In April 2013 the Ortego Family book was completed. This book is all inclusive of all the Ortego family listed in all of the Rev. Hebert publications through the year 1900, with some minor exceptions where the record could not be linked to other family. Thus if you are researching the Ortego family, you may consider purchasing this book.

The name Ortego was originally Ortega.  The first written records of this Spanish name date back to the 9th century. More about its early history can be read on Wikipedia.

Jean Joachim Ortego’s family can be traced back to the oldest known Ortego family of Antoine De Ortega, spelled with the “a”, and his wife Catalina Berceruelo who were married in 1640. Their great-great grandson was Jean Joachim Ortego.  Jean Joachim Ortego and his wife Maria Josephe D. De Soto are the progenitors of the Louisiana Ortego’s.  Maria is the granddaughter of Louis Antoine Juchereau De St. Denis, the founder of Natchitoches, Louisiana.  Jean Joachim Ortego was born in Spain and married Maria in Orleans Territory, USA. Most of their eight children were born in Southwest Louisiana.

The eight children of Jean Joachim Ortego and Maria Josephe D. De Soto, the progenitors of the Louisiana Ortego families are:

1. Jean Francois, b. 1782, married Eugenie LaRose Fontenot in 1806 and Marie Josephe Lucas Fontenot in 1826;
2. Joseph Gregoire, b. 1782, married Emelie Fontenot in 1810;
3. Denis, b. 1784 and married Felonise Sallier in 1813 and Antoinette Guillory in 1837;
4. Anicete, b. 1788 and married Ophelia Charlot Fontenot in 1812 and Ozitte Landreneau in 1828;
5. Marie Josephe Mathilde, b. 1790, married Philippe LaRose Fontenot in 1803;
6. Joseph Joaquin Marcelin, b. 1792 and married Louise Lejeune in 1817, Modesta Landreneau after 1835 and Melinda Guillory after June 1842;
7. Joseph Marie, b. 1794, married Marie Josephe Pierre Guillory in 1814;
8. Joseph Manuel, b. 1799, married Marie Denise Vidrine in 1821;

This book includes 300 pages of family information. It includes the names of the spouse’s parent’s names when that information was available.  Additionally, it includes all the extended family born to the Ortego ancestor. Occasionally, Rev. Hebert records were incomplete. When that occurred, other sources were used to make the family links.  All information references are footnoted.  For some families, there are thirteen generations of documented history. 

Descendant and Ancestry Family Plus Photos In One Book

In my January blog I discussed the two types of family book presentations. They are the descendant (see relationships and the entire family from the oldest family member) and ancestry method (the pedigree chart where only your family is reported beginning with you and looking backwards into time).

In the hardbound cover “Gus” Miller book there are pictures of the family and its ancestry. Family ancestry charts for Beverly, Barbara, Charles and Michael Veillon for back to their fourth great-grandparents, those born in the 1700s. An article by Carl A. Brasseaux, “The Long Road to Louisiana: Acadian Exiles and the Britain Incident” describes the trip that Jacob Miller and family took from Maryland to Texas, although their destination was New Orleans, and their eventual journey to Louisiana after being held hostage by the Spanish for several months. Moreover this book includes the ancestry of Monette Olga Miller, a Jacob Miller descendant, who married Keith Miller, a George Miller descendant from the UK and in the Jack Miller family of the well known Jack Miller’s BBQ Sauce from Mamou. Yes they are long-distance cousins but not on the Miller family lines.

Included in this book are the Beverly Rita Veillon ancestors. Thus with her family history you see her pedigree chart that includes all the information I had on Lindsey Veillon’s ancestors back to the early 1600s. His ancestry includes Henry Fuselier, born in 1870, Francois Savoye, born in 1620, and his wife Catherine LeJeune; Jean Pierre Commeaux, born 1597, and wife Rose Bagols, born 1631 and Pierre des Autels (Deshotels) and wife Renee LeBrun, both dating back to the 1500s. This pedigree family data is over 150 pages.

Beverly R. Veillon ancestry also includes her mother Anata Vidrine family back to the 1500s, to the parents of Francois Vidrine born in 1599. The oldest ancestor is Gerg DeComeau (Comeau) born in 1450.

In addition to all the above, Gus Miller’s Kinship report is in this book. Family members can see his kinship to all the people reported in these 150 pages of cousins.

As a military veteran, I began documenting all the Miller descendants who served their country. These 16 pages report the men and women and their parents, the service branch and the era such as Civil War, WWI and II, Korean and Viet Nam conflicts. It also reports non-combat veterans’ like me.

This hardbound cover 708 page book is tailored to the Gus Miller descendants and it gives their complete ancestry in addition to many photos. It may be purchased at www.lulu.com. The softbound and less expensive version without the pictures can be purchased HERE.

Part 1 – The Jacob Miller Family & Photo Books

In my January 2013 blog I discussed the two basic methods of presenting family information. One method is the descendant order and the other, the ancestor order. In this blog I will discuss one book that I have published and attempt to describe its contents. All the books are hardcover with a color front and back cover.

