Suggestions for Genealogy Research Visit
 to Montgomery Co. Arkansas

Six Generation chart

Plan ahead!

Hickory Nut Mountain Lookout Rd, Montgomery Co. AR. June 2000.
Usually you can view Lake Ouachita from the vista area during the daytime and the stars at night.

A good place to start a research visit is at the library, in the Community Center, Mt Ida within walking distance from the courthouse. Closed Tuesday's and weekends. Local community history books are in the corner to the left of the front door.

Mt Ida is the county seat and the courthouse, built in 1923, welcomes visitors researching their family history. Records are intact since 1842 when the county was created. 

The Montgomery County Heritage House Museum is closed on Mondays and are slowly building exhibits.
Closed from mid December to beginning of March.
Open from 1pm to 4pm on weekends. Open Tuesday - Friday 11am to 4 pm. Closed Mondays.
"It is not just about presentation but about preservation."

Mt Ida Chamber Commerce have maps and genealogy books available. Located near the True Value store in Mt Ida west side of town.  Onward to Pencil Bluff and turn west on Highway 88 and lookout the three old wells between Pencil Bluff and Oden. One is at White Town. Keep an eye open for barns. Visit the Jot 'em Down Store at Pine Ridge. In Mena, an old log cabin is the center of Janssen Park. A monument dedicated to the Lum 'n' Abner characters is there. Mena's visitors information center at the old Railway Depot has another Lum 'n' Abner collection and a collection of paintings.

View the Ouachita National Forest and river. On the way back to Hot Springs take a side trip to Hickory Nut Mtn vista, where a view of Lake Ouachita and surrounding area came be obtained. 2.5 miles up Forest Service Road 50.U.S. off Hwy 270, 22 miles west of Hot Springs. Picnicking.  Beautiful Charlton Recreational Area with outstanding work of the CCC workers is a good spot to swim and hike and bike. The land was purchased by the Government in 1935 from the Moore family. The bathhouse notice board at Charlton has photographs of the homestead, family and a write up on the Moore family.

East of Crystal Springs a gravel road on the left (heading east toward Hot Springs) (there are two gravel roads here take the second if heading east), Owl Creek Rd, leads off at a 45 degree angle to Blakely Mtn Dam and the Spillway. Near Mountain Pine. 

Montgomery County Library in Mt. Ida, AR

• Closed on Sunday. At Community Center within walking distance of the courthouse. 
• Important genealogical references e.g. The Goodner Family  Vol. 1 & 2 are not shelved, no longer at the library.
• Look in the Index of Arkansas Wills and Administrations From the Earliest to 1900. Name of Testator, alphabetically, with year and page number. Makes it easily to locate wills at courthouse. Same with the marriage and probate books.
• Read the current Montgomery County News, local newspaper, to see if any events are planned while you are visiting the county, the format has not changed much in the past century.

• The Polk County Library 410 8th Street, Mena  - Genealogical Department offers family histories, funeral home records, newspaper and census microfilm, obituaries, and ancestry.com. If the courthouse is closed the library is closed.

• libraries

Montgomery County Courthouse

• Clerk's Office 8.30 am to 4.30pm. Ask for assistance e.g. how to use the indirect and direct land records
  "Montgomery County: Our Heritage" was found here  (I didn't see it on my last visit) along with all the county record books in the vault.
• Excellent Montgomery Co. General Highways Map available for $1.50
• Next door in the Assessor's office is a large up to date map on the wall with current property owners. You can toil backwards and work out who was the original land owner of property.  Abstract.
• Consider taking along a laptop and scanner.
• Be prepared. Take along pedigree chart and notepad
• Ask about school census blank 1930-1978 in County Treasurer's Office
• In hallway look for painting of the Sweethome Church and a photo of the previous county clerks.
• In the grounds outside the south entrance look for a plaque dedicated to the Civil War veterans, corner stone and historic marker.

