Welcome to

The Chenault Family National Association

Website
 

       

   
    ASSOCIATION'S MISSION    
     
  Members are dedicated to perpetuating the legacy of Estienne Cheneau, a French Huguenot, who arrived in America with his wife aboard the Nassau in March 1700/01 (old English calendar).  Subsequently, after 1706,
he adopted the Anglicized version of his name, Stephen Chenault for public record appearances.
 
 

   

                                                                                                                                                             

Discover more about our... 

Family History

Family Tales

Cheneau  Family Coat of Arms




                                                                                                                                                                   

Curious about Estienne's descendants and their service to our country?  Check out...

Profiles of Notable Cousins

Military Service of Descendants

Descendants in Law Enforcement and 1st Responders

                                                                                                

 

Want to know about our Annual Reunion?  Go to one of the following.

Reunion History and Upcoming Reunion Info   

Reunion Minutes

Reunion Photos  

Memorial Listings

Attenton Members:  Want to attend an Annual Reunion, but financial burden is an obstacle?  Perhaps, the Association can help.  Our cousins are a very generous, thoughtful bunch, so a grant has been set up funded by donations from members to ease that financial burden preventing you from attending one of the Annual Reunions.  Assistance from this grant can be possible upon approval by our Grant Committee to members who apply.  For details about applying for this assistance, see the page covering reunion info.

 

Want to know more about the Chenault Family National Association?  

The association was formed as an outgrowth of the annual national reunions which began in 1950 and have occurred every year until 2020 and 2021 when COVID-19 led to the cancellation of the reunions in those years.  Although an informal association existed in the years before 1994, it was in that year that the association was officially created and bylaws adopted.  An annual business meeting of the association is conducted as part of the national reunion.  Minutes of the meeting from the last reunion appear on this site.  During the course of the business meeting, members are updated about the activities of the various committees, sites are selected for future reunions, modifications to bylaws are considered, and officers for the coming year are elected and installed in their respective offices.

IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT:  In 2019, the association was granted a non-profit (501c3) status, meaning that, if you choose to make a donation to our organization’s reunion attendance grant fund or operating expenses, you may claim such as a charitable donation on your income tax. Donations may be submitted to any officers of the association for processing to the fund or to help defray operating expenses of the association.  Confirmation of your donation will be provided for your records.

Membership in the association is open to descendants of Estienne Cheneau and their spouses and includes all who spell their name or have an ancestor who spelled their name according to any one of over 40 variations, some of which are shown below. Anyone who believes that they descend from Estienne is welcome to join the association, and we shall help them trace their ancestral line. Several hundred members are included in our association directory, but our 2008 book of descendants documents over 35,000 descendants and spouses.

For more information about our officers, publications, souvenirs, and other association matters, check our the following:

Red Book and Supplemental Updates

Bible Records  

Souvenirs and Publications

News and Obituaries

Officers and Committees

Bibliography

 

Association's Privacy Notice

The Chenault Family National Association respects our member’s desire for protecting their personal information. No information of a personal nature that is shared with our association for contact purposes or appearance in any of our publications is shared without our obtaining the permission of the subject. Information that is included as a result of research for our genealogical files is not shared although it may be available through other online sites and may be shared only within the family of cousins.

 

VARIANT SPELLINGS OF FAMILY NAME

Variant surname spellings were provided by "Cousin" Lewis R. Breckenridge in 1996 and updated by "Cousin" Christopher Shinall in 1998.  Others have been added since that time and will continue to be added as they are identified.

Cheanault Chenalt Chenau Chenault Chenaur Chenaut
Chenautt Chenaux Chenea Cheneau Chenhall Chenhalls
Chennalt Chennault Chennaux Chennhall Chennhalls Chinal
Chinat Chinauet Chinaul Chinaull Chinaulle Chinault
Chinautt Chinot Schannault Scheinau Schinault Schinott
Shenar Shenard Shenault Shenaur Shenaurlt Shenaut
Shinal Shinall Shinalt Shinaul Shinauld Shinault
Shino Shinoe Shinoff Shinol Shinolt Shinot