The Felton Family  – As pictured in Our World magazine, April 1950.

In an earlier post, we featured the late Dr. Samuel Paul Felton, a popular New Orleans dentist, and some of his young patients at Corpus Christi School. Dr. Felton, himself an alumnus of Corpus Christi School, was a member of a large New Orleans family which had at its head, Mr. Ruby Edward Felton and Mrs. Eulalie Morney Felton. 

Ruby Edward Felton was born in New Orleans on 29 December 1890 to Rebecca Brown and Edward Felter, as recorded on his birth certificate. Along with his sister, Agnes Felton Merritt, he was reared by his maternal grandparents, Henry and Agnes (Bell) Brown, who hailed from Covington, Louisiana. He attended the Fisk School for Boys. He pursued the profession of a commercial painter. His work was in great demand, which combined with his active work in Corpus Christi Parish, led him to be sought after for many church-related projects. Among his works were the interior of Holy Ghost Church and the exterior of the old Saint Mary’s Dominican College. Mr. Felton was originally a Methodist and a member of Wesley Chapel, though he later converted to Catholicism. He was the first Grand Knight of Corpus Christi Council No. 16, Knights of Peter Claver, and was among the parishioners to represent Corpus Christi Parish at the Eighth National Eucharistic Congress in New Orleans in 1938. 

On 1910, he married Eulalie Morney. Eulalie was the daughter of Gustave Morney and Elizabeth Caraby, born on 16 September 1892. Over the course of their years of marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Felton oversaw the growth of their ten children as well as the growth of Corpus Christi Parish into the largest Black parish in the United States (and for some time, the second largest Black congregation regardless of denomination).

In addition to Dr. Samuel P. Felton, who was a graduate of Meharry Medical College, was the Felton’s oldest son, Ruby Edward, Jr., who took up his father’s profession of painting, as did Vernon J. Felton and Escamillo Peter Felton. The other children were Dr. Charles Peter Felton, Ramona Margaret Felton (Mrs. Clarence) Jupiter, Thaddeus John Peter Felton, Nicholas George Peter Felton, Marie Felton (Mrs. Alfred) Bernal, and Noella Elizabeth Felton (Mrs. Morris) Robichaux.

Sources: Our World, April 1950; 1940 Federal Census; Orleans Parish Birth Records.

J.C.L.H.

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