Sefroy Iott has been a difficult man to follow because of the various spellings of his name throughout his life. I would only guess this happened because of the French accent that his parents would have had, coming from Quebec. I originally found the spelling Cefroy in Missouri, along with Lifrois and Giffory. In looking for his last name, I would also search in the A’s (Aiot, Ayotte), H’s (Hiot, Huot, Hyot), J’s (Jott, Joit), U’s (Uhot) and Y’s (Yot) in all records.

First name: Cefroy, Lipros, Lifrois, Syfroy, Giffory, Gisisfroit & Sifroid

Last name: Aiot, Ayotte, Aot, Ayot, Ayette, Joit, Jott, Huit, Hayot, Huot & Yot.

In re-reading all records I had in his file, I was able to connect Sefroys’ father Joseph to the Quebec HUOTS in the Chambly region near Montreal. Sefroy's great-great-great-grandfather is Mathurin Huot, who emigrated from France to Quebec in 1671. View the family history here.

I found the marriage of his parents from the St. Charles Borromeo Church, St. Charles, Missouri records. It reads:

Joseph Huott and Joachine Cotte, In the year 1812, the 7th of Jannary, after the three publications of the banns, I received the mutual consent of Joseph Huott and Joachim Cotte; not having found any diriment impediment, I married them according to the rules of the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church in the presence of the undersigned witnesses. In the faith of which I have signed the present act.

Francois Duquette, Joseph Huot, her mark Joachim Cotte, Collin, Prieur, Dufrene, Marie Joseph Dunand: Priest cure'

There is also a Justice of the Peace document from the Territory of Louisiana, District of St. Charles:

I, the undersigned, justice of the peace of the District said above certify that this day the 6th of February in the year of Our Lord, 1808, I have united in legitimate marriage Mr. Joseph Knot (spelled "not") majority age and legitimate son of Mother Not and of Joseph Robert, the father and mother, with Joachine Cote, daughter of Alexis Cote and of Elisabeth Dodier, the father and mother, the majority age lady procedding under the authority and consent of her father, present here, in the faith of which I have signed presently.

Carbonneaux, witness L. Tayon, Cotte, Jh Not, St. Paul Lacroix, Simon Coussot, Jh Cote, Courtemoins, Alexis Cote, Yoste Cote, Joachine Cote, Gabriel Lachange, L'an Gay Duquette G P.

The baptisimal records of the St. Ferdinand Catholic Church in Florissant, MO on page 149 shows this:

• Dec 28 1815, baptism of Syfroy Yot, born Nov 29 last (1815), of the legitimate marriage of Joseph Yot and Joachimme Cote; godfather - Antoine Smith; godmother - Marie Jarmot.

Also listed under these same parents are the other children; Josette (Nov 1812) and Charles Joseph (Dec 22, 1813)

I visited this church on a recent trip to St. Charles. It was about 9 miles as-the-crow-flies. I have some pictures and there is a website about the old church. The actual church he was baptised in was a log cabin church that is no longer there, but I have to think they were probably there in the years he was growing up. The Old St. Ferdinand Shrine in Florissant, Missouri is the Oldest Catholic Church between the Mississippi and Rocky Mountains, constructed 1819-1820.

• http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/oldferdinand.htm
• http://www.explorestlouis.com/factSheets/fact_oldStFerdShrine.asp?PageType=2

Not much information is found on Sefroy in his younger years, but by his 19th birthday he is on the Green River in Wyoming with Fontonelle in 1834. At the age of 23, he marries Elionitte Janis (1818-1905), daughter of Antoine Janis and Margaret Thibault/Tebeau. The marriage takes place on February 21, 1838 at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in St. Charles, MO, under the spelling Lifrois Hiut. Listed as attending is a who's who of this family. View

They had three children baptized at the St. Charles Borromeo Churchin St. Charles, MO:

• Marie Felicite, born is empty, baptised on April 13 1845
• Emilie Sophie, born April 21, 1840, baptised May 10, 1840 View
• Marguerite Philomena, born Dec 11 1838, died

The 1850 census has Sefroy and Eleonide living together with her brother, Antoine Janis, Jr. in St. Charles, MO. View

In 1860 Eleonide is living in St. Charles, MO with daughter Emilie and her first husband Eunebe Longtin. View