The descendant order books, i.e. the oldest ancestor and his wife followed by his children and his children’s children, etc., may generally be identified by the name on the book. All the books available at www.lulu.com include the following:

The Jacob Miller Family, volume I, II and III

The Jacob Miller Photos, volume I, II and III

Pierre Valcour Miller Family

Jean Baptiste Gauce Miller Family

Chachere Family

Loranzo (Laurent) Sturlese & Pierre (Larche) Achee Families

Naquin Family

Pierrottie, Pierrotti, Pierotti Family

Pierrottie, Pierrotti, Pierotti Photos

Patrick McCauley Family

The Jacob Miller Louisiana Family, volumn I, II and III contain all the family information organized in descendant order. The printer’s page limitation per book does not allow the entire family information in one book. Accordingly your family history is included in each volume. If you want to purchase information on all the Jacob Miller family accumulated to-date, you must purchase all three volumes. The index at the end of volume III will direct you to all the pages of your family history.

In addition to the family relationships, there are three volumes of family photos. The photo hardcover books are organized, basically, by family lines. All volumes are complete and stand alone books with all the Jacob Miller and Anne M. Theigen family photos and documents in volume I, II and III plus specific descendant family photos. The Jacob Miller Photos, Volume I, contains the Jacob Miller, Jr. family photos and photos and documents for Catherine Miller and Balthazar Marks, Jr. and all the Frederic Miller family photos. The volume I, II and III Table of Contents list the families and the number of pages devoted to those family photos.

The Jacob Miller Photos volume II includes, in addition to the Jacob Miller and his children's documents as stated in the above paragraph, any photos and documents for the Antoine Miller and Augustine Pierre Manuel family and those of Gerald Miller families. All of these families are descendents of Jean Miller and his second wife Marie Magdeleine Boutin. Because of family connections, i.e. my mother marrying her second husband Gervis P. Martel, also a Jacob Miller descendent, his family line will be included in this volume. Gervis P. Martel is a descendent of Jean Miller and his first wife Marie F. Mayer and their son Andre Alexis Miller. Additionally my Godparents Cleveland Duplechain and Pauline Manuel are included. Cleveland is a descendent of Jean and his first wife M. F. Mayer and their daughter Marie Victorie Miller. See the Table of Contents for the family photos in volume II and review a different page for specific photo descriptions in the book.

The Jacob Miller Photos volume III includes in addition to the Jacob Miller and his children's documents as stated in the above paragraph, any photos and documents for families who lived in Cameron and Vermillion parishes. These families are descendents of Jean and Marie Magdelaine Boutin and their children Jean Baptiste Miller, Joseph Ozincourt and Pierre Valcour Miller. Additionally, it includes the family descendents of Jean and his first wife M. F. Mayer and their children Baptiste Ursin, Francois Xavier, Jean Louis, and Michel Miller. See the Table of Contents (bottom of page) for the family photos in volume II and review a different page for specific photo descriptions in the book.

In summary, there are several descendant family books available. This blog discussed the details, content and organization or presentation of both the Jacob Miller family and photo books.

Genealogy is defined in Wikipedia as “…the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history.” When you open a genealogy book and attempt to understand a person’s family history the presentation of descendants from the oldest to the youngest person is generally overwhelming. There is so much information about all the people that it can take a long time to understand a person’s ancestry. However we have this innate desire to understand who we are and reviewing a book about our oldest ancestor with our same family name is in our DNA, or at least most of us.

There are two basic ways to present family information. One is the descendant order and the other, the ancestor ordered. But which is more meaningful? It depends on what you are looking for.

If you want to know all of the descendants from your oldest ancestry line with your same last name and all the other descendants from that oldest ancestor, for example my Jacob Miller family, then you want the descendant ordered book. So Jacob Miller and Anne Marie Theigen had nine children. Those nine children had children and their children had children, etc. When I follow all the family offspring, I am the seventh generation from Jacob and Anne M. Theigen. Thus I am listed as the son of Murphy Miller, Sr. in the middle of Vol. II, of three volumes with 1,340 pages. From the descendant presentation, you can determine your relationship to your parents, grandparents, 2nd great grandparents, 1st cousins, 1st cousins once removed, 2nd cousins, etc., etc. A relationship chart can be challenging and may take time to understand, however, from a book presenting descendants, you can determine your relationship to other descendants.

The other basic way to present your family information is to start with you and your siblings and look back to your ancestors. Using me as an example, my parents are Murphy Miller, Sr. and Mary Lillian Naquin. My father’s parents are Salomon Miller and Elvina Sonnier. My mother’s parents are Olan Naquin and Bernice Pierrottie. In my ancestor presentation I would know Elvina Sonnier’s parents, grandparents, etc. I would also have my maternal grandmother Bernice Pierrottie’s family history; her parents and grandparents, etc. My ancestry presentation is 261 pages while my children’s ancestry, which includes my wife’s family is 280 pages. My grandchildren’s ancestry numbers 300 pages in length.

You know that your parents are the second generation from you. Your parents had a father and mother. Now there are four more people who have ancestors. As you look back, the number of ancestors continues to grow and all with different last names, except for your last name ancestor, that you must follow to understand where you came from. If you placed this on a chart you could see that your father is above your name and your mother below. From your father and mother’s chart line there are two persons above and below them, their father and mother, your grandparents. This chart presentation of your ancestry is called a Pedigree Chart which has Ahnentafel numbering. You are number one; your parents number two, with continual numbers as far back as you can trace your ancestry.

In summary, if you are interested in your family name and all the people born from that oldest ancestor, then the descendant family presentation is what you want and what you generally find in the market place for sale or in the library. If on the other hand you want to know who your family ancestors are, your pedigree, your last name and your mother’s parents’ history and her grandparents’ history then the Ahnentafel presentation is your choice. Paying someone to do this research could be very expensive. It would be rare to find your Ahnentafel family book in any library.