Not long before Dad passed in 1988. Aunt Thelma was a faithful sister. She visited him often and when you are in your last days you love to see those who care. The following year my sister Fleta interviewed Aunt Thelma and sent me a copy of some memories Aunt Thelma shared. If you know someone who is old, interview them and record what they say. These words will become a treasure to many. When Dad and Thelma were small their house blew away in what Daddy always called a “cyclone”. Today we say tornado.
House Grandpa built in 1927.
If you know an elderly person go interview them. They have a lot to share.
Interview with Aunt Thelma Powell Gwaltney May 21, 1989 by Fleta Powell Aday
Aunt Thelma said.....Grandpa Richard Powell was well liked and respected by his sons. He was a very honest man. That carried a lot of weight with my Dad. “Grandpa never spoke a word to me. He hardly ever said anything.”
My Dad Melton, Jesse, John, and Worthy were all at Grandpa’s helping him make something. He was using a drawing knife on a piece of wood. Grandpa was pulling the tool toward him when it slipped and sliced all the way down his leg. The sons tried to see how bad it was, but Grandpa just shouted “get me in the house, get me in the house”. They tried to get him to let him look at his leg but he said just cut the leg of my overalls. I feel the blood in my shoe. They cut the leg of his new overalls and there was only a little scratch and a few drops of blood. He jerked the pant leg down and said “let’s get back to work”. Aunt Thelma said he was a big baby.
When Richard and Betty Powell moved to Nowata, OK, Thelma said her Dad and mother and all the children went to Berryville, AR and stayed over night and saw them off the next day. They went by train.
The night the tornado (March 18, 1927) hit their house, Truman and Thelma held the back door shut and their Dad held the front door shut. They couldn’t keep the door completely closed but kept the house from being completely destroyed they thought. The storm damaged the house. Several large oak trees were blown down in the front yard. They were right in front of the house. This may have helped block the wind from the house. The next day Melton set out for Green Forest to check on his brother, Jesse, and his family. The storm picked Uncle Jesse’s house up from the foundation and set it back crooked. The next day Aunt Thelma had to follow a hen turkey around all day to find its nest. The turkey and Aunt Thelma were scared because of all the confusion. Grandpa Melton Powell went to Alpena the next day to get shingles to fix the roof, but he came home with lumber to build a new chicken house. Thelma thought maybe the frame of the house was damaged because Grandpa decided to build a new house. The storm completely destroyed the old chicken house so Grandpa built a new chicken house first. The family lived in the new chicken house while he built the house. He tore the old house down. The chicken house had a dirt floor. They had a wood stove in it. Grandpa had built a platform across one end and the children slept on that on mattresses. Winter came before the house was finished. Snow would blow in the chicken house through the cracks.
End of interview
I know I have switched verb tense in what I copied. It was in first person partly and third the rest so,it was hard to interpret.
