THE McGINTS, A HISTORICAL GENEALOGY JOURNEY

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THE MCGINTYS,
A HISTORICAL
GENEALOGY JOURNEY
AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY
DARRELL
MCGINTY
Darrell, Arnold, Geanie, Diane, Danny, Reda, Mary,
Dalton, Willie, Cecil, Landel
February 2, 1986

T
INTRODUCTION
his body of work is a combination of my McGinty family genealogy
following the generations of my grandfathers and their children from
my earliest fifth Grandfather who came to America from Ireland in
1742. The first eight chapters focus on the early lives of McGintys in America
as they migrated through the southern United States and settled in Central
Arkansas, and all over the United States. My autobiography and stories of my
eight brothers and sisters begins in Chapter 9.
Genealogy as a hobby has become very popular. State and local archives,
county libraries, genealogy websites, and historical societies are available to
help researchers. There are many resources on the internet today. However,
some information may not be accurate on many family trees. Tracing names
only can be difficult even in the same families. Brothers and sisters would
name some of their children the same names. Some of the most popular were
John, William, James, Thomas, Robert, Mary, Elizabeth, or Martha.
I am not a Historian. This information on our ancestors is written to the best
of my ability, as I understand it and the writings of some of our family researchers.
Some of my wording and grammar is not proper English.
It is a representation of the way we lived and talked. Where
information is taken from websites or other genealogy works, credit is given in
sources and references. This research has been very enlightening to learn
about our McGinty families in America. Music heritage also runs deep in the
hills, hollers, and souls of our musical cousins. It is my desire, that future
generations will take the time to learn about the great McGinty men and
women who helped build this great land and to see their sacrifice in
establishing a home and family in great difficulties. Many demonstrated an
ability to bear extreme hardships. Many have served in the Armed Forces of
the United States, and some gave their lives to defend our freedoms. Let us
hope that future generations will re-member their faith, strength, and courage.
Darrell McGinty

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
vii
FORWARD
ix
1. MY FAMILY BEFORE ME, FROM ME OLE HOMELAND 1
2. REVEREND ROBERT McGINTY 17
3. JOSEPH J. McGINTY, FARMER 51
4. THE ARKANSAS RIVER, SETTLERS AND INDIANS 63
5. CONWAY AND FAULKNER COUNTY 77
6. McGINTY TOWN, FAULKNER CO. ARKANSAS 89
7. THE POWELL FAMILY 105
8. CECIL AND WILLIE 123
9. MY EARLEST MEMORIES, GROWING UP WITH 4 139
BROTHERS AND 4 SISTERS
10. ON THE MOVE 143
11. MY WONDERFUL, LOVING, DYSFUNTIONAL FAMILY 147
12. MUSIC, A FAMILY TRIDITION 151
13. I WAS FALLING IN LOVE WITH MY SISTER-IN-LAW 161
14. SONGWRITING 165
15. LEAVING FOR NASHVILLE 167
16. COMING HOME 171
17. A LOVE FOR WOODWORKING 173
18. MARRAGE AND DIVORCE 175
19. MY THREE SONS 177
20. THE LAST WIFE I WILL EVER HAVE 183
21. UNITED STATES NAVY SEABEES 197
22. MY NAVY SEABEE CAREER 213
INDEX OF NAMES 223
SOURCES and REFERENCES 225

FORWARD
A
s we age, why do we begin looking back at where we come from?
Is it reflecting on our growth as a man or a woman? Is it because
as we age we realize that we may not have done what we had set
out to do? Is it because as we mature we recognize our individuality is
derived from those ancestors that raised and reared us and our parents as
we strive to reconcile the arithmetic involved? Is it caused by our shared
experience revealing new possible connections to our past? Do we begin to
appreciate the crafts and characteristics that separate and define us more?
Do we accept differences as well as similarities and even come to accept and
even cherish them? Do we now think what was once trite and ir-relevant or
even opposed to what we saw ourselves to be, positive aspects of who we
are? All of this causes the reflection we inevitably find ourselves caught up
in or are now experiencing. All of these are good reasons to re-examine who
we are and where we have come from, as caused by a Divine Creator.
While reflecting on my own experience, leading to desire more
awareness of my ancestry, I observed a friend remarking about discovering
his history-making relatives in a family cemetery. Tony shared with me:
“My interest in ancestry started when I was a kid. My grandfather, my
mother’s dad, was born in 1906 and I knew him very well as he lived until
91 years old and died in 1997. I realized as a kid that there was a myriad of
famous Americans who were alive and didn’t die until well after my
grandfather was born. Geronimo, for example, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson,
Mark Twain, to name a few. Then it dawned on me that as well as I knew
my grandfather, he knew his grandfathers who were Confederate soldiers in
the Civil War. My grandfather was 17 and lived with his grandfather until
he died in 1923. The idea that I can visit and walk the same roads and Civil
War battlefields that my two great grandfathers and their brothers did,
including Gettysburg, Battle of the Wilder-ness, and others, fascinated me,
it still does. Seeing that my grandfather knew me as well as he knew them,
bridges the gap of five generations and makes the history that much more
personal.

