James Magnus MCSWAIN Bernetta Octavia MCSWAIN Stella D MCSWAIN Ruth Alma MCSWAIN James Marvin MCSWAIN Thad Mathew MCSWAIN Living MCSWAIN Living MCSWAIN Connie Louise JONES Inez SANDERS Katherine L MCSWAIN Bruce B MCSWAIN Ruth L LOWREY Mini tree diagram
Wirt Barnard MCSWAIN

Wirt Barnard MCSWAIN1,2,5,6,7,8,4

6th Apr 19191,2,3,4,5,6,7 - 12th Jan 19991,4,5

Life History

6th Apr 1919

Born in Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.1,2,3,4,5,6,7

20th Aug 1938

Married Connie Louise JONES in Arkansas County, Arkansas.8

after 1956

Married Inez SANDERS in Arkansas.9

1956

Divorced from Connie Louise JONES in Arkansas County, Arkansas.9

12th Jan 1999

Died in Scott, Pulaski, Arkansas.1,4,5

Residence at time of death

after 12th Jan 1999

Buried in Mt Pleasant Cemetery, Ethel, Arkansas County, Arkansas.4

Other facts

 

Birth of daughter Living MCSWAIN

 

Birth of son Living MCSWAIN

Notes

  • Though most public records refer to him as Wirt B,  Edith McSwain says that her family called him Barnard, pronouncing the name "Bonnard."  Wirt's son Ken says his dad went by Wirt, because he did not like the name Barnard (Bonnard).

    -------------------------
    ...he was born in Ethel as were most of the other McSwains of his era. We didn't move to Scott until 1946 when he was 27 years old, and where I started school in the first grade.  He took a job at Old River Fishing Club, near Scott, where he was the manager.  He had no association with Scott prior to that.

    He was called Wirt in his earlier years - did not like the name Barnard [pronounced Bonnerd] and never used it - and was called Mac by everyone after we moved to Scott.
    Since you live in Arlington, you might be interested in this tidbit.

    One of dad's best friends after we moved to Scott was Pat Jones, who owned a grocery store in North Little Rock.  They were fishing and drinking buddies. Pat's son is Jerry Jones, owner of The Dallas Cowboys and your neighbor in Arlington. Jerry and I were buddies as youngsters and were at the U of A at the same time, but we drifted apart after our childhood.

    Jerry owned a hunting retreat in Arkansas not far from Scott, and would always go there with his family, including his mom and dad, on the day after the big game on Thanksgiving day.  I would often be visiting dad for Thanksgiving and we would usually go to Jerry's retreat for a short visit with him and his family.  Jerry sent a large selection of foods for Dad's funeral in 1999, from The Dallas Cowboys.
    --  Kenneth Wirt McSwain, Facebook Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 30 March 2012
    -------------------------

    Ken comments again about his father's preference for the name Mac.

    "Actually he preferred Mac because kids used to tease him and call him Wart.  He never forgot that and when he moved to a new location, told people to just call him Mac.  That may have started at Scott, when I was 5, but Mac was his preferred name and all the Club members called him that."
    --  Kenneth Wirt McSwain, Facebook Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 31 March 2020

    Robert Collins includes Wirt and his second wife Inez Sanders Collins in his Collins genealogy on Ancestry World Tree.  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 because his father has remarried 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 in the census here Wirt's name is spelled Wurt.  It is also mis-transcribed by Ancestry.com as Ward.  Elsie, Nina and Hazel Bob are the daughters of Robert Perry McSwain, Mattie's first husband.  The last child here is the son of Maggie McSwain Rowland Porter.

    The Arkansas Marriage Index, 1933-1939
    Vol 2, page 0835, Certificate 00217
    Wirt B McSwain married Connie Jones
    License issued 20 August 1938 in Arkansas County
    Date of the ceremony not recorded

    1940 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 8 April, Ethel, District 1-26, page 3B, Belleview Rd, Hse #47, Rents Farm, $800 value
    McSwain, Wirt Head M W 21 Grade 7 b Arkansas same house in 1935 Cotton
    McSwain, Connie Wife F W 20 Grade 11 b Arkansas same house in 1935 Housekeeper
    McSwain, Joice Dau F W 6mos b Arkansas

    Their son Kenneth Wirt McSwain tells me Wirt and Connie 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.

    In 1951, Wirt was in North Little Rock, running a restaurant with Ted Cavin.

    U.S. City Directories
    North Little Rock, Arkansas 1951, p 187
    Spot Cafe (Ted Cavin, Wirt McSwain)
    105 S Poplar St

    Ken adds some comments about his father and family and business friends.

    ---------------
    "Dad's hunting buddies around 1960:  Wirt McSwain [far left], Collins Anderson (of Anderson's Minnow Farm near Lonoke), Calvin Butler, Herman Jones, Howard McSwain.  Dad loved hunting and fishing and was a natural with it."

