Hillsboro — Bill Hefner likes to joke that he was born in a Civil War hospital.

And he'll remind his audience that he wasn't born during the Civil War-he's not quite that old.

But the history and the stories that surrounded him as a youngster and a young man have found their way into modern expressions of the music of that unquiet era in American and local history.

The Hefner family home near Mill Point was indeed used as a Civil War hospital for troops wounded during the Battle of Droop Mountain.

When Hefner was growing up, bloody handprints remained on the walls and, oddly enough, on the ceiling, as those boards weren't in place yet because parts of the house were still under construction. It took about 10 coats of paint to cover those bloody stains and rid the house of a stark reminder.

And, the family has ghost stories to share, as well.

Bill himself heard music well into the night and thought his uncle was awake. Finding his way downstairs, he found no source of music, only darkness. The same went for hearing someone chopping wood in the wee hours. No one stood at the woodblock wielding the axe. Only the sounds of a woodchopper fell on his ears.

Once his mother heard someone walking into her bedroom, felt the bed give as if someone had sat on it and heard a heavy sigh. When she turned on her bedside light, she had no company, though.

Those stories and others played in Hefner's mind as he visited Civil War battlefields in Virginia, including Richmond, Manassass and Mechanicsville.

When the family was asked to participate in Little Levels Heritage Fair to perform Civil War-era music, they not only agreed, they began to research the history of those songs so they would know the inspiration of the songwriter.

Thus, Bill, his wife Elma and his daughters Melissa and Julia, began a journey into the past.

They've got their favorites. Melissa likes "Shiloh's Hill" and "All Quiet Along the Potomac" because the ballads have good harmonies and tell the stories of the war. But give them all "Goober Peas" for the light-hearted music of the war. "Goober Peas"-that's southern for peanuts-pokes fun at the war-induced diet that made every soldier tired of foods that once were treats.

The Hefners tend to stay with songs of the South because of their home location beneath the Mason-Dixon Line. But they do sing some Northern songs, as well.

Hefner family members have been singing together so long that they don't pay attention to the music, even if they can read it. They trade parts, match pitches and sing their own unique harmonies.

Listen to Bill as he plays "All Quiet on the Potomac," a ballad about a lone sentry shot on his watch.

The Hefner family will perform at Little Levels Heritage Fair Saturday, June 25, at 5 p.m.