Civil War-era attire exhibited at Museum of Culpeper History

By Rhonda Simmons

Published: July 20, 2008

Nancy Napier-Graham doesn’t mind putting on several layers of clothing even if it is in 97-degree heat.

The petite Madison resident did just that this weekend.

Graham alongside her husband, Bill Graham, and fellow re-enactor Linwood Imlay donned heavy Civil War-era clothing and explained signature period items to captivated audiences who stopped by the Museum of Culpeper History on Sunday.

The trio set up camp underneath tall trees to escape from the scorching sun rays.

Nancy — dressed in all white — wore a thin chemise, petticoat, and a chemisette. She explained how and why ladies and children wore certain clothes during the War Between the States.

On her oversized blanket, Nancy displayed a bevy of women’s bonnets, children’s clothing, a vintage apron, and other 19th-century items including an old-fashioned clothespin.

“The boys and girls both (wore) dresses until the boys were potty trained,” Nancy said Sunday afternoon as she prepared for the crowd. “So, back then, if you saw little boys wearing pants, that meant they were potty trained.”

Nancy said women parted their daughters’ hair down the center while the male counterparts wore their parts on the side as a way to distinguish young boys from the girls.

She said the type of material a person wore said a lot about them. At that time, clothing was made from natural fibers such as cotton, linen, wool and silk.

“If you were really rich, you had silk,” Nancy said. “And if you were really, really poor, you wore cotton.”

Back then, there was one thing a southern lady never left the house without — a hat.

“In those days, tans were a no-no,” Nancy said. “If you had a tan that meant you were outside working and that you were poor.”

Nancy said she learned a lot about what and how Civil War women dressed from reading Juanita Leisch’s books.

The Civil War woman was a conservative one. She was covered from her neck to her ankles.

The self-proclaimed “history nut” says she loves learning about the past.

“The Civil War has always fascinated me,” she said. “You had a country divided in two and fighting against people they knew. It was a brother vs. brother or father vs. son battle.”

“It just amazes me,” Nancy said.

Across the lawn, Linwood Imlay — donning a white shirt with suspenders over his shoulders to hold up his grey wool pants — talked about Civil War weapons.

“Once it gets wet from perspiration it actually cools you down,” said the Madison resident of the generally warm attire. “But it’s just getting to that wet part is the hard part.”

Linwood displayed an 1861 Springfield rifle, a British Enfield rifle, a Colt .44 revolver, and whittled bullets and a number of items a soldier would deem essential.

The non-fighting necessities were soap, a traveling ink well, beans, playing cards, and mess gear including a tin plate with tin utensils.

However, the cards were missing an important part: the numbers.

“A lot of them were illiterate so that would be the kind of cards they would use,” Linwood explained.

Linwood says he has always loved history.

Bill Graham of Madison set up camp on the other side of his wife, Nancy.

Bill displayed the lighter version of what an officer might have carried.

He compared an officer’s military attire to what a soldier marching on the front lines would wear.

Bill said an officer would wear a longer sack jacket if necessary.

“Field use is hard on clothing so (officers) would wear shorter clothing,” he said.

The Civil War isn’t the only battle on Bill’s radar.

“I’m just fascinated with history,” he said “It’s very interesting and I’ve done a lot of research.”

Rhonda Simmons can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 125 or .