There are four ways to stay in touch with the Fontaine-Maury Society:

1. When paying your annual dues, complete and submit a member form which enables volunteers to compare the information we have on file and make any needed changes. Your receipt of the newsletter, three times each year, relies on current contact information.  Member forms are found on this website (under forms tab), on the Facebook page (under files tab) and in the newsletters.
2. Visit this website regularly and watch for announcements and respond to queries.
3. Attend annual meetings.  Announcements regarding the annual meeting are published on the website, on Facebook and in the newsletters.
4. Join the Facebook page and enjoy the posts of other family members while also receiving important announcements.

The most effective way to stay in touch is to complete and submit a member form annually and whenever contact information changes.  Our society’s mission is to reach out and stay in touch.  That is what motivates your volunteer board members to donate their time and energy to The Society.  We rely on members to provide current contact information.

If updated contact information provided to us is not effectively transferred to the contact sheet and utilized, we apologize and we encourage you to reach out again and let us know right away that you are not hearing from us.  Our volunteer leadership wants to do their best.

Joining the Facebook page is fun and informative, but it is an incomplete way to stay in touch. We encourage participants to take the next step. Become a member and financially support the organization that provides the Facebook page administration.  Enjoy a more complete connection to the Fontaine-Maury Society and family members.

With everyone working toward an up-to-date contact sheet, we will all benefit.

Mary Borjon, President

Friday, Oct. 14th at 11:45 : Consider joining Claudia and Rich Edwards for lunch at the J. Graham’s Café at the famous Brown Hotel, 335 W Broadway for the classic “Hot Brown” lunch ($16 self pay) or for any menu item. Anyone dining at the hotel will receive free valet parking for two hours so there is no need to worry about parking.

We will have a drawing for your personal copy of “Classic Restaurants of Louisville” by Stephen Hacker. Seating is limited.

Post lunch, plan to see the specially selected family items at the Filson Historical Society, a short 3 minute drive from the hotel. (1310 S 3rdStreet) Free parking is plentiful. The Filson exhibit will be offered from 1-3 p.m. on Friday only. Masks are strongly encouraged.

Our cousin, Kent Maury, who resides in Bangkok and grew up in Versailles and Lexington, Kentucky, wants to ensure that his cousins who registered for the annual meeting in Louisville are given a proper Kentucky welcome. To that end, Kent has fully underwritten a traditional bourbon tasting experience that will be held prior to our Saturday night 50th anniversary banquet.
The activity will be led by an expert in the field who will provide us with all there is to know about Kentucky bourbon and the history behind it. Tasters and non-tasters alike will enjoy the presentation.
Kent is a descendant of the Rev. James Maury, his father was Hill Maury, his grandfather was Col. Luis A Maury and his ggfather was Steven Price Maury of Charlottesville.
Kent will be returning to Lexington when he retires next year and regrets that he won’t be able to attend this year’s meeting. We extend our sincere gratitude to Kent for his generosity and his expression of southern hospitality.

The Fontaine Maury Society is seeking a new volunteer to serve as librarian for the Society. This involves maintaining a stock of 35 items (mostly photocopies of books, CD versions, Society T-shirts, and a few other items) that the Society sells.

Most sales are via mail; others are via email. On average we have about 54 individual orders a year, about half at our annual meeting weekends. The librarian also receives periodic genealogical questions via email which prompts consulting the library materials to answer them.

The new librarian will have no out-of-pocket expenses as all expenses are paid using a provided debit card. The position is not term-limited; the new librarian would remain in the position as long as they wish.

Ideal candidates should be able to regularly attend the annual meeting each year, because the materials enrich the weekend gathering and promotes sales that help underwrite Society activities, to make donations to historical places that host us during our annual meeting weekends and to keep annual meeting costs for attendees as low as possible.

Our outgoing librarian has held the position for 22 years, will remain an active member of the Society, and will be able to assist the new librarian in the transition.

If you are interested, please contact our Society president at the contact information in the attached recruitment notice combined with librarian job description.

Registration is now open for our annual meeting weekend, Friday, October 14, to Sunday, October 16, 2022, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Please download and complete the attached form and then either mail it, with your check or money order, or email it after paying via our new PayPal account. The full instructions are on the form.

Don’t forget to make your hotel reservations by September 16, 2022, to ensure you receive our special rate. See the separate June 16, 2022, announcement with the details.

See you in Louisville!

Exciting news that there is a newly published detailed article by the late long-time Society newsletter editor, Dianne Ressinger, that provides an excellent rendition of the life of Jaques Fontaine.

