Museum to sponsor Civil War Symposium

Robert Swain and Lissa Bryan, dressed in period costumes, will be among the speakers at Saturday’s Civil War Symposium at the Museum of Veterans and Military History in Vilonia. Both are active in living history and re-enactments throughout the state.
Robert Swain and Lissa Bryan, dressed in period costumes, will be among the speakers at Saturday’s Civil War Symposium at the Museum of Veterans and Military History in Vilonia. Both are active in living history and re-enactments throughout the state.

VILONIA — Although no major Civil War battles were fought in Arkansas, there were military actions throughout the state, including some skirmishes in Faulkner County.

The Museum of Veterans and Military History in Vilonia will host a Civil War Symposium on Saturday in an effort to present factual information on the War Between the States. Registration is $20 and includes lunch, which will be served at 11:30 a.m.

“We are not trying to say this war was right or wrong,” said Linda Hicks, museum director. “As a museum, we just want to present the historical aspects of it. Ours is a historical approach as [the war] relates to Arkansas.”

Arkansas was a Confederate state, choosing to secede from the Union on May 6, 1861. The museum, at 53 N. Mount Olive Road in Vilonia, has a section dedicated to the Civil War.

Saturday’s symposium will begin at 8 a.m. with registration and setup for vendors and exhibitors. Hicks will welcome those in attendance at 9.

Several Faulkner County residents are included on the list of speakers at the symposium, including Robert Swain of Vilonia, who will speak at 9:10.

Swain said he had 32 ancestors fight in the Civil War, serving on both sides.

“I’m an equal-opportunity guy. I’ve been going to schools for 26 years doing living-history demonstrations,” he said.

“I try to talk about what happened to a country boy in Arkansas whenever the war came here. It was the greatest thing that happened to him. When it was over, he had received awards and was known as a veteran. But what really happened to that 18- or 19-year-old boy? That war defined him. … It defined the whole nation,” Swain said.

“There were skirmishes in Faulkner County. They have found bullets around Vilonia, in Mayflower around Round Mountain and out at Cadron Settlement Park,” he said.

“It was a very difficult time,” Swain said. “This was the frontier. When the war came, it was a hard war. You had to choose a side. It was hard. Most of the soldiers in the area who joined the Confederacy in 1861 marched off and crossed the Tennessee River to fight at Shiloh or Vicksburg or other places. They did not stay here to defend Arkansas. Then in 1862, they needed more troops and conscripted more soldiers in Arkansas.

“I think I read somewhere that Arkansas had more soldiers in more engagements that any other state.”

Swain, who is a Church of Christ minister, said he has been a relic hunter, a re-enactor with the 10th Arkansas Infantry, CSA, and a member of both the Sons of the Confederate Veterans and the Sons of Union Veterans.

Swain will speak on the uniforms, equipment and weapons of the Civil War at Saturday’s symposium. He said he portrays “a buck private.”

At 2:15 p.m., Conway resident Lissa Bryan will present fashions of the 1860s “from the skin out.”

Bryan is a Civil War enthusiast and seamstress who participates in living history and re-enactments throughout Arkansas.

“My husband, John, and I do living history a lot. We currently are with the 2nd Arkansas Infantry but will be volunteering with the 10th Arkansas Infantry soon,” she said.

“My first encounter with living history was when I was 11 and in Texas. I was on a home-school field trip at the time. Then when I met my husband, I really became involved. I’ve always been interested in fashion and history and have combined those two interests in what I do now. I make every bit of what I wear … from the skin out,” Bryan said.

“I also do Revolutionary War and World War II living history,” said Bryan, who is a stay-at-home mom and home-schools her three young children. “I portray a woman who is taking care of her family on the home front. I read a lot of old dairies and often tell those stories.”

Conway resident Brandon C. Faulkner will speak about his great-great-great-great-grandfather, Col. Sanford “Sandy” C. Faulkner, who was a wealthy plantation owner and statesman. Sandy Faulkner is noted for writing the Arkansas state song, “The Arkansas Traveler.” He was also a colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; Faulkner County was named for him in 1873.

Other speakers will include the following:

• Meigs Brainard of Monticello will speak on The Confederate Soldier Through the Eyes of a Relic Hunter at 10:30. Brainard is a Civil War relic hunter, collector and author and will bring some relics for sale. He is working on several projects regarding Trans-Mississippi Civil War relic hunting and collecting.

• R.D. Keever of Cabot will speak at noon to discuss a lost cemetery that he and Rusty Eisenhower of Austin discovered near Austin in Lonoke County. They will discuss the aspects of the Civil War regarding the area from Austin to Faulkner County and share their findings regarding pioneer family history.

Members of the 2nd Arkansas Infantry will present a firing demonstration during a living history presentation from 1-2 p.m.

The symposium will conclude at 4. The museum and vendors’ booths will remain open until 5. Proceeds of the event will benefit the museum, which is a 501(c)(3) entity.

To register for the symposium or for more information, contact Hicks at (501) 796-8181 or linhicks_old@windstream.net.

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