“Then a cousin recommended “familysearch.com.” That led me down a
rab-bit hole that opened up an entire family tree that I was unaware of
including Davy Crockett and a whole bunch more. While I’ll never know
these people it does give me an appreciation for how we got here and what
those who came before us had to go through to get us to this point.”
My own pointed story came while mourning the death of a newborn
child, Elizabeth, in 1990. Elizabeth was buried in an available family plot in
Saint Michael’s Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While searching for
answers to this inexplicable death we came upon other ancestors with the
family name of Priore of Italian descent from Italy. Antonio was the first
Priore born in the United States and died in the 1950s. Strangely, my oldest
son also bears his name. He has a newfound appreciation as well as his
father’s new connection to his ancestry.
Darrell McGinty has made this connection in his wonderful reflection of
the musical heritage of his ancestors and relatives. Darrell has grasped the
differences and reflected on each one of them and has given us a
tremendous example of the growth that can be realized by this examination.
Happily, the McGinty Clan can boast of their family’s heritage and love for
one another and their music, and I am overjoyed to share in that love.
Robert (Jeff) Priore, CDR, USN, (Ret), PE, MBA

CHAPTER 1
MY FAMILY BEFORE ME
FROM ME OLE HOMELAND
T
he ancient origin of the name McGinty is found in the
“irishsurnames.com” archives. [ref. 1]. Surnames developed a
wide number of variants over the centuries. Many different
spelling variations of the same name can be traced back to a single original
root. Also, when a bearer of a name emigrated from Ireland it was not
uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the
record books upon arrival in their new country. Some Surnames were also
altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically, by their
sound, and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have
been advantageous to change a name from one language to another. This
was especially so in Ireland where most Gaelic names were anglicized about
the 17 th century. According to early scholars of Ireland, McGinty descends
from the Gaelic “Mac An tSaoi” meaning “Son of,” or “Son of fair snow.”
And the old Irish Name Mag Fhinneachta. The Irish word Saoi is used to
denote a scholar or a cultured person. I have also heard that MaG-Inty
means “the son of Well-Born.” Variants of the name McGinty include
MacGinty, MaGinnity, Ginty, Genty, MacGenty, and McEntee. This Irish
Sept was from Oriel or Southern Ulster province. A sept or clan is a
collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors
bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. It is also the
case that many Irish septs or clans that are related often belong to larger
tribes. McGinty appears in the Chancery and Hearth Money Rolls in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Counties Monaghan and Armagh.
The Hearth Tax was introduced to Ireland in 1662. Arranged by county,
parish, and townland, the Hearth Money Rolls list the names of
householders who were liable to pay tax at the rate of two shillings on every
hearth or fireplace they had.

CHAPTER 2
T
REVEREND ROBERT McGINTY
he hills of the Blue Stack Mountains North of Donegal Town loomed large
in the background as I walked from the little two-story Inn that was just
up the street to get a drink at a nearby pub. The innkeeper was Sean
McGinty who had already beaten me to the pub. Sean offered me a pint of
Guinness and began telling me of his long family connection to the nearby
community known as Townawilly near Laugh (Lake) Eske. I had come to
Donegal, Ireland in March of 2005, like so many searching for family history,
to find a connection with my fifth Great Grandfather John McGinty who came
to America in 1742. However, I prefer to try to stay in chronological order, so I
will introduce Rev. Robert McGinty now.
Robert McGinty, (ca. 1750-1841). My 3rd Great Grandpa.
Robert most likely would have been born in Cumberland County
Pennsylvania. After relocation to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, he met
and married Deborah Jackson (ca. 1760-1850) about 1775. Sometime before
the Revolutionary War reached them in 1779, they moved to Wrightsboro, a
Quaker settlement 30 miles west of Augusta Georgia, and the Savannah River.
(I believe near the fork of Little and Middle Creek). They had 13 children:
Joseph J., My 2 nd Great Grandpa, (see page 51), John A., Isaac, James,
Robert Jr., Thomas, George Washington Sr., William A., Mary Polly,
Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Josiah. What a man!
The Wrightsboro (Changed from Wrightsborough) settlement was founded
in 1769 when the General Assembly of Georgia., which was located in
Savannah, granted 10,000 acres to the Quakers in Hillsborough, North
Carolina. Beginning in 1768, forty Quaker families left NC with their leader
Joseph Maddock to settle the area. Governor Wright in Georgia welcomed the
families to help settle west Georgia. Georgia was named after King George II of
Great Britain; the Colony of Georgia covered the area from South Carolina

CHAPTER 3
JOSEPH J. McGINTY, FARMER
H
Joseph J. McGinty (ca 1772-1851). My 3rd Great Grandpa
is middle name could have been Jackson because his Mother’s brother
was Joseph, last name Jackson, but I am told there is no
documentation to that effect. According to the research I’ve done,
Joseph was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and would have
been about 4 years old when he moved to Wrightsboro, Georgia settlement
with his dad Robert. He had eight or more children with 1 st wife Elizabeth
Hood in Georgia and Mississippi: Robert Newton, Joseph Jackson (or Jr.),
Jonathan, James, Basil, Polly, Elizabeth, and Eli Hood, (One child must have
died according to the 1830 census). He had three children with 2 nd wife Louise
Scroggins in Mississippi and Arkansas: Thomas B., My Great-Grandpa,
(See page 89) William, and Mary Ellen. And before his death, he was living
with Melissa Shaw (ca. 1819-1860), no children. 32 years old. What a man!
According to military records, Joseph served in the Militia in Georgia,
Florida, and Mississippi. He was fighting Seminole Indians in the early 1800s
in Florida. In the 1793 muster rolls, Joseph is shown at 18 years old (age must
be wrong), as a corporal in 2nd Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment,
Georgia Militia. In 1797, he is shown as living in Warren County, Georgia in
Capt. Hill’s District, as a tax defaulter. In 1800, he is shown in Hancock
County, Capt. Booth’s District, also as a tax defaulter. He was “received by
experience” into the Island Creek Baptist Church, on March 1, 1800, and
baptized on March 11. A report dated April 13, 1804, reads; “Joseph McGinty,
sergeant to Captain Graybill’s Company, Hancock County, Georgia, being duly
called as a delinquent for not attending the muster of officers on the sixth, is
fined three dollars.” In the Land Act of May 11, 1803, for land ceded by the
Creek Indians, land records show two draws in 1805 in Hancock County,
Georgia for a fee of $8.10. He sold this land after moving to Mississippi.

