​Annie Mae, born November 5, 1918, is the granddaughter of Eugene Miller and Josephine Angeline Sturlese. Her mother, Azena is the 5th child of thirteen born to Eugene and Angeline. Annie Mae’s family achieved notoriety in several ways.
 
Annie Mae's grandfather was a very successful cattleman in Cameron Parish. Born in 1857, Eugene continued the work of his father Pierre V. Miller, A Civil War Veteran. In “Eugene Miller Early King of Cattle” by Nola Mae Ross, 1989, it stated “…Eugene Miller…became the pioneer patriarch of the cattle industry on the big ridge. "Eugene Miller is a ranchman with great herds of cattle, and he devotes most of his time to riding a horse, " reported one early newspaper. Starting out with a small heard of wild marsh cattle, Miller built a cattle empire which he operates with four of his sons and five sons-in-law.”

  
My parents [Annie Mae's parents], Ozena Miller and Charles Richard, lived with my grandparents, so I remember them very well. My grandfather's life was tied up with his cattle. He had thousands of them." "I remember the cattle drives when they took cattle to summer pasture or to market. Most of the cattlemen along Grand Chenier would meet at our home and leave from there for Mulberry Ridge and Chenier Oau Tigre." "I helped my mother make the syrup cookies that they always carried in their saddlebags. Sometimes the men were gone for a month."
 
“Another granddaughter, Corrine (Mrs. Steve Canik) of Grand Chenier, whose parents were Louise Portier and Arceneaux Miller, remembers living near her grandparents. "The old homestead, which we visited often, was a large house with four big bedrooms upstairs and four more downstairs. There was a huge dining room and kitchen, plus the usual outhouses in back." Her father, Arceneaux, was a cattlemen, as were several other sons of Eugene - Severin, Prevat and Leazima [M. Miller comment: Leazima is a daughter who married Alcie Theriot] - and also sons-in-law Pete Broussard, Charles Richard, Sosthene Broussard, David Doland and Steven Carter. Two of Eugene's sons were Dr. Martin O. Miller, who practiced in New Orleans, and Dr. Laurent O. Miller, who practiced medicine in Grand Chenier from 1911 until his death in 1949.”

“Dr. Miller also told of the first pair of shoes he got when he was six. "They were quickly discarded as they were stiff and uncomfortable, with uppers and a row of buttons down the side." His daughter, Annie Laura Miller of Baton Rouge, recalls their Sunday dinners, with most of the uncles and aunts and cousins gathering at Eugene Miller's home. "We thought we were rich when grandpa got us a ball and bat so we could play baseball." Another of his daughters, Marilyn Miller, lives in New Orleans. “
 
“There is one living child of Eugene Miller - Melicia (Mrs. Sosthene Broussard), who is 93 years old and lives on Pecan Island near her son, Harris Broussard, and daughter, Florence (Mrs. Steven Broussard). She recalls attending the little Miller school and then later going to Mt. Carmel Catholic School in Abbeville, before coming home and marrying Sosthene Broussard of Creole.”
​
“Dr. Barbara Doland Coatney of McNeese, the daughter of Estelle Miller and David Y. Doland and granddaughter of Eugene and Angeline Miller, has collected a great deal of history on the family. She estimates the descendants run into the hundreds in this area alone.”
 
“The Miller family made a great impact upon the cattle raising business in Grand Chenier, beginning at a time when cattle were wild, long-horned and skinny marsh animals, and building it into a profitable industry. Eugene Miller, pioneer cattleman, had a long list of descendants who have branched out into many different professions and who are still contributing much to the improvement of the world around them.”

​Martin Richard, Sr., Annie Mae’s oldest brother, said of his oldest brother Henry “Harry” Richard: “Regarding my brother, Harry, receiving the Purple Heart.  As I recall during the battle at St Lo [it served as a strategic crossroads in July 1944. American bombardments caused heavy damage and the city was 95% destroyed. With the high number of casualties, the martyr city was called “The Capital of Ruins”], Harry was in a jeep that ran over a land mine and was injured. He was very lucky because the other passengers in the jeep were critically injured or killed. Harry was chosen as the exemplary soldier in his division or company and was sent home for two weeks vacation during the Battle of the Bulge.  Lucky again.  The group I was in along with everything the 8th Air Force could muster flew at 10,000 feet to more accurately blast a path through the German Front Lines at St  Lo allowing American troops to break through.  Normally we flew at 25 to 30.000 feet.  So he was on the ground at  St Lo and I was in the air.”
 
