The Whitten Family
Picture Album

Page Three

Family of Willie J. and Frances Whitten, Continued

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Foster Whitten	Swinton Steed, Viola Whitten's husband	Henry Whitten and second wife, Isabelle

Foster Whitten and Viola Steed, May 1984	Guyton Whitten (Foster's son) and Girtha Whitten (Felbert's daughter), May 1984	Viola and Swinton Steed, May 1984	Mary K. White and Viola Steed, May 1984

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I first met Aunt Viola and Uncle Swinton Steed was in May 1984 when we visited in their home in Doddsville, Mississippi. Aunt Viola, age 84 at the time, prepared a HUGE lunch for me, my mother Louise White, and my grandmother (Viola's niece) Girtha Whitten. After lunch, Viola brought out the family pictures. All of the old pictures in pages One and Two were graciously shared by her. She even allowed me to take the pictures home with me to have them professionally reprinted (ensuring a return visit a few months later). After visiting at Viola's house, we drove her a few miles to see her brother Foster, who lived in nearby Shaw, Mississippi. As we drove up into Uncle Foster's driveway, I saw what I first thought was the ghost of my great-grandfather Felbert making his way slowly across the lawn. It was, of course, Uncle Foster. I had never met Uncle Foster before that day, and the resemblance to his brother Felbert (who died when I was a small child in 1974) was startling! Uncle Foster and Aunt Alma and their son Guyton were so gracious that day with us dropping in unexpectedly the way we did. Uncle Foster was proud to show us the oil portraits of his parents hanging in his dining room (see Page One). That day was the last time I saw Uncle Foster before he died, and these pictures always remind me how fortunate I was to have met him and Viola before they died.