CHAPTER 4
THE ARKANSAS RIVER, SETTLERS, AND INDIANS
T
he first steamboats to come up the Arkansas to the Cadron and
Lewisburg settlements (One mile south of Morrilton today), started
about 1822. The Cadron Settlement was abandoned in 1831. In 1834, a
group of Cherokee moving to Oklahoma became stranded at Cadron by low
water. Cholera struck and many of the Indians died. A 1991 Faulkner County
Historical Society Cemetery Census accounts for 44 Indian graves, 36 that are
unable to be identified and likely more that are unmarked. In 1976, as the
county celebrated the nation’s bicentennial, the society joined with the
Conway Chamber of Commerce and the Army Corps of Engineers to create the
Cadron Settlement Park.
“Whereabouts are
these bears so abundant?"
inquired the foreigner,
with increasing interest.
"Why, stranger, “said
they inhabit the
the Big Bear man,
neighborhood of my
“
settlement, one of the
prettiest places on old
Mississippi, a perfect
place that had some
location, and no mistake; a
defects until the river made
the 'cut-off' at Shirt-tail
bend, and that remedied the
evil, as it brought my
river a great advantage
cabin on the edge of the
in wet weather, I assure you,
as you can now roll a
barrel of whiskey into my
yard in high water from
log.” [ref. 29]
a boat, as easy as falling off a
The Big Bear of Arkansas

CHAPTER 5
CONWAY AND FAULKNER COUNTIES
O
Arkansas Counties in 1850
n any given night and especially in the fall of the year, while mama
would clean up the dishes from the fried potatoes, beans, and
cornbread we just had for supper, daddy would take out his fiddle
and begin to play one of the old tunes, something like “The Arkansas
Traveler.” I can still hear the rhythm of his tapping foot on the wood floor.
Conway County was organized by an act of the Territorial Legislature in
October 1825. Named after Henry Wharton Conway, a territorial delegate to
the US Congress, Arkansas became a state on June 15, 1836. Faulkner County
was formed on April 12, 1873, from Conway and Pulaski Counties.

CHAPTER 6
McGINTYTOWN, FAULKNER CO. ARKANSAS
John, Frank, Jim, Ida, Theodore, Goldie, Joseph
Louise, Thomas, ca. 1912
Thomas B. McGinty, (ca 1844-1916), My Great Grandpa
T
o the best of my understanding, Great Grandpa Thomas was born
where his dad, Joseph, settled east of Springfield at the Cadron Creek
Bridge. The birth and death date on his headstone reads 1829-1915,
but this was done in error because it was placed much later and no one knew
the actual dates. I have a copy of the handwritten marriage license to Louise
dated 1866 showing his age at 26. However, this must be wrong also; he would
have been about 22 according to his birth date. Some family

CHAPTER 7
THE POWELL FAMILY
Arthur (1), Nora (2, not shown), Irvin (3), Johnny (6), Esther (5)
Arteen (8), Willie (4), Josie (7),
Raymond (10), Vernice (11) and Cecil (9), ca. 1937

CHAPTER 8
CECIL AND WILLIE
Cecil and Willie, Oct. 10, 1936 Cecil McGinty ca. 1980
Wedding day
Family Reunion
Cecil Doyle McGinty, (1917-1990), My Father
C
ecil was born December 26, 1917, and died October 15, 1990.
Mom and Dad were married on October 10, 1936. They have 9
children: Dalton Doyle, (pronounced Dal-un, 1938-2021), Mary Helen
(Maree, b. 1940-), Geanie Frances (Geanee, b. 1941-), Landel Earl (Landle,
1943-2013), Danny Joe (Dan Joe, 1945-2015), Reda Carol (Readle, 1948-
2011), Arnold Lee (Arnolee, 1949-2012), Linda Diane (Diann, b. 1951),
myself, Darrell Dee (Darel, b. 1953). And Mama was TIRED. A friend told
someone once, “Kids came out of that house for 30 minutes.”

