Our second day in Arkansas started with breakfast and a trip to the Pope County Library. For the building's size, they have an amazing genealogy collection. I put my dad to work copying many items from the "Williamson" folders. I hunted articles from journals, genealogy newsletters and other publications.
We had lunch at a cute little drug store. Turns out that they sell the History of Pope County, volumes 1 and 2 there. I've been looking for old copies of those for months. It was nice to see them in print again. I bought the set. There are several Williamsons in there, plus a good view of the early county history.
After lunch, we went to Arkansas Tech University (ATU). Based on the records I have, in the mid-1800's John Williamson owned the land where the college now stands. We went to the school's museum and talked to a staff member. She wasn't aware of the land's history. She took a copy of what documentation I had. The school will celebrate its 100th birthday next year. Maybe John Williamson will get a mention.
Since there was no longer a family homestead for me to see, I bought a TECH shirt at the bookstore as a family heirloom. ;)
In the afternoon, we went back to the library. I copied some obituaries.
We called it a day and had dinner. My son was really, really, really good all day so he got to go swimming. I purposely picked a hotel with a pool because I knew this trip would not be entirely fun for him.
Day 3 was cemetery day. Stay tuned...
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