Timothy Demonbreun statue

The French trader, Jacques-Timothé De Montbrun, was born in French Canada, and like other young Canadians, began exploring the area of the Mississippi River and settling eventually in Kaskaskia, Illinois, which Great Britain won as a result of the French and Indian War. He became a trader and began following the routes of the tributaries of the Mississippi, including the Cumberland River, in search of trading opportunities with Native peoples. He came to this area, which was named the French Lick, because of the abundant opportunities for hunting here.

When the Revolutionary War broke out, he received a commission in the Virginia militia because Kaskaskia was considered to be in colonial Virginia. At the end of the war, Virginia then named him lieutenant governor of the Illinois Country. In addition to a new job, he also adopted a new spelling for his name based on what the English and American colonists called him: Timothy Demonbreun, which may look like “demon-bruin,” but it’s actually pronounced Demonbreun. There is still a major street running along the edge of downtown that bears his name. Tourists have been mispronouncing it for years!

Around 1790, he settled in Nashville permanently and opened a store and tavern near here. When the Irish Catholic workmen came to Nashville to build the first bridge across the Cumberland River, he helped to establish Tennessee’s first Catholic Church. When Timothy Demonbreun died in 1826, one of the local newspapers wrote that he was “a venerable citizen of Nashville,” but no one knows where he was buried.

Continue walking up Gay Street. Pass under the Woodland Street Bridge. Just before you reach the Victory Memorial Bridge you will see a Trail of Tears interpretative panel on your right.