My great grandmother is Therese Alcina Fontenot. She married Ernest Sonnier, Sr., a son of Onezime Sonnier and Lucie Fontenot.  I have Fontenot ancestors on both of my paternal great grandparents.  Let me explain. 

My father Murphy Miller, Sr.’s mother is Evenia Sonnier, daughter of Ernest Sonnier, Sr. and Therese Alcina Fontenot. Evenia Sonner, my Ma-mair or grandmother’s parent are as stated above.  Evenia married by Salomon Miller, son of Antoine Salomon Miller and Ophelia Fuselier. I wanted to find out how many Fontenot/Miller related marriages occurred in my direct paternal-maternal ancestry, i.e., my father’s mother’s family.

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It did not take long, using the reports in my Legacy software that this is the only Fontenot/Miller related marriage on Evenia Sonnier’s mother ancestry. Looking at Therese A. Fontenot’s husband, Ernest Sonnier, Sr.’s, ancestry, I noticed that his parents are Onezime Sonnier and Lucie Fontenot.  Lucie Fontenot is the daughter of Francois Ignace Fontenot and Lucie Joseph Derouen.

There are no other Fontenot/Miller related marriages in Evenia Sonnier’s ancestry family.  It does however beg the question about the kinship or cousin relationship of my great-great grandparents, Ernest Sonnier, Sr. and Theresa A. Fontenot.  This led me to run the Legacy Relationship Report.  The results follow.

Their closest relationship is fourth cousins and they both share common ancestry who is Jean Louis Fontenot and Louise Angelique Henry, their great-great-great grandparents, or in genealogy speak, their 3rd great-grand parents.  But what does this mean and how can I better understand cousin marriages.

​The Table of Consanguinity found in Wikipedia, also known as a relationship chart, enables a better understanding of family relationships.  While this chart

shows up to third cousins, it gives you some idea on how close or distant you are from family relatives.

Well if both Ernest Sonnier, Sr. and his wife went to a family reunion where they visit their common ancestry, Jean Louis Fontenot and Louise Angelique Henry when Ernest Sonnier is 30 years old, how old would his and her 3rd great grandparents be?  Ernest, born in 1861, is 30 years old in 1891.  Jean L. Fontenot, born in 1686 would be 205 years old at this family reunion while his wife Louise A. Henry, born in 1699, would be 192 years old.
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Marital Restrictions
According to Wikipedia, cousins are not included in the lists of prohibited relationships set out in the Hebrew Bible, specifically in Levictus 18:8-18 and 20:11-21 and in Deuteronomy.  Additionally, all marriages more distant than first-cousin marriages are allowed in Roman Catholicism.
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States also have prohibitions regarding who you may marry.  A Wikipedia chart below illustrates.

Laws regarding first-cousin marriage in the United States 
DARK BLUE (FL, GA, etc) - First-cousin marriage is legal
LIGHT BLUE (ME, NC) Allowed with requirements or exceptions
ROSY PINK (MN, IL, IN) Banned with exceptions
RED (LA, MS, AK, etc) Statute bans first-cousin marriage
BROWN (TX, OK, ND, SD, NV) Criminal offense
Some US states recognize marriages performed elsewhere, especially when the spouses were not residents of the state when married
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Summary
In the 21st Century the likelihood of marrying a close cousin has been diminished with modern transportation and education and the change in how we earn a living.  Unlike the 19th and early 20th centuries when the United States was predominately an agrarian society, young adults with better educations move to where employment opportunities are located.  Thus, marrying a cousin is less likely than their parents or grandparents who grew up in the same local.

​Releated Blog: The Pierrottie and Martel Marriages
Books: Pierrottie / Pierrotti / Pierotti Family (2016)
Pierrottie, Pierrotti, Pierotti Photos (2012)    
Chachere Family of Louisiana (2013)

Usually the first thing I do after getting to know someone is ask to see any old pictures they have of themselves and of their families. I love oral history, especially that wrapped around a good photograph. I was elated when I discovered the stash of photographs my mother-in-law, Lou Ella McCauley, kept. Even more exciting was the fact that she was a war bride, and I couldn’t wait to learn the story of those early years.
 
Lou Ella Fontenot grew up in the community of Pointe aux Tigres. She remembers being at school in Basile when war was declared. Everyone, she recalls, knew there was trouble in Europe, but an attack by Japan came as a complete surprise.
 
Helin McCauley, my father-in-law, was raised in L’Anse ‘Prien Noir, a community north of Duralde. He can’t recall how he learned of the war, but speculates it was over his family’s radio – they were the only household in the area with one.
 
