Afew days ago, several of my family members, including three of my siblings from South Carolina, some of their children and my wife along with children from Texas and SC met in Murphey, NC for a reunion. One day, many of us loaded into five vehicles and made a tour of cemetaries where family members are buried. We visited the graves of my grandfather, Rev. J.R.V. (Bud) Hamilton, my grandmother Rebecca Arlesia, aunts, uncles, brother, sister, cousins and distant relatives. We then visited the great Hiawassee dam, which is a part of the TVA project and is nearby to where I went to school as a boy. We then visited other beautiful sights, but the high light of the day was on a little dirt and gravel road that runs from Tellico Plains, TN to Robinsville, NC. It is a monument erected where a little Baptist church sat many years ago. The monument reads "Sight of Haw Knob Baptist Church Where many souls were saved. Pastor Rev. Bud Hamilton." There also appears the name of the man who erected the monument, which I can't remember.
I was very affected by that monument. I don't think my grandfather ever pastored the church, but many people use the terms Pastor, Evangelist, Minister and Preacher as one and the same. I do know he preached a revival there and I do know it was in December, 1925. The church gave him a Bible , which I recently gave to my oldest grandson.
Six of us Circuitriders went to that area a few years ago, but never located the monument. We were just a few miles from it, but did'nt know the exact location. Since I have seen it, I think about it a lot. I think of my grandfather riding an old horse all the way from Liberty, NC to Haw Knob. There are hills on that road that are hard for a vehicle to maneuver, and there wasn't even any gravel back then. I think about him making that long ride on a horse. It makes my 22 mile drive in a nice car to church seem like nothing.
Just across the road from the monument is a little mountain stream where I can visualize "Pa" baptizing people in that cold water. That area is now part of The Cherokee National Forrest with trees towering into the air. I don't what it was like 87 years ago, but I do know my "Saddle Bag Preacher-Pa" was there preaching the Gospel. Thank God for my heritage!
I was very affected by that monument. I don't think my grandfather ever pastored the church, but many people use the terms Pastor, Evangelist, Minister and Preacher as one and the same. I do know he preached a revival there and I do know it was in December, 1925. The church gave him a Bible , which I recently gave to my oldest grandson.
Six of us Circuitriders went to that area a few years ago, but never located the monument. We were just a few miles from it, but did'nt know the exact location. Since I have seen it, I think about it a lot. I think of my grandfather riding an old horse all the way from Liberty, NC to Haw Knob. There are hills on that road that are hard for a vehicle to maneuver, and there wasn't even any gravel back then. I think about him making that long ride on a horse. It makes my 22 mile drive in a nice car to church seem like nothing.
Just across the road from the monument is a little mountain stream where I can visualize "Pa" baptizing people in that cold water. That area is now part of The Cherokee National Forrest with trees towering into the air. I don't what it was like 87 years ago, but I do know my "Saddle Bag Preacher-Pa" was there preaching the Gospel. Thank God for my heritage!
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