Louis Nelson

Who was Louis Nelson?

Louis Hall Nelson was a New Orleans jazz trombonist.

Louis Nelson was born on September 17, 1902 at 1419-21 Touro St. in New Orleans, LA. His father, Dr. George Harry Nelson, was a medical doctor. Dr. Nelson helped organize the 9th Louisiana Volunteers and served in the Spanish-American War. He was commissioned as first lieutenant. During the war he served in Cuba and also stormed San Juan Hill.

His mother, Anna Hattie Adams Nelson, was a teacher and pianist from Springfield, Massachusetts. She was a descendant of runaway slaves from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She was a graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music. His mother moved to Louisiana to teach where she met his father. They had three children: Mary Nelson Welch, George Harry Nelson Jr. and Louis Hall Nelson. Both parents and his sister played the piano. His brother played the saxophone. In December 1902, his parents moved to Napoleonville, Louisiana because his father couldn't get medical patients after the July 1900 Robert Charles Race Riots in New Orleans.