If you’ve been in Zachary long enough, you know everyone’s related somehow. I learned this the hard way.

Picture this: it’s fall of 2012 outside BREC’s Church Street Park, where the Tiny Steps program used to operate. We’ve been in Zachary for less than two years at this point, and I’ve just become friends with Laurie Hunt. I see across the parking lot a tall, beautiful redhead putting two little girls into the car and pecking a handsome man on the cheek before leaving. It’s a different handsome man than the one who was here yesterday that she also kissed, and this time there’s more kids getting in the car. “Hey,” I whisper to Laurie. “What’s with her? I’ve seen her give two different men a kiss this week! I can’t figure out which one’s her husband and how many kids she has!” Laurie positively cackles and calls me out in front of the gorgeous redhead we all now know is Claire Kent Simmons, who explains one of the men is her husband, Trez, and the other is her brother. And Laurie’s husband Stephen is Claire’s first cousin. The moral of the story is twofold: there are no secrets in Zachary, and everyone’s related. 

Editor’s note: Due to space constraints, we aren’t able to deep dive into each branch of the family trees, nor are we able to give enough recognition to each family that has played a significant part in the development of the Zachary community; namely the East, Young, Montegudo, Kennedy, Flonacher, Buhler, Samuel, Loudon, Noble, Bond, Brian, Annison, Amrhein and Harrell families, and many more. We apologize in advance if any family has been overlooked in this feature. The stories herein are meant for illustrative purposes, to tell the stories and the struggles of some of Zachary’s earliest families, and trace their descendants to those who live in Zachary to this day.