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Jean Bellenfant (abt. 1750 - 1802)

Jean "John" Bellenfant
Born about in Marseilles-lès-Aubigny, Cher, Centre-Val de Loire, Francemap
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 1785 in Virginia, USAmap
Husband of — married after 1797 [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 52 in Rockingham, North Carolina, United Statesmap
Profile last modified | Created 28 Jun 2017
This page has been accessed 848 times.

Contents

Biography

Jean "John" Bellenfant was probably born in approximately 1750 in Marseilles-lès-Aubigny, Cher, Centre-Val de Loire, France. No authoritative link to his birth in Marseilles, France has been established, but it has been frequently surmised that his parents may have been Joseph Bellenfant (1694 - ) and Catherine Desmontes (~1695 - ~1750).

Jean reputedly came to America with the Marquis Lafayette in 1776 and served in the American Revolution with Lafayette. One story is that Jean was a sailor on the ship that brought LaFayette to America and perhaps served in the Navy during the war. So far, no one has documented any “official” record of his service – only references in county histories, in the Bellenfant Bible, and by family tradition, as well as the prevalence of the name Lafayette in Jean's descendants, . "Henry Turner of North Carolina and Joseph Ballanfant [Bellenfant] of Tennessee, and Their Families" by Alvy Ray Smith, FASG, (https://docplayer.net/86351330-Henry-turner-of-north-carolina-and-joseph-ballanfant-bellenfant-of-tennessee-and-their-families.html)

Jean Bellenfant married Louisa Yeoman (1767 - 1797) in about 1785 in Virginia, USA.

Their children were.

  1. Mary Jessaline (Bellenfant) Johnson (1787 - 1875)
  2. Elizabeth C (Bellenfant) Sanders (1787 - 1870)
  3. Susanna Josephine (Bellenfant) Winn (1789 - 1864)
  4. Louisa (Bellenfant) Shields (1792 - ~1881)
  5. John Bellenfant (1795 - 1867)
  6. Joseph Bellenfant (1795 - 1869)
  7. Corinne Mourning (Bellenfant) McClaran (1797 - 1881).

Jean was granted U.S. citizenship on August 16, 1787 in Halifax Co, Virginia and moved to the Dan River Valley of Tennessee in the 1790's.

According to family lore his first wife, Louisa (Yeoman) Bellenfant (1767-1797), died while giving birth at sea in 1797 on the way home from visiting Jean's parents in Marseilles, France. Their newborn daughter, Corinne Mourning (Bellenfant) McClaran (1797 - 1881), survived, and was named "Mourning" to commemorate her mother's death.

Jean married Sally Ray (1768 - ), and she raised the seven children from his first marriage.

Jean purportedly died fighting a fire in May, 1802 at the age of 51. His body was interred at Rockingham, North Carolina. https://christiancomogenealogy.org/index.php/family-histories-2/item/20-johnstons-the-johnstons-from-caskieben-to-missouri "The Johns(t)ons from Casekieben to Missouri"] by Randy McConnell)

Slaves

In 1808: Jean 30 years of age ... value $275 Alley 13 years of age … value $160 Suckey 6 years of age … value $160 Kate 3 years of age … value $100 Patt 28 years of age… value 300 Abram 10 years of age … value 300 Lucinda 8 years of age … value 200 Bellofen-2 Charles 7 years of age Saml 5 years of age … value150 Edmond 2 years of age … value120

Research Notes

  • FamilySearch ID: LH76-HZ6
  • 29 March 1769 has often been cited as an alternative birth date without citation or verifiable source. This seems unlikely if Jean indeed sailed with Lafayette, (as he would have been only 7 years old at the time of Lafayette's first voyage in 1776 and only 11 years old at the time of Lafayette's second voyage to America in 1780). Additionally, Catherine Desmontes, who is most often cited as the mother of Jean Bellenfant, died in 1750. It seems more likely that Jean was born approximately in 1750.
  • Sarah "Sally" Turner is very often cited as Jean's mother, and also as the wife of his purported father, Joseph Bellenfant, from Marseilles, France. This appears to be a mistake in gedcom merges that has been spread throughout the internet. It is well documented that Jean's son Joseph Bellenfant, (Ballanfant) did marry a Sarah Turner in Tennessee on April 22, 1819. There is no evidence whatsoever that there ever was a Sally Turner in France, or that Jean's purported father, Joseph Bellenfant, ever came to America. Someone very likely simply merged the two Joseph Bellenfants, (grandfather & grandson), making Sally Turner both the mother of, and daughter-in-law of Jean Bellenfant. This error has spread like wildfire, and is listed in numerous genealogy databases.
  • Jean's eldest child, Mary Jessaline Bellanfant (1787-1875), married Alexander Johnson, the son of Sally's cousin. (See: "The Johns(t)ons from Casekieben to Missouri" by Randy McConnell)
  • The two oldest daughters of Jean Bellenfant and Louisa Yeoman Bellenfant, (Mary Jessaline Bellanfant (1787-1875) & Elizabeth C. Bellenfant (1787-1870)), were twins.

Repositories:

  • Repository: R01 Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 1300 West Traverse Parkway, Lehi, UT, United States 84043; Ph: 801-705-7000
  • Repository: R02 FamilySearch.org, Intellectual Reserve, Inc (IRI); Location: 50 East North Temple Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84150-0018

Sources

Acknowledgements

  • Thank you to Laura Ellis for creating Bellanfant-2 on 5 Oct 13.
  • Much thanks to Don Leuty for his many contributions to this page.




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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Jean by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Jean:

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