Watching veteran house painter Paul Guynn carefully slathering another layer on houses around Boone County, you'd never know he's spent 20 years amassing a museum-worthy display of Civil War artifacts inside his own rural home.
A slender man with an easy demeanor, Paul developed his interest (fascination's a better word) for Civil War history as a teenager when he learned his great-grandfather had been a soldier who was wounded in Tupelo while fighting for the Union Army.
"I don't know why I've always been so fascinated with that war," he said. "But my strong attachment has been there for a long time now."
His passion prompted Paul, 52, to begin collecting pieces of memorabilia from former military encampments by using a metal detector. As the years passed, Paul began purchasing war items at collector shows and online.
One such camp is less than a mile from his home at a place he said 400 Confederate troops set up tents and camped until being shelled by Union troops.
Walking into the average-sized home where Paul lives with his three children and wife, Linda, my eyes were overwhelmed by everything Paul has accumulated.
Over here was a large, lighted glass case with shelves filled to overflowing with bullets fired from rifles 150 years ago. Resting in lines were the so-called mini-balls, round balls, cannon balls and grapeshot canisters.
Over there were bullet molds, soldier's Bibles carried into battle, spyglasses used by field officers, uniform buttons, period inkwells, rifles used in battles, balms and liniments, military belt buckles, photographs of soldiers and paper money used by both sides of the nation's great conflict. There was so much that every inch of wall space in the room has been used, leaving many items arranged on the carpet.
He said that while he'd purchased many artifacts, his metal detector also had contributed. "Every encampment on both sides of the conflict had a trash pit where lots of items were tossed during the war. Once a pit can be located, there's no telling what you can discover."
At one point after I overcame my initial astonishment, Paul dropped to the floor and slid out a scrapbook. Inside, he read from letters written by Civil War soldiers to loved ones back home. The words from 15 decades past revealed many feelings and fears. "I've had to purchase these over the years," he explained. "They are expensive, naturally, but they tell stories from a soldier's own hands."
My eyes actually had trouble absorbing everything within Paul's sacred room. I noticed the straight razors manufactured by Sheffield and heel caps for boots. There were cartridge boxes carried by the soldiers and even parole papers used in prisoner exchanges.
"I have done this for myself," he said. "I really can't say why I've been so drawn to this war all my life. But it's become my passion."
He said he's equipped his home with cameras and sufficient protections for the home and collection.
I asked what happens to his life's collection when he departs. "Well, I've always liked for others to enjoy it, to see these rare pieces of actual history," he said. "But I'm not yet for sure what will become of it all when I'm gone."
Well, here's one idea: Contact the Boone County Museum and ask them to come and appreciate all you've accumulated. And perhaps, when the time comes in years ahead, they might be willing to assimilate this incredible collection in a room in their building for all to forever enjoy. Why, I do believe I already can visualize the Paul Guynn Civil War room taking shape.
Cargill responds
You may have read my column last week about Duane Woltjen's letter of appeal to Cargill Inc. politely asking the mega-corporation to become a hero by removing the hog factory it supports that in 2012 was so wrongheadedly permitted by our own state to operate in the Buffalo National River watershed.
Turns out Woltjen, a board member of the Ozark Society, received a reply to his message to Cargill's public relations guru Mike Martin. And Martin indicates his multinational corporation is indeed evaluating its role in this astoundingly poor location. Here, specifically, is what Martin told Woltjen: "Over the past several months we have been engaged in an outreach effort to solicit just such points of view from residents and organizations in Arkansas. That effort is winding down and we are evaluating options for a path forward.
"As you state, C&H farm followed all existing regulations and the environmental engineering aspect of the farm goes well beyond anything required by the state or federal government. As a point of clarification, the C&H waste ponds are not designed to leak. It is the state's "CAFO" permit that allows for such leakage (up to 5,000 gallons of raw waste daily).
"We will take your comments into consideration," Martin continued, "as we are determining how to proceed and we hope you share the view that agriculture can successfully coexist with other land usage in Northwest Arkansas, as it has for many decades."
Sounds to me it's time for every Arkansan who loves and appreciates their national river to make their voice heard (or reiterated) to Cargill: [email protected]. Every voice counts, valued readers.
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected]. Read his blog at mikemastersonsmessenger.com.
Editorial on 08/16/2014