The Arkansas Family Historian Arkansas Genealogical Society Volume 29, Number 1 March 1991 Arkansas Genealogical Society 1991 Officers and Directors Ediror Margaret Harrison Hubbard 1411 Shady Grove Road, Hot Springs, AR 71901 President Carolyn Earle Billingsley 2301 Billingsley Lane, Alexander, AR 72002 Vice President Russell P. Baker 6526 Magnolia, Mabelvale, AR 72103 Treasurer Bobbie Jones McLane 222 McMaban Drive, Hot Springs, AR 71913 Corresponding Secretary Frankie Y. Holt #5 Custct Place, N. Little Rock, AR 72116 Recording Secretary Frances Jemigan 52 Colony Road, Little Rock, AR 72207 Hisrorian Lynda Suffridge 3801 Caraway Court, N. Little Rock, AR 72116 Herald Mrs. Larry P. Clark 1211 Biscayne, Little Rock, AR 72207 Parliamentarian Ed Sanders Box 861, Sta. A-HU, Searcy, AR 72143 J abo Sanders 4500 Purnell Drive, N. Little Rock, AR 7:H16 Jan Eddleman Route 1, Box 178, Hackett, AR 72937 Roberta Hollis 628 Banner, Camden, AR 71701 David Malone PO BOl< 1048, Fayetteville, AR 72702 Eddie G. Landreth 123 Elaine, Benton, AR 72015 Johnita Glover 4008 Holly, Pine Bluff, AR 71603 Teresa Harris 943 Ouachita 47, Camden, AR 71701 Freda Massey PO Box 478, Mountain View, AR 72560 Virginia Wright PO Box 726, Camden, AR 71701 Kathy Buchanan PO Box 144, McDougal, AR 72441 Beth Brownlee 2216 Rock Lane, Heber Springs, AR 71901 Edwin Moss PO Box 216, Star City, AR 71667 Desmond Walls Allen 99 Lawrence Landing Road, Conway, AR 72032 The Arkansas Family Historian Published Quarterly by Arkansas Genealogical Society, Inc. PO Box 908, Hot Springs, Arkansas 71902-0908 Editor Book Reviews Margaret Harrison Hubbard Authors and publishers who wish to have reviews or notices of their works published in Publication Information The Arkansas Family Historian are invited to The Arkansas Family Historian, the official publication submit a copy of the work with ordering of Arkansas Genealogical Society, Inc., is published information and price, if applicable, four times a year - March, Iune, September, and December. Commercial advertising is not accepted. ISSN 0511-0472 CONTENTS Editorial Policy AGS welcomes contributions of family records, public record transcriptions. and other information of interest to those interested in family history and genealogy in Contents 1 general. and in Arkansas specifically. Responsibility Meet Our AGS Board Members 2 for the accuracy of information and for opinions. omissions. or factual errors is that of the contributor. President's Page 3 Carolyn Earle Billingsley ManUS4ript Submissions Treasurer's Report 4 Submitters of articles and material for possible publi­ Bobbie Iones McLane cation in The AFH are requested to send typewritten or Box 908 5 mechanically generated manuscripts on white, 8 112 X 11 inch paper, double-spaced, one-inch margins on .11 Certificates of Arkansas Ancestry 7 sides, with all pages numbered. The sources from Desmond Walls Allen which the material was obtained, specific statements of Gold Prospector From Arkansas Writes facts, or statistical information MUST be documented. Home 8 that is, the specific, detailed source description must Ed Sanders be listed either within the body of the text or as notes. Previous publication of the material in any form must Anderson-Ruddick-Veatch Bible be brought to the attention of AGS. AGS encourages Records 9 submissions on IBM compatible computer disks in Anita Urban WordStar or ASCII format accompanied by a hard Helen Carpenter Davenport copy of the material. Burk and Tucker 10 Membership Harold Casey AGS offers individual, institutional, sustaining. life Columbia County Church 12 and honorary membership classes. Membership is by Wendy Richter calendar year and may be entered at any time of the Arkansas' 1861 Peace Society 13 year (late subscribers will receive the year's back James 1. Johnston issues of The Arkansas Fat~ily His/orian). Individual membership is $15 per year. Book Reviews and Notices 30 Bobbie Jones McLane Queries Desmond Walls Allen Members of AGS are invited to submit one fifty-word. Queries 34 Arkansas related, query each year. See the Query Bobbie Jones McLane section for details. Index 44 ___~ ______________________Arkansas Family Historian - Page 1 Meet Our AGS Board Members------------------------- Bobbie Jones McLane, 222 McMahan Drive, Hot Springs, AR 71913 Bobbie Jones McLane is and has been (except for her term as president) our AGS treasurer and is a life member of AGS. She has served two previous seven-year terms as an Arkansas Histo­ ry Commissioner and has been reappointed by the Governor for a third term on the Commis­ sIon. Bobbie has more than 30 years' experience in genealogy and family history, tracing her own lines back to, among other notables, a Mayflower pilgrim and Henry II of England. Bobbie is perhaps best known to Arkansas researchers as the owner of Arkansas Ancestors, publisher of more than 60 books on Arkansas, Alabama and Missouri family history source books. She co-edits The Record, annual