Martin Richard was a highly decorated veteran as well. The following was written by Cyndi Sellers in the Cameron Parish Pilot in July 2009”
 
“Martin Richard, a resident of Metairie, formerly of Grand Chenier, was among 38 American veterans receiving high tribute in France as part of this year's D-Day commemorations. He was one of three Louisiana World War II veterans chosen to receive France's highest decoration, the Legion of Honor.

The veterans enjoyed an all expense paid trip, courtesy of the French government, had their own personal military escort, and were treated royally.

On June 6, the veterans participated in ceremonies commemorating the 65th anniversary of D-Day, also attended by President Obama, French President Nicholas Sarkozy, and Prince Charles of England. The ceremonies took place at the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer.

, 
On June 22, the Louisiana House of Representatives and Senate honored the three veterans with concurrent resolutions, and afterward they were guests of Gov. Bobby Jindal in his office. The resolution recognized Richard for participating in 9 firing missions in France and 26 firing missions Germany while serving in the Army. In August of 1944 he was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire over France and was captured. He spent nine months as a prisoner of war in Grostyskow, Poland.

Richard has been honored with numerous awards for outstanding bravery and valor during the war, including the Prisoner of War medal and Distinguished Flying Cross.

He is a member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and has served as commander of the South Louisiana Chapter of the American Ex-Prisoners of War.

The resolution closes with the words: ‘Therefore, be it resolved that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend Martin Richard of Metairie upon his receipt of the French Legion of Honor medal for his military service on D-Day during World War II, does hereby record for posterity the outstanding achievements and remarkable courage of this heroic gentleman, does hereby extend heartfelt and enduring appreciation for the tremendous honor that he brings to his family, friends, and community, the state of Louisiana, and the United States of America, and does hereby recognize that the experiences and achievements of this extraordinary veteran will never be forgotten and will forever remain a source of great inspiration and pride on the minds and hearts of all who know, admire and love him.’ "
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Coatney, 90, of Lake Charles, died Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, in Tomball, Texas, after a brief illness.

Dr. Coatney was a native of Grand Chenier, where she received her primary and secondary education. In 1947, she received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture from Southwestern Louisiana Institute. Following her graduation, she took her first position as County Extension Agent out of Cameron.

She furthered her education, receiving a second Bachelor of Science Degree from McNeese State University in 1962 from the Department of Animal Science, then a MS in education from Northwestern State University in 1970, followed by a Master of Education from the same university in 1972. She then attained her
Doctor of Philosophy from Texas Women’s University in 1974. She retired after 24 and a half years as Head of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences at McNeese State University and in 2003 was honored by the university with Professor Emeritus of Family and Consumer Sciences at McNeese State University.

She was a member of many professional and social organizations including Delta Kappa Gamma, Phi Kappa Phi, Louisiana Retired Teachers Association, Calcasieu-Cameron Retired Teachers Association and McNeese State University Alumni Association. She was also a charter member of the Louisiana Seafood Board.

She is survived by one daughter, Sandy Coatney Eldred and husband Frank of Spring, Texas; two sons, David Paul Coatney and wife Cheryl of Spring, Texas, and Richard Coatney and wife Nancy of Lafayette; seven grandchildren; two great grandchildren; two brothers, Bill Doland of Grand Chenier, and Bobby Doland of Houston, Texas.

Preceding her in death were her parents, David Yandell Doland Sr. and Estelle Miller Doland; one brother; one sister; and her husband, Gene Coatney.

A Mass of Christian Burial was observed Saturday, Sept. 16, at Our Lady of Good Counsel with Father Alan Trouille serving as celebrant. Interment followed services at McCall Cemetery in Grand Chenier.

DR. COATNEY IS NAMED TO POST
     Dr. Barbara Doland Coatney, a native of Cameron Parish and the holder of five college degrees in the field of home economics and education, has been named to head the Department of Home Economics at McNeese.
     Prior to joining the McNeese faculty, she was a teacher of home economics at Alexandria Junior High School and an instructor in the Northwestern State University continuing education program.
     Born in Grand Chenier, Dr. Coatney earned a bachelor of science degree in home economics at USL and a second bachelor’s degree at McNeese. She also holds the master of science in home economics education and master of science education in media education granted by NSU and the doctor of
philosophy in the field of home economics from Texas Women’s University, Denton, Tex. [​Cameron Parish Pilot, March 26, 2009 (reprinted from the March 25, 1976 edition)]

Purchase Pierre V. Miller family book.

