Welcome to Bean Pot Campground in the Heart of the Great Smoky Mountains 4/30/2008

We would like to welcome one and all to the Bean Pot Campgrounds in Crossville, TN in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains. We are on Lima Bean Lane between S. Bean Pot Loop and N. Bean Pot Loop. Very nice campgrounds with a beautiful view out the side window of our coach. Not many people here this time of year and the trees are just starting to bud unlike the Nashville area.
We stopped at a rest area about halfway to Crossville to do 2 caches located there. One was on a guardrail and very easy and the second was a virtual cache in a cemetery on a hill in the rest area. We found out it was the Sadler Family Cemetery and it has some interesting history. The Rainey Creek area was first pioneered by several families from Tennessee. In 1852, Chester C. Sadler (age 28), his wife and children were escorted from Jackson County, TN by his three younger brothers, Ewing F.(26), William Kincaid (24), and James R. Sadler (22)They traveled through Arkansas and stayed a while with some fellow Tennessee Presbyterians in Fannin County, Texas near the Red River. They then took their goods by wagon via Fort Worth to Waco. Chester made arrangements to homestead a section of land for three years. He and his brothers built a rough log cabin on Rainey's Creek just south of the present-day cemetery. One of his brothers died during this time and was laid to rest on the land they were settling. With the cabin built and Chester and his family established on the land, his two brothers returned to Tennessee to tell their father, John Kincaid Sadler, and their uncle, James Sadler of the trials of the pioneering effort and the promise of the new land. In 1855, Chester C. Sadler was granted a patent to the land by the State of Texas. During the following years, many early pioneers, friends, neighbors and kinfolk made use of the Sadler Cemetery. There are over 50 marked graves in this cemetery and 20 are for children of pioneer families that did not survive to their sixth birthday. Those interred include the widow of a soldier of the Texas Revolution, five Civil War veterans and a state legislator who served in the first Texas Legislature after the Reconstruction era. Despite the hardships and heartbreaks brought on by disease, war, and the elements of nature, this cemetery represents the commitment of the pioneering generation to improving life on the Texas frontier for themselves and their descendents. In 1907, the Sadlers sold the land surrounding the cemetery but the cemetery property remains in the Sadler family and was dedicated as a cemetery forever. One of the markers dated back to 1868. They must have built the rest area around the cemetery.
We got here about 12:30 and were all set up by 1:00 and had lunch. After lunch we loaded a couple of caches into the GPS and took off into Crossville to do them and to look around. The first cache was along a fence in front of a motel and then it was on into town and a multi-cache located in a local cemetery.
The first part of the cache was on a large headstone, about 7 feet high, and the final stage was under a power box. We did see the grave site of of a Medal of Honor recipient who entered the service in Crossville, Milo Lemert. Rank and Organization: First Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company G, 119th Infantry, 30th Division. Place and Date: Near Bellicourt, France, 29 September 1918. Seeing that the left flank of his company was held up, he located the enemy machinegun emplacement, which had been causing heavy casualties. In the face of heavy fire he rushed it single-handed, killing the entire crew with grenades. Continuing along the enemy trench in advance of the company, he reached another emplacement, which he also charged, silencing the gun with grenades. A third machinegun emplacement opened up on him from the left and with similar skill and bravery he destroyed this also. Later, in company with another sergeant, he attacked a fourth machinegun nest, being killed as he reached the parapet of the emplacement. His courageous action in destroying in turn 4 enemy machinegun nests prevented many casualties among his company and very materially aided in achieving the objective. Sounds like he was quite a hero.
Then we drove around town seeing what we might like to see tomorrow or Friday. There were a few things but there wasn't much of a downtown area but they sure had a large commercial area. We drove back to the coach and Mom washed clothes and I showered and shaved and did the few logs we had. I made chicken for dinner and now we are watching TV and I am doing the blog. Well time to sat until tomorrow and we love and miss you all.


Picture List:1,2-Milo Lemert grave site and headstone along with the memorial plaque telling his story, 3,4-Sadler Family Cemetery in the I-40 rest area.