CHAPTER 9
MY EARLIEST MEMORIES GROWING UP
WITH 4 BROTHERS AND 4 SISTERS
T
hey say when I was born, February 1, 1953, we lived in an old house
(1 st move) called The Old Snows’ place, on Hwy 225 east of
Greenbrier. According to cousin Bob, Mr. Jonah Snow owned this old
farm place at one time and had a store there. This was either F. J. Snow (1861-
1946) or W.J. Snow (1854-1928) buried there at Antioch Cemetery. He was
also the father of Mrs. Bertha Lee Hamilton, who was dad’s 2nd-grade teacher
and mine. I was the only one of nine that was born in a hospital. Sister Diane
and I were the only ones in the family to get a GED. I remember very little
before the age of five. My earliest memory is in 1958. We lived south of
Greenbrier on Elliott Road in Springhill in Kenneth Wilcox Sr.’s rent house
(2 nd move); I remember standing on the living room couch looking out the
window waiting for brother Landel to come walking down the dirt road after
milking cows for a neighbor. He said he heard a panther scream once.
I started 1 st grade at Greenbrier in September 1959. I learned quickly from
my brothers. I would climb on top of the barn where mama couldn’t reach me
to skip the school bus. She would say “I’m gonna tell your daddy when he gets
home”. All…day I was waiting for a licking. Come to find out, he didn’t care if
we went to school or not.
I remember messing in my overalls coming home on the bus after school.
It stunk so bad the driver put me and brother Arnolee off to walk the rest of
the way home. It wasn't far. I took off all my clothes and we walked through
the pastures so no one would see me. Arnold was carrying my stinking
overalls, arm stretched out with two fingers, holding his nose with the other.
We use to walk all over the place through the woods and fields. One time I cut
my knee in the creek in front of the house and Cousin James Weldon carried
me back home. I still have that scar.

CHAPTER 10
ON THE MOVE
A
bout 1960, we moved (3 rd move) to a house in front of what is now
junction US 65 & 25 west, right in Greenbrier. Highway 65 was a
small two-lane then. The dirt road to McGinty Town wasn’t paved
until about 1965. I was held back in school because I couldn’t read very well so
I started first grade again. A real pretty little girl kept crying; she didn’t want
to be left by her mother. I was in love for the first time with Vickie Sue. It was
pretty good being older than the other kids. I could whip all the boys in my
class. And I got in trouble a lot. One time the teacher was going to whip me for
acting like I was calf wrestling another kid but she couldn’t find the paddle.
No, it wasn’t me who hid it.
Mama would make us shirts out of 35-pound flour sacks. Back then, they
started coming in cloth patterns. Late at night, mother and I would be
watching those old western movies. I would beg her to fix me a sugar biscuit or
fried cornbread flitter, (Fritter). We always had sweet tea to drink at every
meal. Me and Diane took our lunch to school and mama would make a cake
without icing. The kids made fun of me thinking I was eating cornbread. After
that, we walked home for lunch. Some bad dogs lived beside Fred Wilson’s
place where we walked by. I would stand crying in the classroom every day
waiting for Diane to come by and get me. Fred Wilson had a huge Indian
arrowhead collection in his home. You can still see it in the Greenbrier City
Hall building. His wife Lois Linn Wilson was our third-grade schoolteacher.
Sister Diane and I took a bus to Grandma McGinty’s house in McGinty
Town one Friday when school let out. The bus driver, Calvin Robinson, didn’t
even ask if we had permission. But we did, we knew Mama would have been
worried to death. We loved to walk up to Harve’s store. I remember Harve had
an old flintlock rifle over the door and a big 12 lb. cannonball that everyone
tried to see who could lift the most times. We would go up there and drink RC
Cola and yes, we would eat Moon Pies and (n)-toes candy. Some

CHAPTER 11
MY WONDERFUL, LOVING,
DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY.
I
was a bully in school until about the fourth grade. I could whip any
boy in my class, being held back a grade, I was older. We moved
around so much, I didn’t make friends very well and I started to get
quiet, and I was embarrassed also about my looks. I ate like a cricket so I was
skinny and had my daddy’s big McGinty nose. I had no hips and couldn’t
keep my pants up so I wore suspenders. Just imagine an okre (okra) stalk
with suspenders. The table was turned then. Kids started to pick on me. A
yellow streak ran up my back and was attached to my lips so bad, I hardly
spoke to anyone. This lasted well into my late teens.
Daddy also worked at Virco’s in Conway making school furniture. He
brought home a little chair he had made and welded for me. I would give that
chair to my brothers to get them to take me with them. When we returned, I
would take it back. I think that’s how my cousins gave me the nickname
“Greedy Darrell.” I have that little chair to this day. I put a new wood back on
it, painted it, and gave it to my granddaughter Gabriella. No, I haven’t taken
it back.
While Daddy was out playing music, he met a woman named Vonita and
had an affair. He and Mama divorced on July 17, 1961. Daddy married the
woman and they had a daughter named Donna May. I saw her once at the
county fair. Daddy gave her some money. Huh…, he never gave me money
for the fair. But to this day I have no communication with her. I do not know
where she lives. I would like to see her again someday.
At home alone with Mama, the Holy Spirit came over her to pray for Daddy.
She would go into a closet to pray. When she came out, she did not feel any
better; so she went back in two more times until her spirit was at