Around Town

• Montgomery County News. Accepts submissions from the general public that include query's, family histories, poems, photos, reunion notices etc.
• Opportunity to purchase MCHS publications. Chamber of Commerce. Maps.
• When on a research trip in the county eat where the locals meet. e.g. The Deli on Hwy 88 just out of Pencil Bluff towards Oden on the right.  Blue Bird Cafe in Story. The older local men congregate there for coffee early each morning.  They are usually friendly and might know untapped local resources, the names you are researching and the names of folks who are living history with their piano covered in old settlers photographs.
• Acquaintances can last for years from a kind gesture so if you are in the courthouse vault, library, museum or genealogical society rooms around lunchtime invite the most pleasant and helpful person out to eat at the restaurant across from the square.
• Ask at the desk of local nursing home, 741 South Drive, Mount Ida,AR if any residents would be interested in speaking to you about the local area and the family you are researching. Everyone might have a wonderful afternoon full of memories shared and new leads.
• Fred Standridge wrote "Only material that is submitted can be organized, accessible to and enjoyed by those who are seeking information. I hope that you have enjoyed Volumes 1 and 2 of Montgomery County, Our Heritage published by the Montgomery County Historical Society. But the volume that I most like to read is Number 3 or 4, or maybe even more volumes. I think the biggest or the only criticism that I have heard of these is that they "don't contain anything about my family". These books were chiefly written by you. The staff only organized, edited and published what you contributed. I am pleading with you to contribute anything you know about you, your ancestors, schools, churches or happenings of any kind that relates to Montgomery County. You may want to add to what has already been published. Please include family work sheets of each generation of your family.  Some of Dick Whittington's oral interviews are indexed. One by Dixie Gaston talked about Mauldin and Old Forrester. GEDCOMs accepted.
• Montgomery County Historical Society P.O. Box 578 Mount Ida, AR 71957

Photo duplication 

• Library
• Mt Ida Post Office U.S. Post Office  Across Hwy 270 from the courthouse.
• Courthouse - $1.00/copy
• Print shop to the left of Bob's Food City, Mount Ida

Hot Springs 

Garland County Public Library
1427 Malvern Ave. [also Hwy. 270 East], Hot Springs, AR 71901
Phone # 501-623-4161. 
Has every copy of  "The Record" that has been published. The annual publication has been in existence since the 1960. The Melting Pot has most issues, if not all.  

The Garland County Historical Society 
Garland County Historical Society, 222 McMahan Drive, Hot Springs, AR 71913  
Their yearly publication for Garland County that is called "The Record".  From on of their brochures, the  membership dues are $15.  There is a  mailing fee of $3 if THE RECORD has to be mailed. The Central AR Library System, Main Library Branch at 700 Louisiana, in Little Rock do get a copy of THE RECORD each year

The Melting Pot was organized in 1976. Over 1000 hardback volumes & over 700 soft back volumes are in their reference library.  They have state historical journals & genealogical periodicals.  Yearly membership dues are $20 & besides the privilege of being able to check out material for a two week period, included is a yearly periodical published by the MP & free queries & look ups for members.  The annual published by the MP once a year is mailed out to other genealogical societies that they are doing exchanges with & all paid members. They do have Montgomery Co. material.  Address: 649-B Ouachita Ave., AR 71902-0936  or P.O. Box  936.   ph: # 501-624-0229.  Hours are  Monday & Fridays from 10 to 2;  the 2^nd  and 4th Saturday of each month 10 to 2.   

Little Rock

Arkansas State Archives
One Capitol Mall
Little Rock, AR 72201  
Holdings include: Census records, county records, church records, cemetery records, newspaper files, etc. 
Arkansas County School Census Records are now available at the AR State Archives. There records are filed with the County Records on microfilm: Montgomery County: 1928 - 1978 Rolls 45 - 74

AGS maintains a list of persons who do research for a fee and will furnish a copy upon receipt of a request along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope.  A registration for AGS members who wish to be included on the researchers' list is included from time to time in the AR Family Historian [another publication that has been around since the '60s]. 
AGS issues "Certificates of Arkansas Ancestry" recognizing descendants of AR residents who were in AR before 31 December 1900.  The three certificate categories are Territorial, Antebellum, and Nineteenth Century.  For an application booklet send a SASE with postage to cover 2 ounces to:
Arkansas Genealogical Society
P.O. Box 17653
Little Rock, AR 72212

