Season 2: Episode 1: Strange True Stories of my Louisiana Ancestors

The challenges and rewards of researching your Louisiana ancestry

Kicking off Season 2 of DETOURS, Jordan and Alex meet with Country Roads contributor Nina Flournoy—author of the series "Strange True Stories of My Louisiana Ancestors"—and New Orleans genealogist Jari Honora. From the riveting launchpad of Nina's extensive investigation into her family history, we discuss the importance of researching one's own genealogy—especially here in Louisiana—and strategies to help you learn more about your own family here. 

Mark Your Calendar

As discussed in the episode, genealogist Jari C. Honora—who works as a reference associate at the Williams Research Center of the Historic New Orleans Collection—will be moderating a seminar at the Williams Center on October 7, from 9:30 am–3:30 pm. The event, called "Caring for Your Family Tree: Tools and Strategies for the Lay Genealogist" will explore resources for people researching their family histories—discussing things like records, methods and strategies, the use of DNA, and "How to be a Good Ancestor". 

The event has a "pay what you can" pricing model, with a suggested $50 fee; registration is required. Learn more at hnoc.org/caring-your-family-tree. 

Resources for Amateur Genealogists in Louisiana

In addition to the societies and groups listed and linked below, people just starting out in researching their ancestry can often find information at their local libraries and history-centered museums—which frequently host genealogy workshops or offer genealogy resources. 

Reading List

Here, find articles that we either mentioned in the episode, or that we think might enrich and/or further the conversations we had. 

Strange True Stories of My Louisiana Ancestors, Part I 

By Nina Flournoy 

A Dallas-based descendent of Louisiana planters decides to investigate a long-held rumor about her ancestors: that they all descended from a French countess who escaped the Palace of Versailles during the French Revolution, and landed on the Bayou Teche. Follow Nina Flournoy along this genealogical journey in Parts II and III as well. 

Meet Your Co-Hosts 

James Fox-Smith is the Publisher of Country Roads magazine, and has been on the masthead since 1995 when he followed a Louisiana girl (Country Roads' Associate Publisher Ashley Fox-Smith) to her hometown of St. Francisville to take over her mother's magazine. The past two decades have made this Aussie into a true Louisianan, as passionate and knowledgable about the intricacies of this region's culture as any bayou-born Cajun. Overseeing the company for much of its forty-year history, he's worn almost every hat the magazine has to offer, from sales to editorial to marketing—and writes a monthly publisher's column, titled "Reflections" which you can peruse, here. You also might catch him hosting the Louisiana Public Broadcasting's weekly series Art Rocks!—which spotlights artists, performance, culture, literature, history and the impact of art in our world.

Jordan LaHaye Fontenot is the Managing Editor of Country Roads magazine, and has been a part of the editorial team since 2018. Born and raised in the heart of Acadiana, she came to Country Roads with a passion for Louisiana storytelling. She holds a degree in English from Louisiana State University, where she received the 2018 Sarah Sue Goldsmith Award for Nonfiction. In addition to her work at Country Roads, she has published stories in regional and international publications including inRegister, Atlas Obscura, and the Oxford American. Her first book Home of the Happy: A murder on the Cajun Prairie, will be  published by Mariner Books in 2024.  

Alexandra Kennon is the Arts & Entertainment Editor at Country Roads since 2020, and has been writing and photographing stories about Southern culture, cuisine, history, and art for the magazine since 2016. She holds degrees in Journalism and Theatre Arts from Loyola University New Orleans, where she was Managing Editor of Pacemaker-winning university newspaper The Maroon, and could typically be found flitting between the newsroom and black box theatre. She has acted in productions ranging from independent festival films to Tennessee Williams world-premiere stage productions, and previously led historical, culinary, and cultural tours of New Orleans. Her book Classic Restaurants of New Orleans, published by Arcadia/The History Press with a foreword by Walter Isaacson, is available most places one finds books.