1.ClaudiaBelleRussell, born February 16, 1886 in Midway, AR*+; died August 14, 1967 in Malvern, Arkansas. She was the daughter of 2. Rev. RobertFranklinRussell and 3. MarthaAdalineFord. She married (1) GeorgeWashingtonRay June 02, 1907 in Midway, Hot Spring Co., Arkansas. He was born May 01, 1865 in Mississippi*+, and died December 26, 1931 in Malvern, Arkansas. He was the son of William Greenberry Ray and Nancy Virginia Drake.
Notes for Claudia Belle Russell:
SSN 431-86-1231
CLAUDIA BELLE RUSSELL was a daughter of a Missionary Baptist minister in rural Hot Spring County, Arkansas. She attended school in a one room schoolhouse for several years. When she was 21 she married George W. Ray who was 42. Mr. Ray (she always called him that) was already a prosperous planter and merchant in their little community of Saginaw, where he operated a 'commissary' or general store. After the birth of their first daughter, Hallie, they moved into Malvern for its schools and conveniences. They bought a large rambling Victorian home on the edge of town along with about 20 acres of surrounding land. Two more daughters came along. The old home burned with most of the family possessions about 1917. Hallie Ray Mayer used to recount how , as a child, she and her sisters would play with pretty globs of glass formed when the family's crystal melted in the fire. A new home was built just next to the old site, but construction was slow and materials were hard to get because of World War I. The family lived in the barn for several months while the house was under construction.
Mr. Ray became a major stockholder in the Farmer's and Merchant"s Bank of Malvern after largely being retired from active farming. In 1929 the great depression lead to the bank's failure. All depositors were paid, but the stockholders were virtually wiped out! GWR died the day after Christmas, 1931 with little money,but no debts. For the rest of her days 'Mama Ray' lived in much diminished circumstances. For many years she received partial support from her daughters and got some income from selling off small lots from the edge of the homeplace, and by renting the remaining acreage for pasture.
Mama Ray was very protective of her home and land. She was a feisty little woman who mowed the lawn herself with a reel push mower until she was in her eighties. She had occasional property line disputes with neighbors. One time she personally dismantled a barbed wire fence a neighbor placed across a corner of her property. She was largely reclusive and fiercely independent. Her grandchildren loved to stay with her and hear her stories about 'the old days'. After about one year in a nursing home after breaking a hip, she insisted on moving back into her home where she had lived mostly by herself for 30 years. She died in her sleep in her own feather bed in her own home just as she wished. No other family ever occupied the Ray home. It was torn down after the property was sold to the school board. ---GLM
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More About Claudia Belle Russell:
Buri: August 1967, Social Hill Bapt Ch Cem, Hot Spring Co, AR
Died (2): August 14, 1967, died in her sleep at home
Reli: Baptist
Notes for George Washington Ray:
GEORGE WASHINGTON RAY came to Hot Spring County, Arkansas as a young child. He was born in Fulton, Itawamba County, Mississippi at the very conclusion of the Civil War. His parents moved the family by wagon train to Johnson County, Texas in 1869 to escape some of the turmoil of Reconstruction.
In the early 1870's the family apparently decided to move back to Mississippi, but stopped part of the way home and settled in Arkansas.
GWR became a prominent farmer and merchant in Hot Spring County, AR. He accumulated a large amount of acreage on which he grew mostly cotton. He owned and operated a large commissary in the small community of Saginaw (named after the Saginaw Lumber Company of Saginaw, MI which had lumbering operations in the area). At one time his plantation was over 1500 acres. He didn't marry until he was 42, and then to Claudia Belle Russell (also of Saginaw), who was only 21. A few years after Hallie was born the family moved into Malvern for the schools and other conviences. They bought a large old home on the edge of town with about 20 surrounding acres. This home burned during WWI. with the loss of most of the family's furniture, clothing and heirlooms. The genealogy of the Drake Family supposedly extending back to a brother of Sir Francis Drake was lost in this fire! A new home was built with much difficulty because of material shortages because of the war. For several months the family lived in the barn while the house was built. From Malvern, GWR traveled out to his farms, which were directly managed by an overseer. He was the first or second person in the county to own an automobile. HRM used to tell how children would run from long distances just to see his car go by. He was never an accomplished driver and usually had a chauffeur or Hallie (from age 13) drive him around. Once he drove his ford through the back wall of the garage yelling "Whoa". GWR was a major stockholder and director of the Farmer's and Merchant's Bank of Malvern. In 1929 the depression hit and his bank holdings were worthless. All the banks depositors were paid, but the stockholders got almost nothing. He never was able to recoup his losses and died of a heart attack the day after Christmas in 1931. His widow (Mamma Ray) lived in much reduced circumstances for the rest of her life. The farms were left to daughters Hallie and Hazel, who gradually sold them off. The homeplace at the edge of town on S. Main St. in Malvern and the remaining 13 acres after selling off some home sites went to his widow and then to daughter Blanche. When Blanche died the property was sold and the proceeds went to Hallie, Hazel and Blanche's husband Pete. The property was bought by the school board for future expansion of the high school and the homeplace was torn down about 1970.
There were nine beautiful, huge pecan trees on the Ray property which bore small but unusually sweet pecans. Mama Ray sometimes gathered and sold the nuts, to the embarrassment of her daughters, who each sent her monthly checks. GLM
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More About George Washington Ray:
Buri: December 1931, Social Hill Bapt Ch Cem, Hot Spring Co, AR
Occu: Planter, Merchant, Investor
Reli: Baptist