CHAPTER 12
MUSIC, A FAMILY TRADITION
D
addy played the fiddle pretty much his whole life. All of my brothers
and sister could play a musical instrument or sing. We were Irish,
not Jewish but maybe kin to King David; “Then David and all the
house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir
wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on
cymbals.” 2 Samuel 6:5. Guess that’s why I was a drummer and a songwriter.
King David wrote many songs in the book of Psalms.
In 1955, Daddy, Landel, and Mary would play music at the old Conway
Sale Barn every Saturday, when it was on Markham Street. KCON Radio
would broadcast it live. So they were on the radio. Arnold Lee was the best
lead guitar player around. I started playing drums on cardboard boxes at six
years old before dad bought a small drum set.
After the older kids were married, about 1962, the brothers & sisters
would come up to play music almost every weekend. Other friends of Daddy’s
would come and they would dance in the living room. Daddy would whack me
on top of the head with his fiddle bow if I came running through the house.
Sometime in 1963, we moved (4 th move) to a two-story white house in
Conway near US 64 and 25 West junction. Our landlord Mr. Carman Maxwell
had a used car lot across the street where Daddy worked as a mechanic. Daddy
was still drinking a lot and had a bad wreck in a 1954 Ford 4-door sedan. His
knees were badly hurt. The heavy metal dash in that old car had two deep
dents where his knees were. His life was spared again. I was in the Ellen Smith
grade school at that time. I then transferred to Ida Burns that same year. I
vividly remember when Pres. John F Kennedy was shot, the teacher told us
right before school let out. I was in 4 th grade.

CHAPTER 13
I WAS FALLING IN LOVE WITH MY SISTER-IN-LAW
A
fter Patricia had her firstborn, a son named Marty in 1972, the long
arm of the law finally caught up with Arnold Lee for being AWOL.
The Sheriff had been looking for him for some time and finally caught
him at the home of his brother-in-law, Ronny Billingsley. The music friend
had married Pat’s sister Elizabeth. Arnold spent some time at Fort Sill
Oklahoma Army Stockade. I wrote a song about him called “That Ole Stockade
Blues”. It’s on my album called “Memories of a Songwriter”. After a while they
let him come home.
“That Ole Stockade Blues”
That ole sun is bearing down upon my back.
Walking down this long railroad track.
They just let me out of Sill Oklahoma,
Lord that’s where I thought that I was dead.
And now I’m traveling home, with everything I own.
I’m out and away from that ole Stockade,
and I’m traveling home today…
Darrell McGinty
I went to work as a carpenter with a home builder in Conway named
George (Peanut) Holtzman, building houses. I worked for about 2 years. There
was a man named Frank Sanson working for him. I bought a model 1903 M1
Springfield bolt-action rifle from him. I was hunting down in south Arkansas
with my brothers in 1972 and I shot my first deer with that rifle. A nice 10-
point buck that is still on my wall today. I still have that rifle also.

CHAPTER 14
SONGWRITING
I
started to write songs two years earlier in 1972. I would go off and
camp out in some park or sit around the house and write songs,
especially after failed relationships. Guess inspiration comes from
heartache. I have written about 50 songs over the years. The first songs that I
wrote were “I Can’t Pretend Anymore,” 1972, and “If You Can’t Help me, Don’t
Hurt Me,” 1973. I now have 4 albums of songs: Album 1. “Man I was Really
High,” 2. “My Life in Song,” 3. “In the Shadow of His Glory,” and 4. “Memories
of a Songwriter,” Album 3 is an arrangement of inspirational songs. You can
find my songs at: ………….
After Lee’s death, Mary bought Mom & Dad a mobile home and moved it in
next to her in early 1975. I moved in with my music buddy, Robin Covington.
We were playing at Heber VFW one time and I met a woman that became a
good friend and a shoulder to cry on over the years. But again, it wasn’t right;
she already had five kids!
One night I called Pat, I don’t know why I just wanted to hear her voice I
guess. The next night she called me and said, “We need to talk”. Well, it had to
happen. Patricia divorced Arnold. We got together and we dated for an entire
year. “January thru December we had such a perfect year. Then the flame
became a dying ember, all at once you weren’t here.” Sounds “like a song, but
it’s much too sad to write” (Ronny Milsap, 1977). After that eventful year, I was
alone again. There was this other girl that I met at a club we played at and I
went out with her to see if I could love her. She was pretty and sweet but it
wasn’t right either. I’m sure it was my problem.
I found out that Pat was pregnant. I did not run away, I decided that I
had to leave home to get over her so I could come back if that makes any
sense. So in February of 1976, “I quit my job down at the carwash”

CHAPTER 15
LEAVING FOR NASHVILLE
I
n Nashville, I walked Music Row for a while; then I auditioned with a
Daryl Petty Band. I got hired and we left for a show in Marion, North
Carolina. I went by my middle name Dee as to not cause a conflict.
Daryl Petty was a little-known singer, songwriter, and fantastic Rock-n-Roll
piano player that went back to the early ’50s. He was a better piano player
than Jerry Lee Lewis. He had little played records like “Flaming Love '' and
“The Day I Die” in 1959. A bigger hit was “A Million Miles From Nowhere,”
recorded by Rock-n-Roll artist Brook Benton in 1957. Others were recorded by
Jim Ed Brown and Sonny James. “Hello, Uncle Daddy'' was recorded by The
Parrish Brothers in 1968. [ref. 41]
One story told by his friend, Shirley Cunningham: “I went to school with
Daryl” (about 1955) “in Old Fort North Carolina. The principal refused to let
him play the school piano because he would knock the ivory keys right off of it.
He was super good as a teenager.”
A Marion, North Carolina newspaper report in November 1977 read: “He
began his career at age four playing the piano. He began taking lessons at age
seven, and at age nine, he was named National Piano Champion. He began
playing professionally at age 10 with a gospel quartet known as the Mimosa
Boys (Joe Franklin and His Mimosa Boys) from Morganton, North Carolina.
When he left the quartet, he became part of the Tennessee Barn Dance radio
show in Knoxville; it was during this time he was contracted to appear on The
Ed Sullivan show in 1958. One of the highlights of his career was appearing
with Jim Ed Brown on the Grand ole Opry in Nashville that year.” Daryl
appeared there as a member of Joe Franklin and the Hi-liters. Joe came by
and set in with us one night when we were playing in North Carolina. You can
search YouTube for Daryl Petty and Joe Franklin and the Hi-Liters.

