Maud History "Interview with Ruby Dell Walker Powell"

March 14, 2014                  Interview with Ruby Dell Walker Powell

Ruby Dell stopped by for this interview en route to a funeral.  She had only recently attended three other funerals.  We were happy she took the time for this and we hope to add to the information she gave us as time goes on. 

She has lived in Maud all her life, at least if you consider that she actually began life in the community of Friendship in 1931 which is close enough geographically that it may, by some standards, be considered a “suburb” of Maud.

Her father was Morris Walker and her mother was Ellen Autrey Walker.  Her maternal grandparents were Elbert Eugene Autrey and his wife Alma.  Elbert was a circuit-riding preacher who traveled via donkey to various places to preach.  He was the first generation of his family to live in Friendship, her great grandfather Absalom Autrey having stayed in Louisiana.  Ruby Dell has fond memories of her preacher grandfather whom she said had a mustache and looked the same in his old age as he looked in his youth.  In those days there were a number of Autreys around with three different spellings of the name, but they were all related.

In 1941 when Ruby Dell was about 10, her family moved into Maud.  Her dad Morris had worked at the sawmill, and then in the early 1940’s he began working at the icehouse.

At that time the icehouse, the ice cream factory, and the ice cream parlor were all housed adjacent to each other as related enterprises and owned by M. B. Chandler.  Ruby Dell’s mother Ellen worked in the ice cream parlor while her dad worked in the icehouse.  She remembers the stools and the tile floor in the parlor.  “That’s where I learned to dance,” she smiles.  “In the summer, all the women around would pick fruit and cut it up to go into the ice cream.”

Maud was a busy town back then with a dry goods store and shoe repair store. . .  The variety store had a post office in the back of it.  Next door was a drycleaners.  There were two cafes, a barber shop, a beauty shop, a grocery store, and a drugstore.  There were often street dances on Main Street.  There was a John Deere store and a theatre next to that.  “And we even had a skating rink out on 67.”

“I remember one time all us kids got sick, Mama brought us to the pharmacy and Mr. Glass gave us all shots.  And I remember going to the theatre.  It was a big theatre, and admission was 25 cents.  One time the whole high school went to a showing of Gone with the Wind.   Mr. Young owned the theatre.”

When Ruby Dell turned 16, her mother had a birthday party for her.  Her friend Edna Carol Hardage had brought a date with her, a boy named Cletus Powell, whose family Ruby Dell knew of but not well.  Cletus was five years her senior and had already served a term in the Army, had come home and gone to work at Red River Army Depot.  Ruby Dell looks mischievous and says, “Cletus ended up taking Edna Carol home and came back by himself.  We got married three months later.” 

Ruby Dell and Cletus loved to go dancing—wherever and whenever they could.  Back then they attended a lot of dances at the Maud Gun Club.

She was 19 years old, had been married for three years, when her mother and dad were in a terrible car accident at the intersection of Highway 67 and Austin Street.  Her dad died and her mother was in the hospital for six weeks.  It was a difficult time and she and Cletus then moved back into her old family home to be with her mother.  Her second child was only two months old.

Ruby Dell and Cletus had three children:  Cheryl, Butch (Cletus Jr.), and Shirley.  Shirley served in the Air Force and Butch in the Marines.  This was a point of pride with her since her husband had served in the Army.  Shirley was killed in a car accident in the 1990s. 

She also talked about her 41 years as a member of the Eastern Stars.  It has clearly been an important part of her life.  Her husband Cletus was a member of the Masonic Lodge.  The Lodge was prominent in Maud as it was in many places back then.  When Ruby Dell was in high school the Home Ec class, under teacher Jo Covey, prepared meals at school to take to the Lodge for their meetings.  F.E. Cooley and J. W. Glass were also members of the Lodge.  The Masonic Lodge today is still housed in the original Lodge building used back then. 

We are grateful for the time Ruby Dell spent answering our questions.  We almost certainly only scraped the surface of her Maud memories.  And she brought along a surprise—her sister-in-law—who also shared with us some wonderful Maud memories which we will feature in a separate segment.  Thanks to both for sharing with us.      –Robin

(Note from Robin:  I do my best to get information accurately from whomever I interview.  My apologies for any mistakes made in my note taking or transcribing.)