The Pillars, home of the John Houston Bills
family for more than a century, was a picture
of Southern Splendor during the Bolivar Living
History Home Tour. The house, purchased by John
Houston Bills in
1837, was the oldest home featured on the
tour. For
this occasion chandeliers sparkled, a table
was set for tea, and fresh garden flowers
perfumed the rooms.
Docents
in period costume portrayed key figures from
the Bills family who took visitors back to
April 1862 following the
Battle of
Shiloh.
Mr. Bills (Gary McClure – attired in
black vest and coat) greeted visitors at the
door and told how he had gone with three other
townsmen to the battlefield soon after the
engagement, on
April 6-7, 1862. He
was concerned for the welfare of his son
Leonidas I. Bills, and two sons-in-law Captains
Marshall T. Polk and Robert H. Wood who had
lead their Confederate troops in that battle.
Mr. Bills detailed his own capture as a
spy, when he was held for 4 days by General U.
S. Grant aboard the steamer
Tigress,
at Pittsburg
Landing in the
Tennessee River
.
Mrs.
Sarah Childress Polk, widow of President James
Knox Polk, (portrayed by Bonnie McClure –
wearing a black & white plaid dress) told
how she had been promptly notified of Mr.
Bills’ capture and Capt. Marshall Polk’s
serious injury.
She telegraphed President Abraham
Lincoln, from her home in Nashville, requesting their release.
Mr. Bills and his party were allowed to
leave on their own parole on the condition
that they not take up arms against the U.S.
However,
her adopted son, Marshall Polk was held for
treatment by the Union surgeons.
Mrs. Polk had come to Bolivar to be closer to
Marshall, who was also the husband of John
Houston Bills
daughter, Evelina (Jenny Jones – wearing a
blue dress).
Mrs.
Lucy Duke Wood, second wife of John Houston Bills,
(portrayed by Carolyn Tardy – wearing a dark
green taffeta dress) explained the
difficulties of managing the affairs of the
household during the tumultuous war times,
with troops confiscating her turkeys and
vegetables, doctors treating wounded soldiers
in her home, and the difficulties of keeping
the children and servants calm and actively
engaged in useful tasks.
Her home had always been a welcome
place for guests to stay, but, the uncertainty
of the times made her anxious for the welfare
of everyone at the Pillars, as well as for her
adult children living in homes of their own in
the area.
Lucy
Ann Bills, 12 year old daughter of John H. and
Lucy D. Bills, (portrayed by Caily Jones –
who wore a pink dress with pantaloons) added
her child’s perspective of all the
activities, and showed visitors her artwork,
which she painted when not busy helping her
mother.
Others
pictured in the photographs, are Joy Grubbs,
President of the local chapter of the
Association for Preservation of Tennessee
Antiquities (wearing a gray costume); Angela
Grubbs, Joy’s daughter (wearing a dark skirt
and shawl) who assisted with the weekend
coordination; Mariesa Bridges a reenactor from
Memphis (wearing a black mourning dress)
portrayed Mrs. McNeal; and Randy Bishop (in
Confederate coat and hat) a local historian
and author who was selling signed copies of
his new book The
Tennessee Brigade.
Boys and girls from the Hardeman
County 4-H Club members served as ticket takers
and were dressed in period costume at each tour site.
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