We forget today just what an impact World War One had on the lives of its participants and their families…
Pilgrimage definition: A journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion. (Dictionary.com.)
A visit to the Sgt. York Sites in Pall Mall, TN had long been on the webmaster’s bucket list. So, on a recent business trip to Nashville, he took an additional day off for the 2.5 hour drive from Nashville to Pall Mall, TN to see its sites.
As seen in the pictures below, there are several sites in the rural community of Pall Mall to visit, including: The house built for him by the Nashville Rotary Club in 1922, the grist mill and general store that he operated, the Wolf River, the Wolf River Methodist Church and Cemetery where he and his wife are buried and the York Bible Institute.
York General Store
Sign Outside York General Store
For a visitor from suburban New Jersey, the quite and beauty of this area was felt immediately. The half-mile walk from the York House over the Wolf River (via a suspension bridge) to the Wolf River Methodist Church and Cemetery was very moving. It was at that church, during a meeting of the Church of Christ in Christian Union, that he became a Christian.
York Burial Site Wolf River Methodist Church
Wolf River Methodist Church
From his diary, “I came home to Pall Mall, Tennessee, on the 29th of May (1919). My people from all over the mountains, thousands of them, were there to meet me. And my big red headed brothers were there. And we all had a right smart time. And then I lit out for the old log cabin (destroyed) and the little old mother. And then I went to see Gracie. I didn’t do any hunting for a few days.
Im telling you I went hunting Gracie first.
And then, when it was all over and I had taken off the old uniform of the all American Division and got back into overalls. I got out with the hounds and the old muzzleloader; and I got to thinking and wondering what it was all about.
And I went back to the place on the mountain where I prayed before the war, and received my assurance from God that I would go and come back. And I just stayed out there and thanked that same God who had taken me through the war.”
The webmaster never made it to that place on the mountain, but it was a great pilgrimage nevertheless.