CHAPTER 16
COMING HOME
W
hen I came back home in the summer of 1976, I stayed in several
places with my brothers and Mom and Dad. Dalton’s wife, Martha
helped me get a job where she worked at Chicopee Manufacturing
in Little Rock. I worked on the 3rd night shift. I was making good money but I
never could get used to closing all the shades during the day to try to sleep. I
don’t think God intended for man to sleep during the day. After three months I
quit and moved back to Conway.
Well, as blind-fate would have it, Pat and the kids moved in with Danny
and Linda on Crystal Hill, North Little Rock. After all that, I was still not over
her. We started seeing each other again and planned to marry for the second
time. I was at Mom and Dad's place sometime later trying to go see them, but
my truck did not want to run good. I could not figure it out. It didn’t make
sense what the problem was. Well, I finally got frustrated and left anyway with
it running bad. When I got to Dan Joe’s house, I started to back up and Marty
came running out behind the truck. Thank God I saw him in time. I realized
later that God was trying to show me something but I was too blind to see it. I
rented a place for Pat and the kids just below Danny and Linda’s, but I did not
live there. By that December, Pat broke off the relationship and I was alone
again. I made Pat a very pretty little musical jewelry box when I worked at the
craft place with intricate post corners that played a tune when you opened the
bottom drawer. I took a hammer and smashed it all to pieces. Better that than
something I loved. I rented a mobile home on Meadowlake Road in Conway
and I would get the kids every other weekend.

CHAPTER 17
A LOVE FOR WOODWORKING
I
n December of 1977, I received a letter from Bertie Lee that Daryl Petty
had passed away. They were on a tour in Minot, North Dakota and he
collapsed on stage. I know that’s the way he would have wanted to go,
playing music. She said he did receive salvation before his death. I thanked
God for that.
In early 1978, I went to work at Charles Lee Custom Cabinets in Conway,
Arkansas as a cabinet maker. I bought a
new set of drums and we formed the
“CrossRoads Express Band,” with my
friends Glenn Parish, lead guitar, Robin
Covington, lead singer and bass, Charles
Kurck, steel guitar, and me on drums. We
played at White Oak Gun Club near Enola,
Arkansas.
Robin, Charles, Darrell, Glenn
After that, I formed a band called “Southern Creed Country” with musician
friends: Gary Atkinson, lead singer and
guitar, Bill Gardner, Bass, Lonis (LG) Starr
on sax, Orley Feagins, steel guitar, and me
on drums. We played the VFW circuit. I
played under this band name off and on
for 41 years with different band members
up until New Years' Eve 2020.
Bill, Gary, LG, Orley, Darrell

CHAPTER 18
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
B
y the summer of 1980 life was not going my way. I started getting
depressed and got fired from Lee's cabinets after 2-1/2 years. I moved
in with Sister Mary on Scenic Hill in North Little Rock, (NLR), and
went to work for Jerry Hill Cabinets. A young divorced girl with a 4-year-old
daughter named Mandy who lived with her mom and dad next door started
jogging around the block and got to looking pretty good. She was Cathy
Franklin. After a short courtship, we married on Oct 3, 1980. Cathy and I
rented a house off Camp Robinson road in the Tanglewood subdivision. On
our wedding day, the preacher almost didn't marry us because we were
arguing. Not a good sign!
I went to work at Lienhart Construction for more money; but after 1
month, I went back to Jerry Hill Cabinets because I loved working with wood.
I had made a jig to make shims on a table saw. To do that, I had raised the
blade all the way up. It jammed and cut my right index finger off but the
doctor was able to sew it back on, but he sewed it on crooked. The waiting
room was full of family. The doctor said you don’t know how serious this is.
Mama said, “I do.” Daddy had three of his fingers cut off on his left fiddle cord
hand in a metal shop accident at McGinty Town, but he could still play the
fiddle better than most.
Cathy and I bought a house on Scenic Hill, down the street from Sister
Mary, and Cathy’s mom and dad in 1982. Someone had converted it from a
duplex. The seller was able to finance it for us. I built a 24x 48 workshop out
back. I finally paid the second mortgage off in 1998.

