By Josh Hayes / jhayes@crossville-chronicle.com
A Civil War re-enactment without the soldiers. Few have heard of such a feat, but two local women actually participated in one.
Debbie Douglas and Patty Payne acted in a Civil War documentary shot in late January. The documentary focuses on the diaries of three women during the Civil War. Douglas and Payne portrayed two of the characters and performed voiceovers for the roles.
With a video-production crew from Knoxville, the scenes were shot in Greeneville, TN, at the Dickson-Williams Mansion. The documentary will show what the war was like on the home front.
When finished, the scenes will be a part of a permanent exhibition of the East Tennessee Historical Society for the History Center in Knoxville.
"I've never done film work to this extent," said Payne. "It's very different from stage work. Other than the early mornings, I enjoyed it."
Payne, along with Douglas, auditioned for the role through the Cumberland County Playhouse.
"It was a great experience," said Douglas. "I've not done film before. It was fun."
Douglas played Rhoda Campbell Williams, and Payne played the role of Eliza Fain, the wife of a Confederate soldier.
According to Payne, Fain was a Confederate sympathizer whose husband, Richard Fain, and three of their sons enlisted in the Confederate army by June 1861. Her husband was a merchant/banker and president of the Rogersville & Jefferson Railroad, Payne said.
A mother of 13 living on a 20-acre farm, Fain would not only invite Union troops into her home but seek to persuade them to the South's view. What's more, Fain sought to evangelize Union soldiers by handing them religious tracts.
Owning eight slaves, Fain opposed the Union in thinking "Abraham Lincoln wanted to make slaves of us all," Payne explained with a chuckle, adding that wasn't necessarily her own view.
In addition to doing voiceovers, Payne said she was filmed in scenes walking outside of the barn and the house as well as scenes of her character reading the Bible.
Douglas' character, Williams, lived in Knoxville and was married to John Williams, Douglas said. In describing the Williams family, she said they could be compared to that of the Kennedys. According to Douglas, Williams' husband and father both participated in legislative government in addition to other relatives.
Douglas noted that Williams was a Union sympathizer who owned slaves. She wasn't for the abolition of slavery but stood for the preservation of the states' unity, Douglas explained.
The documentary uses her letters to her son Rufus who was in boarding school in Princeton, NJ, to share her perspective on the home front.
During one of her scenes, Douglas said she held an original copy of a newspaper from 1864.
Neither Payne or Douglas were there but a day or two with Payne's filming taking place on Jan. 28 and 29 and Douglas' on Jan. 29. Douglas commented that filming for the entire documentary of the exhibit lasted a total of four days to produce what eventually will be three six-minute videos.
Located at 601 S. Gay Street in Knoxville at the East Tennessee History Center, the exhibition, titled "Voices of the Land — The People of East Tennessee," will cover approximately 8,500-square feet, and once finished, will include 500 artifacts. Douglas estimated the exhibit would open around June, but the videos should be finished sometime in May.