​As a physician and surgeon, Doctor Miller [above photo in 1924] has lived in and worked for the welfare of the community around Lake Arthur nearly thirty years.  He has achieved a well deserved success in his profession, and also as one of the leaders in the politics and public affairs generally in Jefferson Davis Parish.
    He was born at Grand Chenier, in Cameron Parish, February 3, 1873.  His father, Pierre V. Miller, a native of St. Landry Parish, was a farmer and stockman, and served with a regiment from Vermilion Parish in the Confederate army.  He was a member of the police jury, and well known among the democratic leaders throughout Southwestern Louisiana. He was living retired at Lake Arthur when he died in 1914 at the age of eighty-five.  Pierre Miller married Emilia Broussard, a native of Vermilion Parish. [Murphy Miller comment. He died in 1933 at the age of 60+ years]
    Valerian Albert Miller attended public schools in his native parish, was also a student in the Montgomery Bell Academy, Nashville, Tennessee, and took his medical course in Vanderbilt University at Nashville, where he graduated in 1895.  From 1895 to 1897 he practiced at Humphrey, Arkansas, and since the latter year his home has been at Lake Arthur.  He served as president of the Calcasieu Parish Medical Society, and was one of the organizers of the Jefferson Davis Parish Medical Society. and during the recent World war he was medical examiner on the Jefferson Davis Selection Draft and Exemption Board and chairman of the Red Cross drives.  He has served as coroner of the latter parish since 1918, and has been a member of the parish school board since the parish was created in 1913, having previously served on the Calcasieu Parish Board. Doctor Miller is one of the owners of the Lake Arthur Pharmacy. His recreation mostly is looking after his farm, and he is one of the rice farmers of this locality.  Doctor Miller served as the first mayor of Lake Arthur, and was the first president of the local Chamber of Commerce.  He is a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and belongs to Live Oak Lodge No. 346, F. and A. M., the Royal Arch Chapter, Council, the Knights Templar Commandery, the Scottish Rites Consistory and Mystic Shrine.  He is a member of the Jefferson Davis Parish democratic committee, and has been a councillor of the Seventh District Louisiana State Medical Society and in 1911 was chosen a delegate by the state society to the American Medical Association.
    Doctor Miller married at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1895, Miss Annie May Parks, who died in 1897.  She left one son, Lee, who while a student at the University of Kentucky enlisted in the navy during the World War, and is now employed in the Woolworth Department Store at Boston, Massachusetts.  Doctor Miller's second wife was Emma Blocker, of Lake Arthur, daughter of the late Rev. R. M. Blocker, a Methodist minister.  By this marriage there arc three children: Lura, who graduated A. B. from the Louisiana State University, the wife of J. E. Bullerworth, of Baton Rouge; Albert C., a student in civil and petrol engineering at the Louisiana State University; and Melba Lou, a student in high school.
    Scanned and edited for republication by Mike Miller, using the following source:  A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 257-258, by Henry E. Chambers.  Published by The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925. 

​

More information on this family is included in the 2017 Pierre Valcour Miller Family book. More details on this book at www.FamilyAtLouisiana.com.

​
Jacob, George and William Miller families were early settlers in southwest Louisiana. Jacob Miller, and wife Anne Marie Thaison, claimed to be “Roman Catholic and Apostolic, and native of Germany.” George Miller, and wife Catherine Ritter, probably born in Maryland, was from London and reared at Hanover, Germany. William or Guilliam Miller, and wife Anne Kevin or Caven of Ireland, was born in Scotland.
 
Both Jacob and George Miller lived near Grand Coteau after the 1750’s. William did not live in LA but, his wife and family did. William died in Pensacola, FL in 1771 and his wife died in St. Martin, LA. Two of the three known daughters, both Marguerite and Elizabeth Genevieve Miller, married and lived in St. Martin and St. Landry parishes, respectively. Marguerite married Pierre Guidry in 1781 and they had 12 children. Elizabeth married Robert Burleigh, Jr. before 1781 and they had seven children.
 
Some of the William Miller descendants married into Jacob and George Miller families. Pierre Richard, a William Miller descendant, married Eva Colligan in 1865. Eva was a descendant of both Jacob and George Miller families. Therefore, their six children are descendants from the three Miller southwest Louisiana families.
 
Many in southwest Louisiana may know of, or their parents know of, some names from the Jacob Miller family. The Chataignier Miller families included Antoine Miller and Augustine Manuel’s descendants, Antoine Salomon (sons Camille, Faustin and Salomon), Emile (sons J. Bte. “Gus” and Cleophas) Martel (sons Aliday, Martel, Jr., and Gilbert Lee) Homer (son Mayo Homer, daughter Felonise & husband Onest Sonnier), and Jean Pierre (son Octave and his son Malcolm Lionel).
 
