As I was planning out my shot list for my Smokies After Dark series, I thought it would be cool to not only capture the Methodist Church, but also the cemetery behind it. I always find the cemeteries in the Smokies to be fascinating, and shooting it at night would allow me to show the landmark in a different way. Full disclosure I chose this particular head stone, not because I knew anything about Earl, but because I could get to it without walking on any of the graves (it’s at the very back). However, as I was preparing for this post I thought it would be neat to see what I could find about the man.
Born Peter Earl Abbott, he was the son of John and Rhoda, and was one of five children. His siblings names were Ira, Mary, Laura, and Elmer. Earl married his wife Vertie Gregory in 1916, and together they had 3 children: Velma, Gordon, and an unnamed (or unlisted name) child who died at birth. Earl was a farmer who lived with his family in Cades Cove until he passed away at the very young age of 32 (source information). I’ve pictured Earl’s headstone here with ‘Orion the hunter’ in the night sky, as Mr. Abbott was no doubt also a hunter.
For my park service friends, I created this image using only artificial lighting (including the lantern).
More next week!
–Dan Thompson