publication of the Garland County Historical Society. She is a graduate of Samford University's Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (Advanced Methodology 1988, and Genealogy as a Profession 1989) and the National Ar­ chives' National Institute on Genealogical Research (1990). She is a member of Association of Professional Genealogists and National Genealogical Society and attends their national confer­ ences. Bobbie is listed in Who's Who in Genealogy a:nd Heraldry. Aside from her avocation as a premier genealogist, she managed a very successful career in personnel management with the US Postal Service. Her life partner is Gerald B. "Sonny" McLane, proprietor of McLane Hardware in Hot Springs. Bobbie's leadership in the genealogical field and her extensive con­ tribution of time and energy to AGS is much appreciated. Desmond Walls Allen, 99 Lawrence Landing Road, Conway, AR 72032 Desmond Walls Allen, past-president and a life member of AGS, is the owner of Arkansas Research, a research and publishing company which has produced over fifty books on Arkan­ sas source material. She is an expert on Arkansas land and military records, co-founder of Professional Genealogists of Arkansas, teacher of non-credit courses in family history at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and leader of genealogy seminars and workshops. She is a graduate of Samford University'S Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (Advanced Methodology 1988, and Genealogy as a Profession 1989) and the National Archives' National Institute on Genealogical Research (1990). She is a member of Association of Professional Genealogists and National Genealogical Society and attends their national conferences. Desmond is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and holds a master's degree in history. She has a ten-year-old son, Hadley Edward Hirrill. Carolyn Earle Billingsley, 2301 Billingsley Lane, Alexander, AR 72002 Carolyn Earle Billingsley is a life member and currently president of AGS. She has many years of professional genealogical research experience; is the owner of Saline Research, a genealogical research company; genealogy columnist for a local newspaper; past editor of The Saline, quarterly publication of the Saline County History and Heritage Society (of whom she is a founding member); author of seven books and several articles in the genealogical field; co­ founder of Professional Genealogists of Arkansas; member of National Genealogical Society and the Association of Professional Genealogists; graduate of Samford University's Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (Genealogy as a Profession 1989); and currently a Donag­ hey Scholar at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock pursuing a degree in history. Carolyn is listed in Who's lWlo in Genealogy and Heraldry. She and James L. Billingsley are the par­ ents of four. Page 2 - Volume 29, Number 1 • March _________________.President's Page As the new president of Arkansas Genealogical Society, I am honored that the membership found me worthy of election to that office - but 1'm experiencing trepidation at the thought of following in office so dynamic a leader as Past-President Desmond Walls Allen! Under her two years of energetic leadership, AGS launched several outstanding and successful projects, including the surname directory, the microfiching of the back issues of The Arlwnsas Family Historian and of AGS publications, and the new Certificates of Arkansas Ancestry. These projects assisted AGS membership to new heights. Desmond was honored for her service at the AGS Fall Seminar. All of us in AGS, including Desmond in her capacity as a member of the AGS Board of Directors, will work at sustaining the positive momentum she has given us. I hope you're all as excited as I am over the new Certificates of Arkansas Ancestry. I've al­ ready begun my application. Although fIlling out the application will take you a fair amount of time and effort, I think you will find it to be worthwhile: not only will you receive a beautiful certificate, but you will be depositing your lineage with AGS, where it will be preserved. As I also discovered, the process of organIzing my research in a coherent fashion was required to fill out the application, and anything that prompts us to improve the organization of our ge­ nealogy should be welcomed. After I file my papers on one ancestor, I plan to submit applica­ tions for several more. Speaking of organizing your genealogical research -- for what purpose do we spend many years and go to considerable expense to trace our family trees, if all of our research just sits there in folders filled with notes decipherable to no one other than ourselves (and sometimes not even to ourselves)? I've found it very helpful to take an hour or so periodically to type out what I know, what I think I know, and what I want to know about a particular family line I've been working on lately.