I lived with Nelson and Olivia Loften in New Orleans to attend Booker T. Washington High School. My family moved to Metairie when I was in 5th grade and in order for me to attend a school in NOLA, I had to lived in the city.
My Dad used to take us to visit them when we were little. I did not know that I would be living with them to attend school. Olivia, also known as Sister, was sickly and spent a great deal of time in bed or a wheelchair. I never knew what was wrong with her and we never talked about it.
Nelson was Grandmother Carrie's nephew. He was born on January 16, 1891 in New Roads, Louisiana according to his Social Security application. His parents were Sarah Ann Taylor, sister of Nelson Taylor, Jr. and Hillery Loften. Nelson was first noted on the 1900 U.S. Federal Census in the household of Nelson and Martha Morgan Taylor. He was listed as a grandson.
Olivia Edna Hyde was born on September 25, 1897 to Sarah Walker and Theophile T. Hyde in New Orleans. She married Nelson Loften on April 12, 1916. They did not have any childen, but had a foster child named Delores. I don't know the date of her death but I remember her wake.
Olivia and her sister Florence, also known as Flossie, lived in a duplex. They shared this house and backyard, but were not speaking to each other when Olivia died. When Flossie learned of Olivia's death, she died of a heart attack. At that time, people held wakes in their homes. Olivia and Flossie's wakes were held together in Flossie's living room. That stayed with me and I still have this picture in my head of the two feuding sisters in their coffins together in death but not in life.
Nelson died in October 1980.
Photo courtesy of Michael Willis
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