In 1870, Eleonide is living with daughter Emilie and her second husband Peter Lenaugh in St Charles, MO. View

In 1880, Eleonide is in St. Charles, MO with the Peter Lenagh family as Eleanore Iott, white, 64 year old female. View

In 1880, Sefroy Iott is living in Dakota, Meyer County, on the Rosebud Agency as white, male, age 62, occupation is a Freighter, born Missouri. View

By 1900, Eleonide has moved to Sheridan County, Nebraska and is listed as Eliott Eott, widowed head of household at 81 years old, with Philip Laugton - grandson, age 34 and Francis Lenagh - grandson, age 14. View

Sefroy had left Eleonide between 1850 and 1860, and was by then living with his Indian wife and children on the Spotted Tail Agency (Rosebud Indian Reservation). He was married June 9, 1877 at Christ Church to Ellen - Indian, after having lived together about 20 years. The same document has Sefroy and Mary's daughter Mary (age 17) marrying John O'Brien (age 27) on August 6th of the same year. View marriage record here.

In his new life, Sefroy is usually listed as a freighter, interpreter or a guide, showing up in the lands around Fort Laramie, Western Nebraska, and the new Rosebud Reservation of South Dakota. In 1854, he is listed as an interpreter at Fort Laramie, Wyoming at the Grattan Massacre. The records at Fort Laramie show that Sefroy was active there between 1864 and 1868. He is listed on a document selling 2 horses to the 11 th Ohio Civil War regiment, a letter to Congress requesting good agricultural land for 100 white men with half-breed children, and an affidavit of frauds and abuses committed by one Major Loree, Indian Agent. The documents are interesting to read and see that he was very well spoken. Probably one of his most important roles was being one of the interpreters for the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. This the treaty that promised the Black Hills to the Indians.

The book With My Own Eyes, by Susan Bordeaux Bettelyoun and Josephine Waggoner, claims that Sefroy had four wives while in South Dakota. She has this information on page 41:

"Another old timer at Laramie was Sefroy Iott. He was an old fur trader. His first wife had one child; the second wife was a sister to the elder wife-she had four children. These all died of tuberculosis. Iott married a fourth time a relative of my Uncle Swift Bear, she never had any children. There are descendants of Iott living today."

I have created a chart to try to visualize the different families of Sefroy.

Another way to look at the different family groups is this Outline of Ancestor Chart.

I have also made a timeline that shows his entire life.

This information has been found through Census records:

The 1900 Federal Census for District 45 of the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Meyer County, SD lists Mary Ellen Iott, age 63, she had six children and one is still living in 1900. Her son Henry Iott is living next door, age 30 (born 1869-70), married 7 years; wife is Martha, age 27, she has had three children born; Amos, age 5; Lizzie, age 3; Winnie, age 8/12.

The 1910 Federal Census for District 125, Rosebud, Todd County, SD lists Henry Iyott age 40, Martha age 36, Amos age 16, Lizzie age 13, Winnie age 11, Mary age 8, and Alfred age 3.

Also in 1910 Joseph Iott is listed in District 124, Rosebud, Melette County, SD. He is 28 and his wife is Jennie, age 32, married 1 year. It is her second marriage, she has had three children and none are alive in 1910.

A 1917 WWI Draft Registration card shows that Amos Iott was born July 3rd, 1895.

By 1920, Henry Iyott is 50 years old and listed in District 198, Township 36, Todd County, SD. He and Mary are living with Louis Red Bird and his wife Lizzy (Iyott). Under Henry is his wife Mary and five children: Winnie, Mary, Alfred, Amelia L., and Cyphier, a son age 10 months.

I have quite a few letters copied for me at Fort Laramie, WY that pertain to Sefroy Iott. He was a U.S. Interpreter between the government and the Sioux Indians that he was living with.

One letter is dated Oct 24, 1864: Testimony taken before Lieut. Geo. H. Williams Asst. Pro. Marshal Genl. in relation to certain frauds and abuses committed by one Major Loree, Indian Agent. It is facinating and shows that he speaks well. View PDF here - Click here to download a free copy of Acrobat Reader from the Adobe website to view PDF's

There is an interesting story written about Sefroy Iott by Charles Hanson, Jr. (former curator of the Museum of the Fur Trade, in Chadron, NE)

"Many people described Sefroy Iott in retrospect as "a man of small means." He was one of the many who spent their whole adult life on the frontier without accumulating either fame or fortune to any satisfying degree.

