Hacker’s Creek Pioneer Descendants (HCPD) hosts a two-day Civil War History Weekend at the Central WV Genealogy & History Library in Horner, with a soldiers’ encampment, living history, music and guest speakers. The Rotary Club of Weston and Village Caregiving of Clarksburg are sponsoring the weekend.
Social BlendZ is the food truck for both days, starting at 5:30 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday. Its menu includes hot dogs, nachos, tacos, desserts, iced coffee, smoothies, floats and flavored sodas, according to the organizers’ Facebook post.
Friday, October 9, 5:30–8 p.m.
- Civil War encampment: Company F of the 10th West Virginia Infantry sets up camp and recreates soldiers’ camp life, uniforms, equipment and weapons. Visitors can walk through the camp and ask the reenactors questions.
- Friday Night Music by the Campfire: Chase Arbogast and Jeffrey Vaughn return to play free bluegrass and Appalachian music, followed by an open jam by the fire. The organizers’ October 9 post also lists the Fiddlesticks with Allison Dravis and the Grateful Storyteller with Chris Chance. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the music goes on rain or shine. Bring a chair; Social BlendZ will sell dinner and refreshments.
Saturday, October 10, 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m. (the encampment opens at 9:30 a.m.; the rest of the program runs 10 a.m.–5 p.m.)
- Encampment and weapons demonstration by Company F, 10th West Virginia Infantry, plus “Music on the Front Line” by Sam Krafft.
- Abraham Lincoln, presented by Carl Swick, is among the day’s living history, according to the organizers’ October 9 post.
- Mountaineer Military Museum: Barbara McVaney of the Weston museum will tell the story of “The Promise,” the vow her husband, Ron McVaney, made at a friend’s grave after the Vietnam War, which grew into the museum. She will also show some of its Civil War and other military artifacts and talk about how the museum is recovering from this summer’s flood damage.
- Lunch and living history: HCPD reenactor Andrea Lamb presents “The Plight of the Confederate Wife,” the stories of Margaret Jackson Bennett and other women left at home during the war. The show is free; Social BlendZ will sell lunch.
- “Faith and Freedom in the Civil War Era”: Dr. Randy Darnell of Glenville State University looks at religion, slavery and freedom in the Civil War years, including Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner and John Brown and the revivals in both armies. The talk is free and open to the public.
- Reading of names: The weekend closes at about 4:30 p.m. with a solemn reading of names, when visitors can say the names of their Civil War ancestors.
Organizers encourage families to come.