Individual Details
Louis Fontenot
( - )
"Louis, a soldier in the French Army, arrived in Louisiana about 1720 when he was about 34 years of age. At the time of his marriage to Louise Henry at Mobile in 1726, he was a Sargent in the company of Monsieur de la Tour. Various French military rolls indicate that Louis served at Mobile, Pose des Alibamons (Fort Toulouse) and at Fort Tombekbe. It was at Fort Toulouse that Louis Fontenot died in 1755."
"In 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, France ceded to Great Britian its possessions in the east, Included in the treaty were Mobile, Fort Toulouse and Fort Tombekbe. The French residents of these areas were forced to choose between submission to English rule or the abandonment of their homes and relocation in French territory west of the Mississippi River. Many of the settlers choose to relocate to Louisiana rather than submit to English rule. A large number of these migrated to the Opelousas and Attakapas areas. Among those who chose to settle in the Opelousas Post area were members of the Fontenot, Birgnac, LaFleur, Doucet, Guillory, LaGrange and Sylvester families."
"The expatriates sailed to New Orleans in January 1764. Transportation was then provided to Pointe Coupee where they arrived in March. The Pointe Coupee area apparently was not suitable to the refugees and they migrated further inland to the newly established Opelousas Post. In the Opelousas area approximately fifty of the Alabamons settled on Bayou Courtaleau near present-day Washington."
"All but one of the sons of Louis Fontenot migrated to the Opelousas area. The lone son who did not accompany the family was Jean Louis det Cadet. He and his wife Marie Francoise LaGrange elected to settle along the Mississippi River north of New Orleans. One son of Jean Louis "dit Grand Louis" later joined his Fontenot relatives in Opelousas where he married Marie Fontenot, his first cousin, in 1786."
"In 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, France ceded to Great Britian its possessions in the east, Included in the treaty were Mobile, Fort Toulouse and Fort Tombekbe. The French residents of these areas were forced to choose between submission to English rule or the abandonment of their homes and relocation in French territory west of the Mississippi River. Many of the settlers choose to relocate to Louisiana rather than submit to English rule. A large number of these migrated to the Opelousas and Attakapas areas. Among those who chose to settle in the Opelousas Post area were members of the Fontenot, Birgnac, LaFleur, Doucet, Guillory, LaGrange and Sylvester families."
"The expatriates sailed to New Orleans in January 1764. Transportation was then provided to Pointe Coupee where they arrived in March. The Pointe Coupee area apparently was not suitable to the refugees and they migrated further inland to the newly established Opelousas Post. In the Opelousas area approximately fifty of the Alabamons settled on Bayou Courtaleau near present-day Washington."
"All but one of the sons of Louis Fontenot migrated to the Opelousas area. The lone son who did not accompany the family was Jean Louis det Cadet. He and his wife Marie Francoise LaGrange elected to settle along the Mississippi River north of New Orleans. One son of Jean Louis "dit Grand Louis" later joined his Fontenot relatives in Opelousas where he married Marie Fontenot, his first cousin, in 1786."
Families
| Spouse | Louise Angelique Henry ( - ) |
| Child | Francois Fontenot ( - 1759) |
| Child | Louise Fontenot (1726 - 1814) |
| Child | Pierre Fontenot (1727 - 1811) |
| Child | Philippe Fontenot (1727 - 1806) |
| Child | Marie Fontenot (1729 - 1820) |
| Child | Jean Fontenot (1729 - 1776) |
| Child | Jean Louis Fontenot (1730 - 1820) |
| Child | Jean Baptise Fontenot (1731 - 1805) |
| Child | Joseph Fontenot (1732 - 1790) |
| Child | Marie Louise Fontenot (1741 - 1778) |
| Child | Marie Therese Fontenot (1746 - 1806) |
| Child | Henri Fontenot (1753 - 1813) |