He came from Missouri. It appears that the first "Ayot" transferred to St. Louis with the garrison of Fort Chartres when that post was surrendered to the English in 1765.

In common with many of his boyhood companions, Iott went to the mountains as soon as he was old enough. In 1834 on the Green River, Fontenelle wrote him an order for $27.00 for services rendered the expedition to the mountains that year. Later he worked for the opposition firm of Pratte & Cabanne and finally came to Fort Pierre about 1846 as an employee of P Chouteau Jr. & Co.

At St. Charles, Missouri about 1838 Iott married Leonide Janis, sister of the frontiersmen Nicholas and Antoine Janis. The St. Charles baptisimal records list three children by this marriage: Margaret Philomena (1838), Emilie Sophie (1840), and Marie Felicite (1845). However, in later life Mrs. Iott referred to her only daughter Emily - the other two children may have died in infancy.

In 1847 Sefroy Iott appears in the records as a godfather for the daughter of Jean Janis in St. Charles but a conclusive rift developed in the family soon after. He eventually ended up in the Platte country and is noted with an Indian wife named "Ellen" by 1857.

Iott was an interpreter at Fort Laramie ( Wyoming) when the Grattan Massacre occurred in 1854. He was in the Oglala camp about a mile from the first fighting and barely escaped with his life. During the next ten years he lived around Fort Laramie with this Sioux wife, trapping, guiding and trading in a small way with the Indians and emigrants. He usually had enough Indian ponies to move his family about but appeared generally to be in reduced circumstances. He apparently had a second Indian wife by 1860 because Episcopal missionary records show the marriage in 1877 of John O'Brien to Mary Iott, who was born in 1860 to Sefroy and Mary Iott. Mary was also the mother of at least two of his sons.

When the abortive attempt was made in 1865 to move the friendly Indians and squawmen away from Fort Laramie, Iott was with the caravan commanded by Captain Fouts. In the ensuing revolt of the Indians, he claimed to have lost thirty-six horses. After the fight, he returned to the Fort Laramie vicinity.

In the treaty of 1868 at Fort Laramie he appears as one of the interpreters for the Oglalas. He was also one of the interpreters selected by the Peace Commission to assist in moving the Indians to Whetstone Agency on the Missouri that same year, being appointed May 27, 1868, and discharged September 7 1868. After reaching Whetstone, Iott submitted a claim for flour and bacon furnished the Indians enroute from Fort Laramie. Captain Poole, the new agent, forwarded the claim with the statement, "The claimant, who is legally incorporated and located with the Indians at this Agency, is a very worthy man and deserving of any assistance that can be extended him."

In April 1870, Iott was one of the men who wrote the Commissioner saying that they were asked to use their influence in getting the Indians to move and that most of their property had been used up by the Indians. In return they wanted land upon which each of them could settle. Nothing, of course, was ever done to comply with the request.

In 1873 he was working at new Whetstone Agency on White River as a "sub-farmer" in charge of certain bands of Indians. The Iotts were listed in Agent Howard's 1875 census at the new Spotted Tail Agency with three boys and three girls. That same year Iott served as interpreter for Colonel Collins in a council at Spotted Tail Agency on the Black Hills problem. Collins wrote that Iott had then spent over thirty years with the Sioux. He was apparently well-liked by the Indians, who called him "Stand In The Prairie".

He also enjoyed the good-will of Agent Howard. In a letter to the Commissioner Sept 20, 1875, the latter included Iott in a list of men recommended for continuance of rations when it appeared that many whites at the Agency should be stricken from the rolls. Sefroy Iott died in Northwest Nebraska July 15, 1885. One of his mixed-blood sons, William, died at Spotted Tail Agency in 1875. In 1891 his Indian wife Mary was listed on the Rosebud Census, at age 54 years of age, with sons Henry 21 and John 17.

After the death of their daughter Emilie, Iott's first wife, Leonide, cared for seven orphaned grandchildren and the Janis brothers brought them all to Northwest Nebraska in the 1880's.. Mrs. Iott was a favorite with all her neighbors and there were many expressions of regret when "Grandma Iott" passed away at Rushville, Nebraska, June 28, 1905. A number of descendants live in South Dakota and Nebraska."