    "He was a man of many accomplishments and many friends, despite a difficult childhood and a 4th grade education.  He also started several successful businesses and did well.by his family.  His last business venture was a very successful store that catered to hunters and fishermen - McSwain's Sport Center [North Little Rock, Arkansas].  He sold the store several years before his death in 1999.  Because he was so well known in the area, the new owners kept the name and it's still going strong today."
    --  Comments on Wirt McSwain photo from his son Kenneth Wirt McSwain, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154723848470182&set=a.128413740181.220655.835570181&type=1&theater&notif_t=like
    ---------------

    Wirt Barnard McSwain was a resident of Scott, Arkansas, when he died.  Sources on counties and town locations indicate that Scott is in Pulaski County.  At the time of his birth, I believe the town had not yet spilled over the county line from Lonoke County.

    ePodunk states:
    "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

    "[Cousin] George [McSwain, son of Oliver and Bertie McSwain] said he used to go fishing with dad a lot when he was growing up."
    --  Kenneth Wirt McSwain, Thad's cousin, Facebook messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 16 June 2017

    Ken McSwain tells another story about his father's legendary skills as a duck caller, as well as giving some insight into Wirt's business acumen.

    --------------------------
    My dad, Wirt [Mac] had a lot of close friends and acquaintances, businessmen, because he had a terrific personality and told great stories, as well as a sharp mind.  Being a champion duck caller introduced him to Wylie Cavin, who owned Sportsman's One Stop in Rose City [northeast of North Little Rock] (just down the street from Pat Jones, father of Jerry Jones [of Cowboys football team fame], owner of Pat's Supermarket.  Pat was a businessman extraordinaire, and he and dad were running around and fishing buddies.)

    Wylie also had, just for the record, a brother Clint who owned a nearby liquor store, and another brother Ted, who managed a restaurant and a picturesque motel a couple of miles out of town, called Lakeview Restaurant.  Ted was also a running buddy with dad.  Wylie had gone duck hunting with dad (and brought my sis a double barreled 410 shotgun as a gift) and asked him if he would be willing to teach duck calling classes for young men at his store on Saturday mornings.  Dad readily accepted, and as his young son, I was expected to participate.

    Dad could blow a caller as if he were a duck and the caller an extension of his body.  He could make it talk.  There was name for each call:  feeding call, mating call, and long-distance hailing call, and maybe more.  Dad knew the language perfectly so had no trouble calling in the ducks for the hunters to shoot.
    --  Kenneth Wirt McSwain, Facebook discussion, 4 December 2014, https://www.facebook.com/n/?orville.jenkins%2Fposts%2F10205060122640950&comment_id=10205091634588729&offset=0&total_comments=65&aref=116076074&medium=email&mid=aea5cc6G464f7b8aG6eb2e2aGeG993a&bcode=1.1417699224.AbmufRqtnNQDCMnH&n_m=orville%40jenkins.nu&lloc=1st_cta
    --------------------------

    Here is another testimonial story about Wirt from his son Ken:

    ---------------
    "[Another photo] of Dad that I remember was when he was about 12 and it looked like he was sitting on the top of a doghouse or some such.  I probably have lots of old photos tucked away, as well as a letter written by his dad, to his wife, when he was spending time in the woods hunting.

    He was evidently a pretty bright man, because when his friends got in trouble with the law and went to court, he represented them, although I'm sure he had no legal training.  I don't know how much education he had, dad only made to the 4th grade then dropped out to help on the farm.  The depression was hard times for everyone.  He was born in 1919.
    --  Kenneth Wirt McSwain, Facebook Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 16 June 2017
    ---------------

    "Greetings!  I'm not sure how we are related.  Saw your comments to Ken [McSwain] so decided to contact you.  My grandmother was Maggie McSwain Rowland.  Her parents were Phillip McSwain and Martha Padgett."
    --  Linda Hall, FB message to George McSwain, forwarded to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 11 February 2018

    "I am the son of Oliver and Bertie McSwain.  My grandfather and Ken's grandfather were brothers and my grandmother and Ken's grandmother were sisters, making my Dad and Ken's dad, Wirt McSwain, double first cousins, which is genetically equivalent to being half-brothers.
    "When I was growing up, I used to go fishing with Wirt McSwain when he came to Ethel to sport fish on the White River Wildlife Refuge near Ethel.
    "I grew up in Ethel, Arkansas.  I am not sure that I knew your grandmother Maggie McSwain Rowland, but I do remember a Maggie Porter who lived near Ethel and that a man named Walton Rowland used to visit my dad from time to time.  Maybe he is kin to you, possibly your dad?"
    --  George McSwain, FB message to Linda Hall, forwarded to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 11 February 2018

    Gravestone of Wirt Barnard and Inez Sanders McSwain
    McSwain
    Wirt Barnard
    Apr 6, 1919  Jan 12, 1999
    Inez Sanders
    Apr 9, 1915  11 Oct 2003
    Mt Pleasant Cemetery, Ethel, Arkansas County, Arkansas

Sources

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