When to visit: 

• Springtime: faster float trips
• May: Decoration Days. Attend a church service and meet the locals.
• Summer months live bluegrass and gospel music during the summer at The Front Porch, courthouse grounds.
• August: County Fair
• October Quartz, Quiltz & Craftz Festival with the EH Club Country Store - great handmade work for sale
• Sorghum Festival 2nd weekend in October at the Heritage House Museum of Montgomery County, in Mount Ida. -  living history at the museum
• Consider doing a photographic study of the many barns in the area
• Pine Ridge - Lum & Abner Museum. 

Family Reunions

• Hold a cousins family reunion and ask them to bring everything they have on the family history e.g. photo albums, letters, recipes and oral history
• Possible sites :  Camp Clearfork opposite Charlton Recreational Area, 20miles west of Hot Springs along Hwy 270.
  Mt Ida Fairgrounds, Twin Creek Recreational Area

Links

• Arkansas Counties Seats broken link
• Garland Co. Library, Hot Springs, has a large room dedicated to genealogy material.
• Mena, Polk Co. Library had a good genealogical collection.
• Melting Pot Genealogical Society, Inc. has more genealogy books than the library. "The Melting Pot" has its own library in Hot Springs. 649-B Ouachita Avenue
• Ark-an-sas Guide State Parks -Queen Wilhelmina & Lake Ouachita

Hints

• STOR - Search the Original Record.  It is essential to examine source material and not rely on published sources. e.g. census and cemetery books. 
• You can never be sure how accurate an index is, page by page searching can increase your chance of finding genealogical material
• Beginners Guide to Arkansas Research
• Twenty ways to avoid genealogical grief. Document all sources
• Supplies, Charts Forms, Etc. Cyndi's List
• Family Group Sheet
• Ancestral chart
• Compilers of all information can make mistakes. Information on a death certificate or headstone is only good as that provided by the informant 
• If planning research visits to anywhere, always call first and check with the staff in planning your visit to find out when the most knowledgeable staff person is going to be in. Facilities may have different hours for winter e.g. Jot 'em Down Store & Museum  Maybe the archives doesn't really have what you want and will refer you to another facility.  
• Personal interviews may produce crucial clues even if the subject has selective recall. After transcribing the interview, add a detailed footnote describing it. Interview with ______ ________, daughter of ____ and Mary _____ Smith, wife of _____ _____ . June 4, 2008, Oden, AR. . . You can't ensure the accuracy of _____'s information, but you can document where it came from.

Visiting Cemeteries The four "c" requisites when searching for backwoods cemeteries are: companion, cell phone, common sense and exercise caution. 

