Nellie Oleson - Genevieve Masters

Genevieve Masters

The second girl, Genevieve Masters, was the spoiled daughter of a former teacher of Laura's. Genevieve wore beautiful tailored clothes and had striking blonde hair (in curls), just as "Nellie Oleson" had. Genevieve was originally from the state of New York and boasted continually about how much more proper and "civilized" things were in the "East". With her superior attitude, Genevieve was far nastier than Nellie Owens had been, and Laura and Genevieve became keen rivals, both academically and socially. Gennie's family moved to De Smet not long after the Ingalls family, but the Owens family did not move. Therefore, the "Nellie" of Little Town on the Prairie is Genevieve Masters. In her "Letter to Children" written late in her life (a sort of form letter sent to the hundreds of children who wrote her monthly), Laura states that "Nellie Oleson . . . moved back East, and did not live many years". She was evidently referring to Genevieve Masters in this letter. Genevieve died of pneumonia in 1909. She had one daughter.