Built in 1839, this exquisite historic church building was made with slave labor on 6 acres donated by Leonidas Polk, one of the Polk sons of Col. William Polk who settled the region after winning a very large tract of land in a bet with the governor of North Carolina on a game of chance called Rattle and Snap.
Leonidas built on the land gifted to him by his father a fine plantation home called Ashwood Hall. His brothers contributed the materials to build the "family chapel." The cemetery behind the church is the final resting place for several Civil War generals, plus Bishop James H. Otey (the first Bishop of Tennessee) and four other Bishops, plus members of the Polk family.
If it wasn't so close to the Mt. Pleasant Highway I could swear I stepped back in time 150 years while alone painting with the birds, trees and spirits of departed southerners whispering about me. I love this section of Tennessee, lovingly referred to as the "Dimple of the Universe" or "God's Garden."
Was also very thankful to make it home about an hour before an unprecedented Derecho storm hit, blowing over massive trees in its wake. I returned the next day to see if any of the "witness" trees at St. John's suffered any damage or the church building itself, and luckily all was well. Limbs blown everywhere, of course, some even very large, but all in all it fared well.
And before I hear any criticism of my work, I was painting WITHOUT YELLOW paint. Must have "borrowed" it from my plein air backpack over the winter. Bought a new tube this morning.
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