• Locate the right cemetery, remember the information on a death certificate or grave marker is only good as that provided by the informant, it may not be correct. Information on a headstone is a secondary resource. Cemetery books have errors. 
• Some cemeteries have had name changes over the years. e.g. Hutchinson now the Sulphur Springs Cemetery, Sims now the old Willhite Cemetery.
• When you go to a cemetery, take a prepared laminated card with your name and an e-mail address and phone number and the words "researching this ancestor," surname in bold; place on a tiny stake beside the headstone. Somebody may come along that has information to share about the same ancestral line.
• The only people who visit cemeteries more frequently than family historians are funeral directors and monument makers. Make inquires from them about the surname you are researching.
• When you have to stop and ask directions from old-timers from the area take a moment to talk as idle conversation may lead to a break in the brick wall.
• Remember safety. Go with someone to the cemetery. Take a cell phone.  Some communities are very cautious of strangers and often someone comes to the cemetery to see who is visiting their cemetery. Another opportunity to gather info.
• Write down directions from the entrance of the cemetery to the headstone in case you want to direct someone else to find it.
• Take photographs of the headstones and write down what is on the headstones in case the photos do not turn out.
• Document the name on the headstone on either side of your ancestor's, and also the ones directly behind and directly in front maybe this will lead to a new avenue of research, maiden names and parents. These neighboring stones may belong to collateral relatives. Family connections may not be apparent from headstone inscriptions. e.g. At the Oden Cemetery in the same vicinity there are headstones for Stevan Hinson, Sarah and Rufus Beam, James Whitehouse with a foot marker for Ella. Stevan is the father of Sarah. Rufus is a sister to Ella. Will also make it easier finding the stone again.
• When photographing headstones take a picture of the scene showing other landmarks  so you can physically find the spot again and when you want to direct someone to it, it might make it easier to locate the stone or if you go back decades later and that flat stone has sunken into the ground and disappeared from sight you or a later generation might be able to find it again.
• Headstone that were visible in the 1940s may no longer be found. In a farmer's field we were shown the exact spot where the Mullenix Cemetery was.  No stones visible, so we probed the area and hit two marble headstones that were completely buried.  Not the ones we were after.  Over the years the cattle had knocked over the upright headstones and they became completely covered by soil and grass.  Another cemetery we found a child's small flathead stone gone but we know it was there beside his sister's. Was there a WPA cemetery survey done in the 1930s?
• When you finally find the exact field stone which marks the resting place of a descendant maybe go to the local funeral home and asked them if they could make up one of the small metal signs, funeral home markers, with name, birth date, and death date and place it beside the original stone.
• When searching for an abandon cemetery in the forest where you have been given directions to where it is located stand back and take a good look. If you see any trees out of proportion, by being taller than the rest, start your search there. Loggers rarely cut trees down around a grave. Also old cemeteries may be found on hilltops.      
• Keep a nice hard covered journal with you on these research trips so you can jot down little bits of info e.g. email address, location, material transcribed from a courthouse or library book etc. Over the years this will be a resource to refer back to.             

