Rain may have slowed up the Second Saturday event, but it didn’t stop it completely.
A few participants, loyal to the South, held the fort down at the Gov. Caswell Historic Site as the sky broke loose outside the former CSS Neuse II shelter.
But that didn’t keep the Lysy family of six from stopping by on the way back to Buchanan, Mich., from their vacation in Wilmington.
“We’re on our way back to Virginia now,” said Peter Lysy, father of four, “and we stopped here to see the Neuse and this (muster demonstration).”
It was the first time they had seen Kinston and Lysy said he disappointed the CSS Nuese II was not opened for tours as had been planned.
But three of his children lined up with a pair of twin boys for a militia muster drill. Carrying long sticks, or in the case of Emma Lysy, 21, a closed umbrella, the “recruits” learned about firearms and how to use and clean them under the direction of Gov. Richard Caswell, played by Morris Bass, operations manager at the site.
“Oh, I thought it was fun,” Emma said, “plus, we’re all fans of history.”
Gail Rogers of Kinston was videotaping the event and had brought her twin grandsons, Logan and Christian Brasch, both 7, who were visiting from Jacksonville.
“I’m trying to do a scrapbook for the summer,” she said, adding she was happy the demonstration wasn’t cancelled because of the rain as the boys enjoy history.
Bass said the small crew was demonstrating a militia muster for Dobbs County Militia. All the men who were able met in each county once or twice a year to practice drills, he said.
David Stone, a historic interpreter, said every free man was required to take care of his firearms and meet together.
“It was kind of like a big social thing,” Bass said. “People would set up wares to sell. If you were close enough to a big town, you would visit the local merchants, especially the lady folks if they with the men.”
The drills taught the men how to use their muskets, but they would also play games like long bowling, quoits and tug-a-war, he said.
The crew would have had tents set up and cooking demonstrations had the weather been better, he said.
Jennifer Wisner of Cove City sat contently wearing period clothes and mending a hole in a dress. A part-time guide at the site and Civil War and colonial volunteer, she had taken a genealogy class at Lenoir Community College in 1999 and became “hooked” when she attended a Civil War event.
“At 50, I learned how to knit,” Wisener said, “and at 51, I learned how to use a spinning wheel.” Now she sews her own clothes and uses natural dyes.
In the colonial days, clothes were too expensive to keep buying.
“Back then, we didn’t buy clothes readily,” she said, “if you got a hole, you patched it.”
The event is makes a fun way to learn about history.
“I’ve always had a love for history pretty much as long as I remember,” said Almond Drake, who works part-time at the site and volunteers. “The main part, history is important. It’s how we got here today. By studying the past, you can shed light on the future.”
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.