatomie. So there you have most of what I know about the Jacques Mete who was alive at the time of the Lewis and Clark journey. If anyone else has supportive facts or details concerning this individual, I hope that you will share them with us.