CHAPTER 19
MY THREE SONS
Allen, Chad, Aaron, July 3, 2009, McGinty Town AR.
Aaron, Darrell, Allen & Chad McGinty
Christmas 2020

CHAPTER 20
THE LAST WIFE I’LL EVER HAVE
I
would go to a park across the street from the trailer park in Conway,
praying that God would send me someone. He let me know that it
would be someone who was a widow. In the spring of 1995, I met
Anita Sue Moore Bowman at Bank of America in Conway. She was a teller.
When I pulled up to the drive-thru window, I saw Anita’s legs at the front
counter. I told the drive-thru teller, “Wait! I’m coming in.” I went in to meet
this girl whose name tag said, Anita. I was acting like a big shot because I was
drawing out quite a bit of cash to go on annual training in Hawaii with the
Seabees. When I got back to the shop I said to myself, “What have I got to
lose?” So I called and asked to speak to the front teller. I told Anita I was
leaving for two-week training duty and could I call her when I got back. To my
surprise, she said. Yes! Anita was so pretty; I wanted a relationship with her so
bad. I knew I had to get some people on my prayer team. So I enlisted Mama
and sister Geanie. They got it done.
When I got off training duty, I found out Anita had
been widowed twice. Anita lived in the town of Guy. I
said to myself again, “What have I got to lose?” So I
went to her house and almost begged her to go out with
me. Chad married a school friend named April in 1995
and Anita went with me to the wedding. When I took
her home, I asked her if she needed a hug. That's all it
took. She fell in love with me after that. God does
answer prayers.
Anita and Jennifer
When we were dating, I took Anita with me on a Seabee project on the Big
Island of Hawaii. She took a bus tour one day while I was working and she got
arrested at a department store for stealing her own coat. Her black coat was
similar to the one she was looking at and the security guard believed Anita was
wearing the store’s coat. Anita had bruises on her wrist where the handcuffs
were. She could have owned that store if she would have sued but

CHAPTER 21
UNITED STATES NAVY SEABEES
THE FORMATION [ref. 43]
T
he United States Naval Construction Battalions are better known as
the Navy Seabees, from the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The
Seabee nickname is of the first letters "C B" from the words
Construction Battalion. The word is used "Seabee". They can be Mobile or
Amphibious. Seabees serve under both Commanders of the Naval Surface
Forces Atlantic/Pacific fleets as well as on many base Public Works
departments.
Naval Construction Battalions were conceived of as a replacement for
civilian construction companies working for the U.S. Navy after the U.S.

CHAPTER 22
MY NAVY SEABEE CAREER
I
Chief Petty Officer Darrell McGinty 2003
entered the Navy Reserve Seabees, Naval Mobile Construction
Battalion (NMCB) 28 in February of 1979 at Little Rock Arkansas as a
Builder 3 rd Class Petty Officer. We drilled at the old reserve center next
to the Zoo and Ray Winder Field until they built a new complex on Camp Pike,
Camp Robinson No. Little Rock. The Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center,
(Now called NOSC, Navy Operational Support Center Little Rock) was built on
Camp Pike about 1981.
Camp Pike was established in 1917 and was used for training the 87th
Division of the National Army for World War I. Shortly before World War II,
the name was changed to Camp Joseph T. Robinson, and the camp's
boundaries were expanded to include land in Pulaski and Faulkner counties.
The camp was used for the basic training of troops. A variety of weapons
training occurred including rifles, pistols, machine guns, live grenades,
mortars, and various field artillery. [ref. 44]

Except from David C Cook Ministry. [ref. 45]
"I comprehend the Bible as God's story, as the story of His interaction with
the people He created. Throughout God's story, I perceive Him inviting us to
bring our own individual stories to join in with His. In that sense, the only way
our story can have eternal meaning is to become a part of God's story. On the
other hand, if our story never unites with God's story, then our story
eventually becomes lost and forgotten. It is most unfortunate that some people
don't recognize the story of their own lives! Every story has twists and turns;
every story has influential characters; every story has plot shifts that send the
story off in a new direction. However, there is no twist and turn, no influential
character, no plot shift that can compare to when our own story has been
redeemed by God's story. The psalmist realized this and so proclaimed, "Let
the redeemed of the Lord tell their story" (Ps. 107:2). Every one of our life
stories involves some oppression from which we need to be delivered. Every
one of our life stories involves some affliction or separation from which we
need to be restored. Every one of our life stories involves some sin from which
we need to be forgiven. Whenever God delivers, restores, and forgives, our
response should be to tell, thankfully, how our story has been redeemed by
God's story!"
I feel like I have tried to do that in my story of:
“The McGintys, a Historical Genealogy Journey and Autobiography”.

THE McGINTY COAT OF ARMS
The description (Blazon), of Armor, translates something like: The Sons of
McGinty. Divisions of the Red and Green Kingdoms of mighty Lions standing
between three clover trefoils.
Saint Patrick was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and
bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland. Saint Patrick widely used
the trefoil to explain the Christain mystery of the Trinity, that there are three
separate persons in the one God just as the leaf comprises three parts. The
lesser trefoil, Trifolium dubium, is a suckling clover flowering plant in the pea
family. This species is generally accepted as the primary plant to represent the
traditional Irish shamrock.