Transcribing Cemeteries

• Cemeteries should be transcribed in rows, not alphabetically as this helps to work out family relationships and makes it easier to find a particular headstone in years to come.
• A plan.
• Before going to a cemetery to transcribe graves pack a kit with clipboard, pencils, chalk, notebook, a good magnifying glass, white or rice paper, camera and an extra roll of film or two, one gallon water, soft scrubbing brush, collapsible shovel or a small hand spade and handi-wipes. A small cooler with a water bottle and an apple etc. This is the minimum gear for "grave stomping".   Also note items underlined.
• Visit when the temperature is pleasant
• Protect yourself. Long pants, long sleeved shirts and gloves, hat to avoid sun exposure. Watch out for snakes, spiders, chiggers, ticks, poison oak and ivy.  Bring insect repellant. Tuck your trousers into your socks. Wear light colored clothing so that crawling ticks can be easily seen. Try Vaseline around the bottom of trouser legs. Do shower as soon as you get home.
• Photograph gravestones in bright sunlight, with the sun to the side or top of the stone at a  30 degree angle
• Mirror can be used to reflect light on any shaded headstone
• Wash off bird manure, take soft brush and a gallon of water.  The best time to clean a headstone is when they are still wet, after rain...
• No to man made products for Headstones!...water, water and water, nothing else.  Don't ever contemplate cleaning any headstone with a man made material! It is a NO NO. Plain water is the only solution. Man made products will soak into a marble headstone, and years later can cause it to crumble..
• Irrelevant and disagreeable objects in background can be eliminated by a backboard, not gray as that may blend with the headstone
• Position camera close enough to capture entire stone, with the stone sides equal in view-finder. Avoid downward angle
• Take along a good map of the county - available at the Clerk's Office, Courthouse for $1.50. General Highways Map
• Another way to find out where this cemetery is located is to ask a Telephone or Power CO. lineman about any place in county and they can usually tell you where to go
• Bring the local county cemetery book to make notations of double headstones and detect possible transcription errors
• Bring materials along for gravestone rubbings, you never know there might be an unusual symbol or something you cannot read that you want to record. White paper, rubbing wax or large black crayon, masking tape, kneeling pad. Clean stone first. Tape paper to stone so it does not move.
• To take a photograph of difficult to decipher inscriptions apply shaving cream (it is bio-degradable) to stone face, wipe off excess with a with a Squeegee, photograph, then with water wash stone.  Take along paper towels, plenty of water and trash bag.  Another method: Take along side walk chalk. Rub the chalk length wise across the stone - the deep grooves are untouched and this leaves  the writing dark - the resulting contrast is amazing. Chalk is softer than the stone so should not be abrasive to the headstone.  Use a spray bottle to wash the chalk off. Both methods are not recommended by the Association for Gravestone Studies instead use a mirror to to direct sunlight across the face of a gravestone, casts shadows in indentations. Or go back at a different time of day e.g. evening and see if the angle of the sun has made a difference.
• Note direction headstones are facing?
• Does the stone have a symbol on it? Epitaph? Significance? CSA emblem, three chain links "Odd Fellow".
• Who carved the stone? Material made from? Shape of stone?
• Transcribe cemeteries in pairs or groups. If you go alone, take a cellular phone or tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back.
• When transcribing lists e.g. census, passenger lists, cemeteries try the double entry verification process. e.g. Two volunteers index the same document and the two files are then matched by the database program and discrepancies are detected and corrected.  
• The Montgomery County Cemeteries books have many errors. Most headstones errors can be placed into at least one of the following categories:
  1) The stone was transcribed incorrectly
  2) The stone had incorrect information inscribed on it
  3) The stone was difficult to read
  4) Typos
• Transcriptions are an excellent way to preserve headstone information.  How many headstones will be readable in 50 years?
• Remember to look on the back of the headstone. Sometimes there is additional information.
• Any transcription work contains some kind of error
• Anyone who transcribes monumental inscriptions from cemeteries before they completely disappear is clearly doing a public service, not infringing anyone's privacy or copyright. In a few decades headstones may deteriorate and many become unreadable or sink into the ground and disappear under the turf.
• Wooden grave-markers are becoming increasingly rare. They should be photographed. Consider coating with metallex or other wood preservative, and re-installing. If possible the grave-marker should be re-positioned so that it is not in contact with the ground. Painted letters which have faded away can be read by shining an ultraviolet light onto the wood.
• Gates on cemeteries which are closed and locked at night prohibit vehicle access and make it more difficult for vandals. Vandals might drive in, park, smash headstones and spray them with graffiti.
• An aerial photograph of the entire cemetery, with an indicator dot showing the plot 's location should prevent people having to walk around a cemetery trying to find  a headstone.
• Often records don't tally up with burial registers, plot registers against headstone transcriptions and database information so a visit to the graveside is helpful check dates, spelling and location and if there is still a headstone visible.

Tips 

• The Cedar Glades area of Montgomery County became a part of Garland County in 1917 
• Our early ancestors often belonged to organizations like Masons, Woodmen of the World, etc. They could get insurance this way, without a lot of hassle. Try contacting their headquarters for records. Archives may lose a document.
• Keep in mind that Arkansas did not begin keeping death records until 1914. You might use cemetery records, church records, newspaper files, and county records.
• Divorce records in Arkansas are in the records of the Chancery Court. These are located in the Circuit Clerk's office in each county.  A good collection of these records are at the History Commission on microfilm for most AR counties. The Mormon folks have microfilmed many chancery court records in Arkansas through about 1950. Check with your local LDS Family History Library for information about getting these records on interlibrary loan.
• Tombstones fade with time. By adding the date when you obtained the information, you pinpoint a time when it was still available at a particular location.
• Errors were common, but less common in more recent times when you compare burial records with headstone inscriptions. Not only dates, but spellings and particularly ages are wrong. Age sometimes differs by as much as 10 years between headstone and burial record. Maybe one member of the family instructed the undertaker, while a different person gave details to the stone mason. Or perhaps the stonemason couldn't read his own writing?? As genealogists we can only record the differences we find, we cannot brand one version as "correct." The staff at the Vital Statistics Office are not immune to error either. Do not alter records when provided with evidence of error, but merely record this new version of the fact. The original version should still be there in behind, but obviously only one version can show in the on-line database. Newspaper notices useful, because the date of publication will be correct. Thus the person is very unlikely to still be alive after the date when the death notice appeared in a paper.
• Cluster genealogy involves search beyond your direct line to include your ancestors brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors and friends. Even if your family appears to be lacking in genealogist, perhaps theirs are not. Neighours may actually turn out to be relatives. That is my what husband found out when he moved to Oden, some of his class mates and teachers were kin and he didn't know it until years later.

