Life History

Notes

• 1940 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 16 April, Prairie Township, District 24, page 7A, Ethel Rd, Hse #100, Rents Farm, Value $20
  Cunningham, Omer Head M W 32 Grade 5 b Arkansas same house in 1935 Farmer
  Cunningham, Alma Wife F W 53 Grade 9 b Arkansas same house in 1935
  Cunningham, Birdie Dau F W 7 Single Grade 0 b Arkansas same house in 1935
  
  Bertie's marriage record for her first marriage, to Bobby Dale Hoover, reports her age consistent with birth in 1932 or 1933.
  
  Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957
  Bertie Elizabeth Cunningham
  Age 19 (born abt 1932)
  Residence Stuttgart, Arkansas
  Bobby Dale Hoover, Age 21  (born abt 1930)
  Residence Reydell, Jefferson, Arkansas
  Marriage 15 Sep 1951 Arkansas County
  Marriage License Date 13 Sep 1951
  
  Later directory entries further confirm Birtie Elizabeth's birth with the actual date in 1932.
  
  U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1
  Bertie E Henderson
  Birth Date 25 Jun 1932
  Phone Number 946-1143
  313 So Adams, Dewitt, AR, 72042 (1985)
  113 S Adams St, DeWitt, AR, 72042-2036 (1992)
  
  It is not known when Bertied married Hershell Henderson.  She died before her first husband Bobby Dale Hoover, so they were divcrced at some point.  But no divorce record or record of her marriage to Hershell Henderson has been found.  Her cousin Edith McSwain Jenkins commented, "I thought she was married and divorced twice before she married Hershell Henderson."  The name of the third husband between Bobby Dale and Hershell is not known.  No record has been found of the second marriage or divorce.
  
  Bertie E Cunningham Henderson
  Birth 25 Jun 1932
  Death 31 Jul 1991 (aged 59)
  Burial Cedarcrest Memorial Gardens, De Witt, Arkansas County, Arkansas, USA
  Parents:
  Omer L Cunningham 1908-1955
  Alma Mae Maddox Cunningham 1913-2006
  Spouse Bobby Dale Hoover 1931-1998 (m. 1951)
  Created by Jerry Grisham 1 Mar 2012
  --  Find a Grave Memorial 86054150, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86054150/bertie-e-henderson
  
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  This genealogy previously reported the birth date of Bertie Elizabeth Cunningham as birth 26 November 1935 and death in Wichita Kansas 26 January 2006.  This was based on a public directory record for an Elizabeth Henderson living in Friars Point, Mississippi, in 1995.
  
  In August 2012, I found information clarifying that this Elizabeth Henderson was a different person, and not Bertie Elizabeth Cunningham who married Herschell Henderson.  So this birth date is for the other Elizabeth Henderson.  I found a memorial on Find a Grave for the Elizabeth Henderson in Friars Point, Mississippi, that gave details on that person.
  
  These records indicate (Bertie) Elizabeth was born in November 1935.  But in the 1940 census, the parents of our Bertie Elizabeth Cunningham reported her as 7 years old, which would make her born in about 1933.  The census says their son Bobby was born in 1935.
  Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=HE&GSfn=e&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=27&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GSsr=321&GRid=36349579&df=all&
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Sources

• 1. U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1
• 2. 1940 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 16 April, Prairie Township, District 24, page 7A, Ethel Rd, Hse #100, Rents Farm, Value $20
• 3. Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957
• 4. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 5. Obituaries from Arkansas County
• 6. Edith Marie McSwain Jenkins, Personal Knowledge
• 7. Obituaries from Arkansas