Linda Graves participates in Lamoni Civil War Days

Osceola resident Linda Graves will demonstrate her skills at spinning wool and flax into finished garments as our ancestors did in the 19th Century as part of an exciting living history experience in Lamoni on Sept. 5 and 6.

The event is Lamoni’s annual Civil War Days Reenactment and Living History which every year brings to life the era of the 1860’s where living historians will fight the Civil War again with battles at 3 p.m. on Sept. 5 and at 1 p.m. on Sept. 6.

Before and after the infantry, cavalry and big artillery take the field, Graves will show how raw wool was spun into a finished garment. She will also display antique linen fabric along with some period articles of clothing and the tools necessary to create them.

Also included in Linda’s demonstration will be flax, both in plant form and ready to spin, along with cotton and silk. Linda has silk cocoons which pioneer women grew in the mid to late 1800’s.

Graves became interested in spinning about 10 years ago because it was a big part of her own family’s history.  Her maternal grandmother spun her own dowry of linen textiles on wooden spinning wheels made by her own family who were woodworkers known for their spinning wheels.

Graves resides two miles east of Osceola and is a state employee in the Clarke County Clerk of Court’s office. She is married to Chuck Graves, a farmer, and has two children and three grandsons.

In addition to Graves’ demonstration,  participants can see a working blacksmith, tinsmith, broom maker, weavers of rugs and medical surgeons.

Participants can also make a banjo out of gourds, have a portrait taken on a tintype plate, and shop in the old general stores for all manner of items from the past.  While watching history unfold, spectators can munch on cider cake and then have a tonic from Doc’s Old Fashioned Root Beer or explore an authentic North American Indian teepee and taste the fry bread made by an authentic North American Indian family.