Claude Clifton Prowell was born January 19, 1902. He worked on his father’s 1,400 acre cattle farm where he learned about mechanics and machinery. Claude was a self-made man, always working for himself. Later in his life, he owned an International Harvester dealership in Lebanon, Tennessee.
In 1924, Claude married Hester Azilee Lewis, a direct descendant of Meriwether Lewis. Hester had recently traveled the east coast. So began their explorations with a honeymoon to Miami Beach. They toured the south and west and visited Yellowstone Park two times. In 1971, Claude and Hester along with their daughter, Claudine, took a road trip, traveling the same route Claude had taken 50 years before.