Farther south and west in Cameron parish, Antoine’s brother and Civil War Veteran, Pierre Valcour Miller settled. From that family, the well known cattleman Eugene Miller whose son Laurent was a veterinarian and son Martin O. Miller a well know New Orleans physician and was Governor Earl Long’s personal physician. Pierre V. Miller’s son P.V. Miller, Jr.’s son Minos Drosin Miller, Sr. was an attorney who practiced in Lake Charles and Vinton. He was politically well connected. Minos’ son M.D. Miller, Jr. was a WW II pilot, shot down on a mission, presumed dead, and buried at sea. After the U.S. victory, he was freed from a Japanese prisoner of war camp. He practiced law, followed by his election as Judge of the 31st Judicial District Court of Louisiana (Jennings).
 
With so many Miller descendants, it can become overwhelming when evaluating ones family history. You may ask if "So and So" is your relative? The answer requires hours of research. Examples include Miller families in Evangeline parish. The Bonnes Nouvelles recently published “Jack Miller's Food Products Celebrates 75 Years” (June 2016) and “Zick Miller Family - Two Hands to the Plow” (September 2003). The Ville Platte Gazette listed J. Bte. Gus Miller as the Police Jury President (July 1976) and the Daily World (April 1987) printed, “Memories of Miller’s Lake revived”. Roderick Luke Miller’s obituary in the Daily World, January 2005) recounted Cleophas’ son, Rod, and his success as a family man, an attorney, and the first Republican elected to the House of Representatives from Lafayette Parish. Not all of your questions will be answered about the Miller stories published, but let us explore some of the family details mentioned about those families.
 
Dosite “Zick” Miller married Olivia Faul (also Fall) in 1901. One of the 12 children is Jacque Dosite “Jack” Miller who married Joyce Chapman in 1937. Dosite (Do za’ ta) is a descendant of George Miller, Sr. (London) and Catherine Ritter (Germany) both born in the mid 1750s. Olivia’s 2nd great grandparents are John Faul and M. Therese Miller married in 1802. M. Therese Miller is the daughter of Jacob Miller and Anne M. Thaison. Thus, all of Zick and Olivia’s descendants are George and Jacob Miller descendants. That makes “Gus” Miller, the successful Miller Lake advocate, and Jack Miller, of Jacks’ BBQ, 3rd cousins twice removed.
 
Additionally, Olivia Faul is related to Jacob Miller family via her 3rd great grandmother, Marie Barbe Miller, daughter of Jacob. Marie Barbe Frozard, daughter of M. Barbe Miller and wife of Toussaint Quebedeau, is the father of Marie Catherine Quebodeau who married Jean George Fall, great grandfather of Olivia.
 
Dosite “Zick” Miller is 1st cousin three times removed with Marie Magdelaine Boutin, wife of Jean Miller, son of Jacob. This relationship is via his great grandmother Sophie Andrus who married George Miller, Jr. Sophie is the granddaughter of Marguerite M. Boutin, daughter of Paul Boutin, Jr. and the father of Marie Magdelaine Boutin. Gus Miller’s great grandparents are Jean Miller and M. Magdelaine Boutin. Accordingly, Antoine Miller is 2nd cousin twice removed with Dosite “Zick” Miller.
 
Zick and Olivia’s grandson, Alexandre “Alex” Miller married Audrey Castile in 1964. As previously established, Alex is a descendent of both George and Jacob Miller. Audrey’s grandfather Onezime Castille married Laura Guidry, daughter of Moise Guidry and Marie Julia Miller. Julia is the great granddaughter of Charles Miller, Sr. and Anastasie Andrus. Charles is the son of George Miller, Sr. and Catherine Ritter. Thus Audrey Castille is the 5th great granddaughter of George Miller, Sr. and Catherine Ritter. Audrey’s husband is the 4th great grandson of George Miller, Sr. and Catherine Ritter.
 
Audrey Castille is also a descendant of the Jacob Miller via her maternal grandparents, Moise Savoy and Eliza Leger. Eliza’s grandparents are Honore Meche and Josephine Meche, the daughter of David Meche and Marie Rose Frozard. Marie R. Frozard is the daughter of Joseph Frozard and Marie Barbie Miller, the daughter of Jacob Miller and Anna M. Thaison. Accordingly, Audrey Castille is the 5th great granddaughter of Jacob Miller and Anna M. Thaison.

In summary it appears that some family trees have few branches. Regardless of the where one was born, cousins did marry cousins. Many, like my parents, were simply unaware of the family relationships. The automobile did not play a significant role in separating one major family from another until the 20th century. Moreover, cousins who did marry are separated by several generations. Living in an agrarian society until the early 1900s, families with different names were neighbors and in those early years, few traveled away from home. Whether you are Louisiana born or not, if your last name and your spouse’s last name is the same as an early settler, you probably married a distant cousin.