Life History

Other facts

Notes

• 1920 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 1 February, Prairie Township, District 16, page 5B, LaGrue Springs and Ethel, Hse #98, Fam #101
  Dumond, Ira E Head Owns M W 25 AR AR AR Farmer
  Dumond, Ethel O Wife F W 30 AR AR AR
  Dumond, Bertie Dau F W 2yrs8mos AR AR AR
  
  In 1930 his mother-in-law Jennie Miller Seamons has moved in with Ira and Ethel and their family.
  
  1930 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 18 April, Prairie Township, District 25, page 6A, Ethel and Point Rd, Hse #106, Fam #107
  Dumond, Ira E Head M W 36 AR AR AR Farmer
  Dumond, Ethel O Wife F W 41 AR AR AR
  Dumond, Bertie Dau F W 12 S AR AR AR
  
  1940 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 19 April, Ethel, District 1-26, page 10A, Oak Flat Rd, Hse #152, Owns $500
  Dumond, Ira Head M W 45 Grade 4 b Arkansas same place in 1935 Farmer
  Dumond, Ethel Wife F W 50 Grade 4 b Arkansas same place in 1935 Housekeeper
  Dumond, Bertie Dau F W 23 Single Grade HS-4 b Arkansas same place in 1935 Housekeeper
  Dumond, Gertrude Dau F W 18 Single Grade 8 b Arkansas same place in 1935 Housekeeper
  Dumond, Eugene M W 13 Single Grade 5 b Arkansas same place in 1935 Farm Laborer
  Dumond, Thomas M W 6 Single Grade 0 b Arkansas same place in 1935
  
  Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957
  Oliver McSwain
  Age 30, Birth Year abt 1911
  Residence Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas
  Spouse's Name Birdie [Bertie] Dumond
  Spouse's Gender Female
  Spouse's Age 23
  Spouse's Residence Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas
  Marriage 16 Mar 1941 Arkansas County
  Marriage License Date 15 Mar 1941
  
  Bertie told her daughter Edith the story on Bertie's name on the marriage license.  Her groom Oliver McSwain applied for the license, and she discovered he spelled her name wrong.  So they did get it corrected, but Oliver had never seen her name spelled out before.
  
  In the 1970s, Bertie moved to Little Rock when her husband was being treated for Cancer, and her younger sons were in university in Little Rock.  She never moved back to Ethel.
  
  U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 2
  Bertie L McSwain
  Birth Date 18 Apr 1917
  Melford Dr, Little Rock, AR, 72209
  
  Social Security Death Index
  Bertie L McSwain
  Born 18 Apr 1917
  Died 12 Dec 2002
  Last Residence Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas 72209
  SSN 432-04-5811 issued Arkansas (1968)
  
  "I received personal letters from Bertie, some with family history information she was working on at the time, from her home in Ethel, during early 1979.  Edith and I visited her and her son Frank in their temporary residence in Little Rock after returning to the US in summer 1980, where they had moved while Oliver was being treated in LIttle Rock, before his death in September 1979.  We later visited her over the years in her permanent home in southwest Little Rock over the years until her death in 2002."
  --  Orville Boyd Jenkins, Personal Knowledge
  
  Bertie had allergies and breathing problems for years, along with some other minor but longterm health problems.  She was generally strong and healthy and worked hard all her life.  But she had a very bad spell and was in the St. Vincent's Hospital in Little Rock in late 1993.  This bout and the associated treatment started her downhill in health.  She descended gradually into dementia.  She passed away in St. Vincent's Hospital in December 2002.  She was buried in the Mt Pleasant Cemetery in the Ethel community where she grew up and so many of her family were laid to rest.
  
  Bertie's funeral was held at her home church, Belleview Missionary Baptist Church, Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas.  All her children and grandchildren were able to attend, along with many other family members from many locations.
  
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  Bertie Lois McSwain, 85, of Little Rock, formerly of Ethel, died Dec 12 [2002] in Little Rock.  She was born April 18, 1917, in Ethel [Arkansas County, Arkansas] to Ira and Ethel Dumond.  She was a housewife and a former Avon saleswoman.  She was a member of the Baptist faith.  She was preceded in death by her husband, Oliver McSwain; a sister, Gertrude Butler and two brothers, Eugene Dumond and an infant brother.
  
  Survivors include one daughter, Edith Jenkins of Richmond, VA; three sons, George McSwain of Garland, TX, Frank McSwain of Little Rock and Rickey McSwain of Gaines, PA; two sisters, Alma Mae Cunningham and Lillian Butler of DeWitt; a brother, Ted Dumond of DeWitt; two grandsons, Gareth Jenkins of Richardson, TX, and Kevin Jenkins of Euless, TX; one granddaughter, Morgan McSwain of Gaines, PA; and many nieces and nephews.
  
  Funeral services were held Dec 15 [2002] at Belleview Missionary Baptist Church in Ethel [Arkansas County, Arkansas] with Bro Curtis Brown officiating.  Burial was in Mt Pleasant Cemetery [Ethel] by Essex Funeral Home of DeWitt.
  --  thought to be from the DeWitt Era-Enterprise newspaper, date uncertain, about 16 October 2002;  also published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 14 December 2002
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Sources

• 1. 1920 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 31 January, Prairie Township, District 16, page 5B, Hse #98, Fam #101
• 2. 1940 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 19 April, Ethel, District 1-26, page 10A, Oak Flat Rd, Hse #152, Owns $500
• 3. U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2
• 4. Edith Marie McSwain Jenkins, Personal Knowledge
• 5. 1930 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 18 April, Prairie Township, District 25, page 6A, Ethel and Point Rd, Hse #106, Fam #107
• 6. Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957
• 7. Social Security Death Index
• 8. Obituaries from Arkansas
• 9. Orville Boyd Jenkins, Personal Knowledge
• 10. Personal Letters
• 11. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012
• 12. U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1
• 13. Gravestone of Carew Oliver McSwain, Mt Pleasant Cemetery, Ethel, Arkansas
• 14. Social Security Death Index
  • Carew McSwain