Lou met her future husband in the summer of 1942. She was staying with her aunt Lillian [Naquin] Miller in Duralde while her uncle Murphy was away at work. Lillian had been left with 2 daughters and a farm to manage, and needed help. For entertainment, Lou would occasionally go to Piersall’s dance hall in Mamou (located on the same block as Fred’s Lounge) with her cousin “Sis” Fontenot. She remembers that Eugene Daigle, who owned a bus, would drive kids from the country to the hall each Wednesday night. The romance started when Helin asked Lou to dance.
 
Like many young couples, Lou and Helin found themselves separated by the war. Helin was drafted in 1943 and chose to join the Navy. He had originally hoped to join the Cavalry, but was informed that it longer existed. On February 26, Helin left for basic training in San Diego, CA. He had only ever ventured as far as Pollock, LA (where he worked for the Conservation Corps in the 1930s), and while the trip to California was not difficult to make, he did regret having to be so far from home.
 
Life in the Navy was not hard for Helin. He had grown up with hard work on the farm, knew how to shoot from hunting, could already swim. Perhaps the most difficult thing was getting home for leave. He would take the train, the bus, sometimes catch a ride with pilots to various bases. More often he’d hitchhike, which was safe for servicemen (and rather patriotic for drivers) despite the fact that there were fewer cars on the road due to tire and gas rationing. One trip took 17 rides to get to Oakdale, another took 34!
 
Helin’s time with the Navy was memorable. On more than one occasion, due to no fault of his own, he was prevented from joining his fellow sailors at the front line. His first assignment was on an aircraft carrier off the coast of California. Their ship was used for “qualifying”, or training, pilots and Helin’s job was to repair and maintain their airplanes. He next traveled to Brisbane and Pert, Australia (remembered vividly for it boiled mutton consumed for weeks afterward) on route to Karachi, India (now Pakistan). His ship was transporting important equipment and aircraft to the area, and the crew learned upon leaving Australia that no ship had ever made the journey past 5 days. Helin recalls that, unescorted, the boat [ship] maintained a zigzag course; history was made when they arrived unharmed in India. The crew later learned that for part of the way they had been trailed by a submarine.
 
Perhaps Helin’s most lively encounter during his time was the hazing which took place upon crossing the equator. Each initiate stood trial with a judge whose biggest complaint was, “That hair! A working soldier shouldn’t have that!” Each had their hair shaved sloppily, and was passed through various stations of punishment, including one for whippings. In the end, Helin received a card and certificate certifying his new rite of passage.
 
Helin then joined Cajou 5, located on North Island in San Diego, where he worked as an airplance mechanic through “shore duty”. Not long after, he joined a “commando squadron” at a special camp in Point McGoo. Cajou F69, as it was called, was a fighting unit whose purpose was to clear a way on Pacific Islands for landing strips. Instead of shipping out with the group (his squadron was on leave at the time), Helin was sent to 29 Palms in the Mojave Desert where a new type of rocket was being developed and tested. The closest highway was 53 miles from the air base. The war ended before any other missions could come Helin’s way.
 
While most young men from home were in the service, there were few locals in Helin’s immediate area. One day, while out for a walk, he met Octave Fruge from Gueydan. Heline approached him from behind and asked “Et-ou tu deveins, Fruge?” (Where do you come from Fruge?) Octave, never having left home before, was extremely homesick, and it’s easy to imagine how wonderful it felt for him to hear his native tongue again! The two became life-long friends, visiting each other often after the war. The only other Frenchman on board Helin’s ship was S.B. Ardoin of Mamou.
 
Louisiana French culture was certainly new to many sailors, and Helin recalled the time that some of his crew first heard French music. His family had sent some recordings of Amede Ardoin, Leo Soileau and other to his ship – at first, he said, the goup became very quiet, only looking at each other, bewildered. Eventually their feet were tapping along with the music.
 
The old saying “Distance makes the heart grow fonder” certainly held true for this young couple during the war. In March 1944, when Helin returned home on emergency leave, they decided to marry immediately. They obtained a marriage license in Ville Platte and drove directly to St. Ann’s in Mamou. Unsuccessful here, they continued on to St. Anthony’s in Eunice. It was during Lent, a time when marriages weren’t usually held, but the assistant priest performed the ceremony anyway (quick marriages were common during the war, after all). Their witnesses were two individuals who happened to be making the Way of the Cross at the moment. Helin had to immediately return to California, leaving his new wife to care for her mother at home.
 
Letters were the only means of communication the family had with Helin during their separation, so he devised a code to warn his family of impending movement. If a form of endearment was included in the greeting, such as “Dearest Lou”, they knew theat he would be shipping out soon.
 
The couple was united three months later, when Lou made the long, tiring journey to San Diego. Trains, used for transporting troops, offered little space for civilians. Lou remembers having to stand holding a strap all the way to Beaumont. The journey across Texas lasted 32 hours, after which time Lou had no further desire to ever see desert again.
 
