When Amelia Schexnayder was born on 7 November 1880, in Abbeville, Vermilion, Louisiana, United States, her father, Eugene Schexnayder, was 41 and her mother, Catherine Remise Hargrave, was 35. She married James Fontenot on 6 December 1917, in St. Landry, Louisiana, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 5 daughters. She lived in Ward Six, Acadia, Louisiana, United States for about 10 years. She died on 21 September 1955, in Jennings, Jefferson Davis, Louisiana, United States, at the age of 74.