Hello. I am a charter member of the Lonoke County Museum which is located about 25 miles east of Little Rock, Arkansas on the interstate heading toward Memphis.
We would love to do a display on Doc Rayburn whose daring deeds were accomplished in this area. It is now called Lonoke County, but at that time it was parts of Prairie County and/or Pulaski County and the Yankees were everywhere.
In fact, they had a big Union camp just east of my town on what is now Hwy 70. I have been told upwards of 30,000 soldiers passed through what they called Brownsville, not the old one that was long established in this area, but the new one that lasted only as long as the Civil War and was located at Hicks Station where the trains stopped. The courthouse at old Brownsville was torn down and the bricks were used to build barracks for the Union soldiers.
The old Brownsville, then the county seat of Prairie County, was 1400 people at the time and now it is only a sleepy community with a interesting past located within Lonoke County just a few miles north of Lonoke.
I had a dear lady friend who has now passed on. She told the story of how her great grandfather High was at a social and spoke to Doc Rayburn not knowing who he was. After the fact, one of the Yankee officers had observed this happening. The way I remember it, they Yankees burned him out. She was going to let me interview her about that and some other stuff, but became ill and died in a rather quick amount of time.
There is a great deal of interest in Doc Rayburn and we would dearly appreciate anything we could discover/learn to assist us with this project. My friend, Mrs, Sherryl Miller, the Executive Director of the Lonoke County Museum, PO Box 873, Lonoke, Arkansas 72086 would love to hear from you regarding your information. She has researched Doc Rayburn at the History Commission in Little Rock to find what little is known.
It is generally agreed that Doc Rayburn had to be very daring/brave to accomplish what he did.
Thanks for your reply and any assistance or additional information you may be able to provide.
Linda T. Acrey
Lonoke, Ar.