Bobbie Jones McLane, a pioneer publisher of genealogical materials in Arkansas, is retiring. She's turned the remainder of her stock of books, as well as her master copies, over to me, Desmond Walls Allen. Through the years, we've collaborated on various publishing projects, and I've always admired Bobbie for her dedication and ambition in making reference works available to our Arkansas cousins. (Bobbie and I must be cousins somewhere along the line - we both have a Van Ness line in early New York, and my Lancaster relative served as administrator for the estate of her Ewings in Smith Co., Tenn.)
In the 1960s when Bobbie began publishing books, there was no such thing as "print-on-demand" or electronic publishing. The only option in the good old days was to laboriously type (anyone remember typewriters?) a stencil for use on an off-set press. And for the project to be economically viable, you had to print several hundred copies of each book. Then you had to store them in climate-controlled conditions.
When Bobbie and I cleaned out her book warehouse area, we unearthed some surprisingly large caches of a few of her books. In order to place these in the hands of folks who can use them, we're offering them (as long as they last) at specially reduced prices. Here are the first three:
Hempstead County, Arkansas, Census of 1850
Compiled by Bobbie Jones McLane, 1967, ISBN 0-929604-08-3
Regular price, $18.00, Now on sale for $9.00!
This volume lists everyone in the 1850 federal census in Hempstead County - all 7,672 folks in 898 dwellings. And it contains the compiler's notes about 110 of those families. Don't miss this one!
Hempstead County, Arkansas, Census of 1860
Compiled by Bobbie Jones McLane and Capitola Glazner, 1969, ISBN 0-929604-20-2
Regular price, $18.00, Now on sale for $9.00!
This volume lists everyone in the 1860 federal census in Hempstead County - all 1,470 dwellings.
Hot Spring County, Arkansas, Census of 1850, and More
Compiled by Bobbie Jones McLane, 1965, ISBN 0-929604-02-4
Regular price, $15.00, Now on sale for $7.50!
This volume lists everyone in the 1850 federal census in Hot Spring County, along with the heads of families listed in the 1830 and 1840 federal census schedules for the county, and it includes Hot Spring County Marriage Book A, which begins in 1829, and lists 335 marriages.
Lafayette County, Arkansas, Census of 1860
Compiled by Bobbie Jones McLane, 1985, ISBN 0-929604-35-0
Regular price, $15.00, Now on sale for $7.50!
This volume lists everyone in the 1860 federal census in Lafayette County. This region contains the territory that became Miller County in 1874.
Sevier County, Arkansas, 1850 Census, and Marriage Records through 1852
Compiled by Bobbie Jones McLane and Capitola Glazner, 1967, ISBN 0-929604-00-8
Regular price, $15.00, Now on sale for $7.50!
This volume lists everyone in the 1850 federal census in Sevier County - all 2,868 dwellings. And it lists marriage records from 1839, the beginning of the county, through 1852.
Garland County, Arkansas, Tombstone Records, Vol. 1, Eastern
Compiled by Bobbie Jones McLane and Inez Cline, 1969, ISBN 0-929604-17-2
Regular price, $20.00, Now on sale for $10.00!
We have plenty of this one! This volume covers the eastern half of Garland County, outside the city of Hot Springs.
An Index to the Fifth Census of the United States, 1830,
Population Schedules, State of Missouri
Compiled by Capitola Hensley Glazner and Bobbie Jones McLane, 1966, ISBN 0-929604-05-9
Regular price, $25.00, Now on sale for $12.50!
This index lists the names of the heads of households and the county in which they're enumerated. It doesn't have page numbers, but it's a great help when used along with microfilm or online images. For example, your genealogical eye (or ear) knows "Pear" and "Pierre" may be the same word, but when you're keying possible spellings into a search box on the 'Net, you may not think of that one. So this census index, while old, still has value.