I wrote an Irish ballad to go along with this book.
You can find all my songs at:…..
“OLE McGINTYTOWN”
Intro.
V1/Refrain
I have searched the world over and never have found,
a more beautiful home place where now I be bound.
The green hills of my fathers are on sacred ground.
Tis the home of the Ole McGintyTown.
Chorus/Refrain
Where the dew is kissed and I’m all in awe!
Where the Geese fly over in Arkansas.
That is where this old body will soon be laid down.
With my fathers, in ole McGintyTown.
V2/Refrain
When the love of my life did depart from this earth,
I found solace in knowing she raised to new birth.
Strolling through the green pastures the wind makes the sound,
of her singing in ole McGintyTown.
Chorus x2
Where the dew is kissed and I’m all in awe!
Where the Geese fly over in Arkansas.
That is where this old body will soon be laid down.
With my fathers, in ole McGintyTown.
Darrell McGinty
December 2021

INDEX OF NAMES
Baker, Martha Perkins, 95
Bradford, Opal, 100
Burkett, Bessie McGinty, 99, 100
Burkett, Jack, 100
Byrd, Esther Powell, 105, 107, 117
Cain, Ethel McGinty, 95
Cardin, Edd, 81, 100, 102
Cardin, Tressie Dean, 81, 100, 102
Childers, Albert Wayne, (Bud) 133
Childers, Darrell Wayne, 133,
Childers, Reda Carrol, iii, 123, 133
Clare, Nellie Chadrick, 99, 100, 103
Combs, Dessie Edna, 99, 100, 102
Combs, Manson, 100, 102
Earnhart, Zella, 101, 125
Freeman, Bertha McGinty, 99, 100
Freeman, (Frankie), Frances, 98,
Freeman, Samuel (Sam), 100
Frizzell, Linda Diane, iii, 108, 123,
136, 137, 140, 142, 144, 154, 193
Hardy, Vernice Powell, 103, 105,
107
Jackson, Joseph, 21,
Jackson, Thomas, 20, 21
Kennedy, Jennie, 99, 101, 104, 144
McGinty, Aaron Michael, 137, 138,
139, 178, 179, 180,
McGinty, Abednego, 17, 27, 29, 46,
McGinty, Alexander, 7, 8, 10,
McGinty, Alexander Jr., 10, 15
McGinty, Allen Marshall, 137, 138,
139, 178, 179, 180,
McGinty, Andrew Jackson (Jack),
93
McGinty, Arnold Lee, (Arnolee) iii,
123, 132, 135, 136, 140, 146, 159, 163
McGinty, Cecil Doyle, iii, 85, 99,
102, 121, 123, 141, 148, 150, 182,
McGinty, Chadrick Lynn, 137, 138,
170, 178, 180, 182, 183, 185, 216
McGinty, Charles Franklin, 100,
127, 102, 163,
McGinty, Dalton Doyle, iii, 102, 123,
125, 126, 127, 132, 146, 155, 164, 197
McGinty, Danny Joe, iii, 123, 131,
132, 146, 154, 156, 164, 172, 175,
McGinty, Darrell Dee, iii, x, 123,
135, 137, 159, 160, 174, 186, 197,
214, 228
McGinty, Deborah Jackson, 17, 20,
23, 26, 28
McGinty, Doyle Wayne, 126
McGinty, Edgar Ray, 97, 101
McGinty, Eli Hood, 51, 52, 54, 61
McGinty, Ernest Matthew, 99, 100,
101, 102
McGinty, Felix Franklin (Frank)
Columbus, 92, 99, 101, 103, 104
McGinty, George Banks, 44
McGinty, George Washington Sr.,
17, 27, 32, 33, 34, 38,
McGinty, George Washington Jr.,
32 McGinty, Gerald Bradford, 100,
McGinty, Gerald Kirk. (Jerry), 32,
226,

36

SOURCES and REFERENCES
[ref. 1] Surname Data Base/McGinty. Also: Ulster blood, English heart –“I
am what I am," Emerson, Newton (20 May 2004).
[ref. 2] The Descendants of Robert and John Poage, Pioneer Settlers in
Augusta County VA, Vol 1, Bishop-Woodworth, 1954. Chapter 9, page 930.
(William, the eighth child of Robert Poage). Also see Punxsutawney
Pennsylvania newspaper article on AUG 14, 1929 by Elmo Scott Watson.
[ref. 3] Kentucky.gov, The Battle of Blue Licks page.
[ref. 4] History of Lancaster Co. Penn. By Franklin Ellis and Samuel Evans
in 1883
[ref. 5] The GAGenWeb Project. Copyright © 2007-Present - Christina
Palmer-- All Rights Reserved, submitted by Gerald K. “Jerry” McGinty from
his book, Our McGinty Family in America, 2018, by Gerald K McGinty.
Copyright © 2007-Present. (photo page 226). His book is available via email:
mcgintyboy@aol.com)
[ref. 6] Olde Mecklenburg Genealogical Society Quarterly, vol. 15, number 1,
Germans in Mecklenburg, published in 1997
[ref. 7] Olde Mecklenburg Genealogical Society Quarterly, McGinty Deeds in
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Vol. 19, Number 3, Pages 17-29. [ref.
8] Bartram’s, Travels and Other Writings, William Bartram 1739-1823.
[ref. 8a] US Department of the Interior. Bureau of Land Management.
[ref. 9] Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy,
by William Wade Hinshaw 1867-1947.
[ref. 10] Southern Baptist Convention Historical Commission, Nashville, TN.
See also Campbell’s History of Georgia Baptists.
[ref. 11] https://www.history.com/topics/early-us/whiskey-rebellion
[ref. 12] The Augusta Chronicle and Gazette, September 17, 1796. Augusta
Georgia.
[ref. 13] The Land Between - A History of Hancock County Georgia to 1940,”
chapter IV, by Forrest Shivers
[ref. 14] Passports Issued by the Governors of Georgia, 1785-1809, by Mary
G. Bryan. c1959.

38