Parents

Son of James Magnus MCSWAIN & Ruth L LOWRY.

Life History

Other facts

Notes

• Note on place of birth:
  We know that Wirt Barnard McSwain was born in Scott, Arkansas.  Sources on counties and town locations indicate that Scott is in Pulaski County.  However, the mapping data checker in Family Tree Maker insists that Scott is in Lonoke County.
  
  ePodunk resolves the conflict:
  "The community straddles Pulaski and Lonoke counties; ePodunk links to the county with the greater share of population."
  --  http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=11701
  
  Scott, Arkansas, information:
  http://www.arkansas.com/city-listings/city_detail/city/Scott
  
  Though most public records refer to him as Wirt B, Edith McSwain saysthat her family called him Barnard, pronouncing the name "Bonnard."  Robert Collins includes Wirt and his second wife Inez Sanders Collins in his Collins genealogy on Ancestry Wrold Tree (subscription required).  He reports that the family knew Wirt as Mac.
  -- http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:1524466&id=I527645346
  
  1920 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 4 February, District 16, Page 7A, Ethel & Chute Rd, House #121, Fam #125
  McSwain, James M  Head M W 35 AR NC NC Farmer
  McSwain, Ruth L  Wife F W 33 OK IN AR
  McSwain, Bernetta O  Dau F W 14 AR AR OK Farm Laborer
  McSwain, Ruth A  Dau F W 9 AR AR OK
  McSwain, Marvin J  Son M W 6 AR AR OK
  McSwain, Thad M  Son M W 3yrs 2mos AR AR OK
  McSwain, Wirt B  Son M W 8- 1/12 [this should read 9 months] AR AR OK
  
  In 1930, 11-year-old Wirt is in a houseful of siblings as his father has married after the death of his mother.  James Magnus McSwain and Martha Annie Padgett McSwain have now merged their families into one household.
  
  1930 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 21 April, District 25, page 6B, Prairie Township, Ethel & Chute Rd, Hse #114, Fam #115
  McSwain, James M  Head M W 45 AR NC NC Farmer
  McSwain, Mattie A  Wife F W 43 AR NC TN
  McSwain, That M  Son M W 13 AR AR OK
  McSwain, Wurt B  Son M W  11 AR AR OK
  McSwain, Bruce B  Son M W  6 AR AR OK
  McSwain, Elsie E  Step-Dau F W 20 AR AR AR
  McSwain, Nina M  Step-Dau F W 14 AR AR AR
  McSwain, Hazel Bob Step-Dau F W 11 AR AR AR
  Rowland, Walton Cousin M W 18 AR KY AR Farm Laborer
  
  Note that Wirt's name is spelled Wurt.  It is also mis-transcribed byancestry.com as Ward.  Elsie, Nina and Hazel Bob are the daughters ofRobert Perry McSwain, Mattie's first husband.  The last child here isthe son of Maggie McSwain Rowland Porter.
  
  The Arkansas Marriage Index, 1933-1939, Vol 2, Certificate 00217, page 0835 reports that Wirt B McSwain married Connie Jones in 1938.  Thelicense was issued 20 August 1938 in Arkansas County; no date is given for ceremony in the Index.  Their son Kenneth Wirt McSwain tells methey were divorced when Kenneth was 15 years old.  This would make the divorce in about 1956.  Wirt married widow Inez Sanders Collins some years later.

Sources

• 1. George Oliver McSwain, email correspondence, November 2006
• 2. 1920 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 4 February, District 16, Page 7A, Ethel & Chute Rd, House #121, Fam #1
• 3. Gravestone of Wirt Bernard and Inez Sanders McSwain, Mt Pleasant Cemetery, Ethel, Arkansas
• 4. Social Security Death Index
• 5. 1930 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 22 April, District 25, page 7A, Prairie Township, Ethel & Point Rd, Hs
• 6. Kenneth Wirt McSwain, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, April-September 2008
• 7. U.S. Public Records Index
  • Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2007;
  • Kenneth W McSwain
• 8. Arkansas Marriage Index, 1933-1939
  • Vol 2, Certificate 00217, page 0835