Rebecca Ann Cable was the second child born of John P. and Elizabeth Cable in Carter County. Along with her parents and siblings, she relocated to Cades Cove in 1868 where she became revered as simply “Aunt Becky”. Aunt Becky once confided that her father moved to distance her from the “man she loved” and that, as circumstances evolved, she “didn’t have time for marriage or her own family”, remaining single her entire life. However, she was certainly never without family and always responded to the needs of her family which extended well beyond genetic relationships. Aunt Becky left a positive, lasting impression on those privileged to share her bloodlines and on others who benefited from her association.
Aunt Becky was a lady of many talents, much industry and considerable resiliency. She and a brother, Dan, bought a two story house of frame construction, including a store on the lower floor, from Leason Gregg. The house, built of lumber sawed at the Cable Mill, is considered as the first frame house built in the Cove and was located at the first ford of Mill Creek on Forge Creek Road. After Dan’s health deteriorated, Aunt Becky became accountable for the care of his family, care provided with uncompromising love. She was an accomplished miller and could independently operate the Cable Mill. An accident at the mill cost Aunt Becky a segment of her calf, visible throughout her life. Devoted to the betterment of the Cove, she donated the land and provided other considerations resulting in the Cable School being located near the Cable Cemetery to educate the children in that area.
Aunt Becky accepted all challenges, performing tasks usually reserved for men. She was frequently seen “barefoot” as she plowed the fields with mules or herded cattle to the balds and “Becky’s Sugar Cove” located a distance up Mill Creek from her home place. A neighbor and friend, John McCaulley, recalled how a barefoot Aunt Becky stepped on a sleeping rattlesnake while walking to the sugar cove to check on her stock. Her reaction, “ well, you didn’t hurt me old fellow, don’t guess I’ll hurt you!” Aunt Becky was an accomplished cook who rarely refused to seat the hungry. Many former guests recall meals at her table and the fan made from torn newspapers used for fly control. Her experiences and skills included plowing the fields, planting the seed, gathering and grinding the corn, then preparing food items from her efforts. She was also familiar with and proficient in the use of flax and wool to make essential clothing items for her immediate and extended families and in the use of nature’s remedies to address illnesses and injuries.
Once, some years before her death, she became gravely ill and summoned John McCaulley to build her coffin. Payment was in the form of wool socks which she had made. Because of a solid foundation in the Missionary Baptist Church, Aunt Becky was prepared for her Cove departure. She recalled how she gazed to the opposite bank of Mill Creek and experienced a vision of Christ extending uplifted arms to her but, before contact was completed, the vision ended. Since Aunt Becky recovered and lived a productive life for several years thereafter, her conclusion was that “Jesus just wasn’t ready for her yet”. Life was hard for Aunt Becky but love for her family and the Cove came easy for her. Aunt Becky remained after establishment of the GSMNP and only left upon death in 1940. She is buried in the Cable Cemetery, adjacent to the field she formerly plowed and near the site of the Cable School which she enabled. How very appropriate that as her soul soared to her final Cove of happiness and fulfillment, her body was assimilated into Cades Cove, a place synonymous with the name Aunt Becky Cable.
Old Timers Day CCPA Spring 2003
