St. ALBANS — Taylor Park and, for that matter, much of St. Albans, will time-travel to the Civil War era during the fourth weekend of September.
Bill and Liz Hallett, of Newburyport, Mass. will bring their portrayals of 1860’s communications and laundry services to Taylor Park this September.
Eighty or more 1860s’ re-enactors, military and civilian, will camp and/or present living history depictions in the park from Sept. 19 through 21.
Among them will be Bill and Liz Hallett.
The Halletts, of Newburyport, Mass, as Bill puts it, “have the good fortune of being a married couple with the same hobby – the study and portrayal of the American Civil War.”
Their interest, as outlined in writing to the Messenger, has taken them to various national, regional and local re-enactments and living histories, including museums, parades, and ceremonies.
Among others, they have appeared during major re-enactments for Antietam and Gettysburg. In New Hampshire they have been to the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, and the Woodman Institute in Dover. They also have appeared at Genesee Village, N.Y.
Bill Hallett says he and Liz also partake of the events each November for Remembrance Day at Gettysburg, which among other things, includes flagging the New England graves at the Soldiers’ Cemetery.
The couple is making the visit to St. Albans and will be appear without any compensation. The Halletts visited the stalbans.com website and were hooked on the idea of being part of the commemoration of the northernmost land action of the Civil War.
Bill, although a New Englander by blood, spent his formative years in Maryland near the Pennsylvania border and the Civil War was the easy choice to follow.
Twenty years ago, while working for a York, Pa. radio station, a co-worker offered Bill a chance to re-enact with his unit and wear wool in June. That event took place on the actual battlefield of Gettysburg. He was hooked.
Bill and Liz Hallett, of Newburyport, Mass. will bring their portrayals of 1860’s communications and laundry services to Taylor Park this September.
After many years of drilling in the hot summer sun, Bill says he began to look for a new approach to re-enacting and after some research, decided to offer the portrayal of a news correspondent, a new concept during the Civil War.
In his living-history portrayals, Bill talks about the role the telegraph played and how competition with big city newspapers meant correspondents were everywhere the war was. Many military men looked suspiciously at the newsmen, says Bill, and even famed Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman called them spies.
Still, Bill points out, “Reporters and sketch artists give us much of our record of events from that time.”
A child of eastern Long Island, N.Y. Liz grew up a student of American history as well. Her focus on the Civil War came after a trip to Gettysburg and soon after, hearing about the formation of a Civil War Roundtable near her home.
A fellow member of the new roundtable made and wore period clothing and that was all Liz needed. That same friend portrayed a washer-woman at living histories and Liz assisted, until one day the friend resigned and Liz took over.
In portraying a washer-woman, not only can Liz demonstrate the tasks of an honorable female profession of the time, but also she offers a hands-on teaching lesson for children who amaze their parents when they say they actually want to do laundry.
Liz can also offer a “Civil War Ladies’ Fashion Show.” The fashion show demonstrates on a dress-form, the art of women’s dressing from the skin out in the 1860s. People are fascinated as to all the layers, the corsets, hoops and everything that went into being well dressed for the 1860s.
By GARY RUTKOWSKI
St. Albans Messenger Staff