Entitled “This Side the Water: A Huguenot Family in Virginia,” the article then provides brief biographies of all of Jaques’ children, with an emphasis on the four children who permanently settled in Virginia.

The article concludes with brief biographies of two of Jaques’ grandchildren, the Rev. James Maury and Aaron Fontaine, who is the primary focus of our annual meeting in October 2022 in Louisville!

Dianne was a wonderful writer and researcher, the author of what is frequently considered the best and most complete version of Jaques’ memoirs, and was the long-time editor of our Society’s newsletter. She passed away in April 2018 but her family found this draft article among her papers which the South Carolina Huguenot Society (with which she was active) has now published.

The South Carolina Huguenot Society publication No. 123 contains Dianne’s article and is available on that Society’s webpage at:

https://www.huguenotsociety.org/transactions-online/

The Hilton Garden Inn in Louisville is now accepting hotel reservations for our annual meeting and gathering. You may call the hotel directly at 502-637-2424 and mention the Fontaine Maury group rate or you can do it online. For hotel reservations on line, your attendee website is:

https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/sdfahgi-fms22-2889bbed-1386-4a30-872e-df7d7eef2282/

Our meeting dates are October 14-16. There are a few rooms available for the same rate immediately before the 14th through the 16th.

We are excited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fontaine-Maury Society. We are looking forward to a special time celebrating our family and getting back together after a two-year pause. Sadly, inflation has hit the hospitality industry hard resulting in higher costs for our weekend. To address this concern, we have created some opportunities for our members to help promote and support our annual meeting and gathering through sponsorships. You may sponsor as a business, a family or an individual.

“The Huguenot Happy Hour” A Friday evening fun social event with cash bar and locally flavored meal. -$100 sponsorship.

“The Travelling Huguenots” Saturday all day bus tour-$150.00 sponsorship.

“Music for the Ages” Entertainment on Friday night featuring wonderful musicians who will provide a narrative and music from the times of our ancestors’ travels. – $100 sponsorship

“That’s My Family”- Audio-visual rentals and other necessary expenses- $50.00 sponsorship

Checks or money orders may be sent to our treasurer, Mary Borjon- Callas at 64 Salvatore Novato, CA 94949. For planning and budgeting purposes it is hoped that sponsorships can be received by July 15, 2022.

With appreciation,

FMS Board of Directors

After two years of postponements, we are pleased to announce our in-person 2022 annual business meeting and gathering in Louisville, Kentucky, for the weekend of October 14-16, 2022. We will be staying at the Hilton Garden Inn Airport. Our planning team is well on its way to organizing an interesting, informative and fun weekend for all.

The primary ancestor who settled in the Louisville area was Aaron Fontaine (1753-1823), eldest child of the Rev. Peter Fontaine. Aaron sold his plantation in Virginia and migrated to Kentucky, first settling at Harrod’s Creek in 1798. He married twice, first with Barbara Overton Terrell and then Elizabeth Whiting Thruston, and was the father of 26 children and stepchildren.

During the weekend, we will take a day trip across the beautiful Ohio River and tour family-related sites in the town of Brandenburg, which is west of Louisville.

Three hundred years ago this year, on June 21, 1722, Jaques Fontaine wrote that he hoped his memoirs would encourage his descendants “to continue a strict union in true reciprocal love, one to the others and all to God.” It is amazing to reflect that, on this 300th anniversary of Jaques’ writing, that we are gathering in Louisville to celebrate our 50th anniversary – since 1972 – of honoring his wish.

More detailed information about our weekend will follow in subsequent announcements on our webpage, our Facebook page, and in upcoming newsletters. Mark your calendars now for a Fontaine-Maury gathering in beautiful Kentucky, a prime destination for those who joined the westward movement on the Wilderness Trail or the flat barges that came up the Ohio River, and join our 50th anniversary gathering.

With the new year comes time for our members, old and new, to send in their membership dues. The benefits of membership include receiving our electronic newsletter, typically three times a year, meeting extended family members and other interested individuals to collaborate on research, and attending our annual meeting weekends.

Dues are a modest $15.00 per year. Our Society is a non-profit pubilc charity which means your membership and any expenses to travel to and attend the annual meeting may be tax deductible, as advised by your tax advisor.

Dues help us to do preservation work, keep costs down for our annual meetings, and contribute to places and organizations that host us for gatherings.

Won’t you renew or join today? The membership form is on our webpage at:

http://www.fontainemaurysociety.com/membership.html