"The move was the best thing in the world. We sorted out all the things tucked away in corners which had been forgotten about."

Brick Wall Breaks

• At a cemetery neighboring headstones may belong to collateral relatives.
• I couldn't find the death cert. for Great Aunt Gracie because she is was still alive at 102
• Watch out for misspellings on marriage records e.g. Friar or Fryor instead of Fryar
• Immovable. Put it away and start on another family line, then later have another look and re-examine
• Sometimes death certificates and headstones don't exist - find the probate record
• Ask for help and post queries. Network
• Go on a letter writing spree i.e. queries, archives, museums, libraries, newspapers, mailing lists and guest books
• Hold a cousin family reunion -ask them to bring family letters, bible, diaries and photographs
• Make a good guess to move further back e.g. work out an age by marriage and census records
• Ministers name on the marriage license may be a relative and lead to church records
• Any time your ancestor can't be found in an index or by somebody else, check the record yourself. For years I couldn't find a marriage record as someone else had done the courthouse lookup for me. It was right where it was suppose to be!
• Reading history might lead to a few more research ideas
• Think about who, where, when and what when you hit a blank wall.
  Who = Many people used different names at different times. Do you have the right name?
  Where = Make sense of the place they came from. What county, parish?
  When = Make sensible guesses about when an event may have happened but be prepared to extend your search.
  e.g. Guessing a couple married before the first child was conceived. Try four months before the birth!
  What = What kind of person are you looking for? Occupation, status etc. will affect the type of records that might mention them.

  Genealogical Codicil
  to my Last Will and Testament
  

  To my spouse, children, guardian, administrator and/or executor:
  
  Upon my demise it is requested that you DO NOT dispose of any or all of my genealogical records, both those prepared personally by me and those records prepared by others which may be in my possession, including but not limited to books, files, notebooks or computer programs for a period of two years. During this time period, please attempt to identify one or more persons who would be willing to take custody of the said materials and the responsibility of maintaining and continuing the family histories. [If you know whom within your family or friends are likely candidates to accept these materials, please add the following at this point: "I suggest that the persons contacted regarding the assumption of the custody of these items include but not be limited to" and then list the names of those individuals at this point, with their addresses and telephone numbers if known]
  
  In the event you do no find anyone to accept these materials, please contact the various genealogical organisations that I have been a member of and determine if they will accept some parts or all of my genealogical materials. [List of organisations, addresses and phone numbers at bottom; include local chapters, with their addresses, phone numbers and contact persons if available as well as state/national contact information and addresses]
  
  Please remember that my genealogical endeavours consumed a great deal of time, travel, and money. Therefore it is my desire that the products of these endeavours be allowed to continue in a manner that will make them available to others in the future.
  
  
  Signature _____________________________ Date _______________
  
  
  Witness ____________________________ Date _______________
  
  
  Witness ____________________________ Date _______________ 

Montgomery Co. ArkansasGenWeb Project

Family history is more than genealogy, who beget who. It is an expedition through dates and events of your families history and the stories of ordinary people who lived together through extraordinary times. Together, family tree by family tree, family historians are rewriting history. The first step in any search is to interview the living - before you go grave stomping. When you're searching for people, you look for flesh and blood. Talk to your great aunts and uncles. Ask comprehensive questions and write down all.  Educated guess work can point you in the right direction. The pieces fall together providing a picture of the past.