The couple was assigned a room in an old house which, despite its simplicity, offered many amenities that the couple had never had before: a telephone, electricity, running water, a bathroom in the house with hot water… Life in the city definitely differed from their lives back home.
 
Rebecca, their first baby, was born in April. Two months later, Helin got word that he was shipping out and the couple agreed that Lou should go back to Louisiana. The train ride home for mother and baby was unforgettable. At supper one evening, an officer explained to her that she was on the wrong section of [the] train – these cars were heading to Chicago! Panicked, unprepared for such a declaration, Lou moved to the correct train cars only to find them overcrowded with no available seats. The two spent the night on the floor between two cars – well shaken and dusty by journey’s end!
 
I wondered how everyday life was affected by the war. The couple explained that farmers and their families suffered less from rationing than those in the cities. While there were plenty of eggs, milk, and meat, canning materials (metal lids, rubber gaskets) were in short supply. Sugar, a precious commodity to all and was often hidden in jars buried in the ground.
 
While in California, the couple was well supplied with meat-rationing coupons from their families, often leaving Lou the envy of other shoppers. Of course, with the men abroad, it was difficult and emotional time for wives, children, and mothers at home.
 
Aviation machinist mate 3rd class [Petty Officer] was discharged on December 3, 1945. He eventually settled in the community of Soileauwhere the couple raised five children; Rebecca (Grand Chenier), Gentry (Tampa, FL), Monica (Reeves), Malcolm (Alexandria), and Cory (L’Anse ‘Prien Noir). Helin and Lou Ella will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary next month.
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The McCauley Family book available for purchase at Lulu.com.

Wilda Anna Martel died at a Tampa hospital on October 29, 2016. She was born in Eunice, LA to Gervis P. "Slim" Martel and Ellenor Fontenot on April 23, 1935.

She is survived by her half-sister, Sandra Martel Roger and husband Nick of Tampa; three stepsiblings; one half-nephew; and four half-grand nephews and nieces.

Wilda Anna was preceded in death by her parents Gervis and Ellenor; her loving stepmother and caretaker, Lillian Martel; her caretaker and great-grandmother, Ernestine Aguillard Savoy; her half-brothers, Rawland and John Martel; and her half-niece, Tara Spicer Mramor.

She will join all her heavenly family in a reunion as God promised in Micah 4:6-7. "I will make the lame (people with disabilities) my remnant…" They are God's chosen ones, his remnants.

Funeral arrangements will be handled by Quirk & Son Funeral Home in Eunice. Interment will be in Savoy
Cemetery. A Memorial Service will be held in Eunice in March of 2017.

At the time of her birth Ellenor Fontenot and her husband Gervis Martel knew that she was God's special gift. Wilda Anna Martel was born in April 1935. Her father, 23 years old at the time and working at what men did at that age for family income. It was three years after Huey Long completed his Governorship term and was now a U.S. Senator. Huey Long was planning to challenge F.D. Roosevelt for the Presidency until his assassination in September 1935. All people were struggling to make ends meet during the depression. It was going to become more challenging for this Martel family.
 
Gervis and Ellenor married in 1931. They were probably unaware that they were 2nd cousins. Their common ancestry is Pierre Savoy (1832-1876) and Eugenie Miller (1836-1924). Eugenie Miller is a descendant of Jacob Miller and Anne Marie Thaison/Theigen.
 
Wilda Anna was almost 2 1/2 years old when her mother Ellenor died in December 1937.  Ellenor was two months shy of 22 years old. Gervis probably had help while attending to a sick wife and an infant daughter. Ellenor's father and mother, David Fontenot and Anna Savoy probably lived nearby. Anna's mother, Ernestine Aguillard Savoy was also nearby. Ernestine's husband, Julien, Wilda Anna's great grandfather, died in 1933.
 
Savoy Cemetery, Eunice, is the final resting place for all persons mentioned in this family. Wilda Anna's great grandmother, died in 1964. Prior to his death in 1994, Gervis, aka "Slim" and "Marty", made plans for Wilda Anna's burial. Her eternal resting place is between him and her great grandmother; Tante Ernestine. That  was what she was called by family member. My mother introduced me to her in the mid-1950s. It was courtesy at that time  to call her "Tante"  because my step-father Gervis called her "Tante". I did not know it at the time but Tante Ernestine was my half 3rd cousin once removed. Our common ancestry is Pierre Placide Savoy and Abelaide Babineaux.
 
Very near Ernestine's tomb is her daughter Anna Savoy Fontenot and Anna’s husband David A. Fontenot. Ellenor Fontenot, their daughter is buried nearby. Ellenor's obituary printed in the Eunice News clearly states that she was married to Gervis Martel. We may never know why Ellenor’s headstone excluded her married name - Martel.
 
