While researching my Fontenot ancestry I discovered many Fontenot relatives. In using The Fontenot Family, 1900-1903, aka the Fontenot book, I found it challenging to follow all the relationships notwithstanding the excellent methodology used. I researched the Fontenot book until the pages fell apart. An abundance of family information and photos also allowed many new discoveries with the many resources online. Therefore, I gave thought to rewriting the entire Fontenot family book. I found that with the database that I have accumulated, more than 70,000 names, it would be too costly to purchase and not many people would want such a large book with so many details. Where possible, I have collected obituaries, photos and using the Rev. Hebert records, proving the family relationships when possible. Whether I can print the Rev. Hebert references when publishing the book is yet to be determined as there are many references the family relationships. Staying organized and not missing important family relationships is also very challening.
With more than 20 years of researching the Fontenot’s and connecting them to the Deshotel, Duplechain, Hebert, Fuselier, Guillory, Miller, Martel, Marcantel, Manuel, McCauley, LeJeune, Leger, Landreneau, Lafleur, Ortego and many other families, the family data collected and entered into the Philippe Fontenot (1717-1806) family book would fill, to date, three volumes. Those books would have with two 800-page books and one 300-page book. Thus, the more than 1,900 pages is still an overwhelming collection of family information.
There is no anticipated completion date for this project, but I will continue to collect and enter the family information until its completion. I am also working on the Bergeron family book. Currently, I have three different Bergeron family lines; Nicholes Bergeron, (b. 1740), Celestin P. Bergeron, (b. 1480) and Pierre Bergeron (d. 1824). I hope to connect these three Bergeron ancestors into one family. There are about 20 marriages of Fontenot’s and Bergeron’s.
If you have family data to contribute to enhance these two books, please advise me via email or Facebook. Contact information: [email protected].
Books available now: Antoine Miller Family (2021), Chachere Family (2023), McCauley Family (2021), Pierrottie Family (2022), George E. Pettifield (2022), Ortego Family (2014), Jean Louis Miller Family (2022), Joseph Ozincoutt Miller Family (2022), Michel Miller Family (2021), and others at FamilyAtLouisiana.com.
See also: Fontenot blog, Bergeron blog