Albert Claude Gentry was born in Knox County, Texas, August 31, 1876, and lived there until his mother passed away when he was a small boy, then he and his Dad moved to West Texas and they lived in a dug-out and raised horses on the open ranges in and around the Croton breaks for several years. Then they moved back to Knox County, for a short time, then back to West Texas, the Croton breaks again, where they continued to raise and break horses which they sold to the different ranches around the country. As Claude grew up, he worked as a cowboy for the Matadors and the Spurs.In about 1900 he met Mallie Earnest Law from Hamburg, Ark. who was visiting her uncle, W.L. Law and family whose home was in the Croton breaks. Mallie was born in Hamburg, Arkansas, and lived and attended school there until she was 16 years old. Her mother passed away and she moved with her father to Little Rock, Ark., where he was buying and selling cattle. Later she attended a girl's college at Searcy, Ark., and from there she went to Claremore, Oklahoma, where her father was in the cattle business. There they met, and became friends of the Will Rogers family.
After another visit to Dickens with the W.L. Law family, Mallie and Claude were married December 17, 1902 at the home of W.L. Law, by Rev. U.G. Cunningham.
Their first home was five miles north of Dickens, and was a one room house and a dug out. This land was homesteaded and they had some horses and a small amount of land in cultivation. He also freighted with a covered wagon to Quanah. The trips to Quanah took from ten days to two weeks. Tom Harriston and Ben Worswick were usually along with their wagons, and the trips were pleasant.
Claude's father lived with them thru the years, and while they were away, he took care of the things at home. In the early part of 909, they took a camp outfit and lived in a tent at Spur, and Claude worked as a carpenter while Spur was being built. Then back to the homeplace, where they had a landslide, that shifted their homestead about one mile southeast, and more land went into cultivation. In 1917 they sold this place and moved to Dickens while looking for another place. They made a trip to New Mexico, but returned to Dickens, and bought another farm a mile and a half south of Dickens. They lived here until Oct. 1925, when they bought a small plot of land in Midway and put in a small grocery store, and later had the Post Office of Elton with the store. They operated these businesses until 1937, they moved to the farm just south of the store that they had bought a few years before and farmed as long as Claude was able, then they rented the land out and continued to make their home there until their death. Mallie passed away Sept. 10, 1955, and Claude November 1955.
To this couple children were born, Calvin Gentry, who passed away in Redlands, California Oct. 14, 1945, and Ruth Cooley, Lubbock, Texas, and Mrs. Anne Williams of Dickens. There are four grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Source: History of Dickens County; Ranches and Rolling Plains, Fred Arrington, ©1971
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