LONOKE -- The mannequin, dressed in a striking outfit with a vivid red skirt, could be mistaken for a belle of the ball from the antebellum South.
In fact, attire like that on display at Lonoke County Museum was donned to disguise a Confederate guerrilla during the Civil War. It is said to have been worn by the slightly built Howell A. "Doc" Rayburn to infiltrate a dance hosted by Union officers.
Back in 1862, Rayburn had joined a Texas regiment that was campaigning in Arkansas, as an information panel explains. Either sick or wounded, he was left behind near Des Arc. While recovering, he organized other Rebel sympathizers into "a small company to begin their guerrilla strikes against Union troops."
As captain of the force, Rayburn fought for two years, devising the dance deception late in 1864. He "was young, blond and blue-eyed. Dressed as a female, he managed to enter with a group of girls. He was able to learn valuable information from the Union soldiers. Leaving before the dance was over, he took Limber Jim, a beautiful black horse which belonged to a Union officer."
This tale of derring-do, likely embellished in the century and a half since, makes a jolly yarn. Other Civil War material at the museum includes a diorama of the Battle of Brownsville, fought three miles northeast of Lonoke.
Crafted by director Sherryl Miller and a son, the layout provides a three-dimensional view in miniature of the action on Aug. 25, 1863. On that day, Union Col. Washington Geiger's forces forced the retreat of Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke's Confederate cavalry division during the Little Rock Campaign, during which the North captured the state capital.
Three other dioramas, also made by Miller and her son, add to the enjoyment of the museum. They portray the American Indian mounds at Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park, the town of Lonoke in the 1890s, and the Eberts Field base where World War I pilots were trained.
The largest exhibit, among the best of such setups in Arkansas county museums, is a walk-through Old Town simulating Lonoke's business district at the end of the 19th century. Back then, the community's population was just under 1,000, but commerce evidently bustled.
Replicas include a bank, the county jail, a church, a grade school, a barbershop, one of that era's three hotels, a railroad freight depot, a women's hat shop, a doctor's office, a bakery, a land office and a blacksmith's shop.
Operated by a nonprofit group formed in 1998, the museum occupies the Scott Building, a former doctor's office and car dealership that dates back to the late 19th century. Many items have been donated by residents of the county. One showcase displays regalia from local Boy Scout troops. An alcove holds dozens of children's dolls.
The museum takes pride in its genealogy center, widely used by county residents and others curious about their ancestry in the area. Among the center's research materials are diaries, scrapbooks, photographs and a collection of maps going back to the start of the 19th century.
With the 100th anniversary of America's entry into World War I now a year and a half away, the museum is gearing up to focus on that conflict. Teaming with Cabot's Museum of American History, it is seeking Great War memorabilia. In the planning is a photo exhibit on Eberts Field as well as other local activities related to that global conflict.
Lonoke County Museum, 215 S.E. Front St. (U.S. 70), Lonoke, is open 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free, but donations are welcome. Call (501) 676-6750.
Weekend on 11/19/2015