My step-father Gervis never talked about the difficulties encountered after his 1st wife's death nor the challenges he faced prior to his enlistment in the U.S. Navy in October 1942. He was honorably discharged in September 1945. Many young men in his age group felt a responsibility to defend their country in WW II.
 
Gervis made pay grade E-6, 1st Class Petty Officer, Carpenter's Mate, during his 3 year hitch. The USS Carina, on which Gervis served most of his enlistment, a cargo ship, supported the Pacific Fleet. It was hit by the enemy several times. A Carpenter's Mate was responsible for the ship's repair while at sea. The USS Carina received three battle stars for WW II service, thus it saw battle action with the enemy on more than one occasion. With the skills learned in the Navy, Gervis worked as a carpenter after his discharge.
 
Wilda Anna was cared for and living in Tante Ernestine's old farm house near Eunice when I first met her in the 1950's. It was out in the country. The house seemed very large with a huge fire place. There was a walkway to the kitchen, a smaller building near the large house. My mother, Mary Lillian Naquin, married Gervis, known as "Slim" to many, in 1948, shortly after her divorce from my father, Murphy Miller, Sr.
 
Also in the 1950's Gervis was offered employment with a Tampa firm that manufactured and installed retail store decor and floor display units. He purchased property near Brandon, FL where the family relocated in 1957. Wilda Anna was still in LA. After Gervis and Lillian became FL residents, Wilda Anna too was relocated to FL. She was in a State home in Marianne, FL, then Acadia, FL. She later resided in a Fort Myers home serving people with developmental disabilities for about 45 years. Wilda Anna relocated to Tampa for health reasons in 2006.
 
Gervis Martel and family came often to visit family in LA. His brother Dewey owned the Shell station on Hwy 190. In June 1957 the Gervis Martel family stayed with Dewey and his wife Rose Sittig as Hurricane Audrey delivered its destruction to Eunice. Vellion "Popsi" Martel and his wife Virginia LeDoux were included in the family visits. Prior to their deaths, Gervis' father Etienne and his twin brother Theogene, attended a family gathering in 1952.
 
At 81.5 years old, Wilda Anna will be laid to rest in Savoy Cemetery, Eunice, LA.  Her earthly struggles are over. She will join all her family in a heavenly reunion as God promised in Micah 4:6-7 (NIRV). " 'The time is coming when I will gather those who are disabled,' announces the LORD. 'I will bring together those who were taken away as prisoners. I will gather those I have allowed to suffer. I will make the disabled my faithful people. I will make those who were driven away from their homes a strong nation. I will rule over them on Mount Zion. I will be their King from that time on and forever.' " They are God's chosen ones, his remnants.

More information on the Martel Family of Louisiana can be found on Lulu.com.

Vernon Clyde Fontenot, age 85, peacefully entered into eternal rest on Friday, October 14, 2016. He was born on October 5, 1931 in Basile, LA to the late Euclede Fontenot and Myrza Miller Fontenot Marcantel. He was preceded in death by his sister, Louella Fontenot McCauley. Vernon is survived by his beloved wife of 61 years, Catherine Giraud Fontenot, loving daughters, Mary Catherine Parrish (late Walt), Judeyanne Coudrain (Mark) and Jeannine DiFulco (Frank). He delighted in his grandchildren: Lauren Coudrain Zeringue (Brandon), Joshua Parrish (Kerri), Caroline Coudrain Janzen (Jeff), Jacob Parrish (Hope), Maria DiFulco Davis (Brian), Claire Coudrain Callon (Mark) and 9 great grandchildren. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Mr. Fontenot was a proud member of the United States Marine Corp. for 4 years, serving stateside and in Japan. He was a retired auditor from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor's staff. He was a founding parishioner of St. Matthew the Apostle Catholic Church. Vernon enjoyed exercising, gardening, reading, camping, traveling and spending time with his family. The family wishes to express sincere gratitude to his caregiver, CeCe, Nurses Registry Home Health and Lakeside Hospice for their loving care. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Mass at St. Matthew the Apostle Catholic Church, 10021 Jefferson Hwy., River Ridge, LA on Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at 12:30 pm, with visitation at the church beginning at 10:30 am. Interment will follow at St. Joseph Abbey Cemetery, 75376 River Road, St. Benedict, LA. Masses preferred in lieu of flowers. Bagnell & Son Funeral Home, Covington, LA in charge of arrangements. See FindAGrave.com for more details.

Vernon's family is included in the following Miller books:
Jacob Miller Family (2015) or Lulu.com and the Antoine Miller & Augustine P Manuel Family book or Lulu.com.