Document Type
Book
Publication Date
8-11-1945
Keywords
Seagoing cowboys, Reuel Bowman Pritchett, Minister, Church of the Brethren, SS Charles W. Wooster, Horses, Greece, Athens
Abstract
Shortly after the conclusion of World War II, Church of the Brethren minister and White Pine, Tennessee farmer Reuel B. Pritchett sailed to Europe along with other seagoing cowboys and a shipment of mares and grain sent by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration for post-war reconstruction. He sailed from New Orleans (La) to Greece on the Liberty ship, SS Charles W. Wooster, on which he was supervisor for the care of the horses. The ever-curious Rev. Pritchett was sixty-one years old at the time, the oldest man on the ship. Pritchett's diary is approximately 136 pages of handwritten text in a black composition notebook. Rev. Pritchett (unique among his companions as a plain-clothed, long-bearded minister of the Church of the Brethren) candidly reflected on his experiences aboard the ship, leading worship at sea, witnessing and hearing of the devastation of WWII, and acquiring items for his large collection of antiquities. Highlights include Pritchett's descriptions of life at sea, Pritchett's reflections on Greek Orthodox Christianity, his interactions with people of various nationalities, and his notes on the historic Greek and Italian landmarks that he visited as a tourist.
Pritchett included the contact information of others on the ship as well as a biographical sketch of Charles W. Wooster for whom the ship was named. Some Greek ephemera is tipped and laid in the diary.
Recommended Citation
A Record of a Trip to Europe Made by Eld Reuel B. Pritchett of White Pine Tennessee, 11 Aug 1945 to 13 Oct 1945. Robert R. Newlen '75 & John C. Bradford Special Collections, Bridgewater College.
Transcript by and courtesy of Peggy Reiff Miller
Comments
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:
Reuel B. Pritchett was born in Washington County, Tennessee on Easter Sunday, April 13, 1884. He was raised there. In 1908, after being called to ministry, Pritchett left his childhood home and career beginnings at Knob Creek church to enter a Bible program at Daleville College (Daleville, VA). He left the school in 1910. In 1911, Pritchett married Miss Ella Poff of Christiansburg (Va.) and purchased a fruit farm near his parents' home in the Knob Creek Brethren District. After marriage, Pritchett went to work in a store in Johnson City (Tn.) Pritchett was ordained as an elder at Knob Creek church on September 30, 1916. For a time, Pritchett voluntarily worked as a minister in various districts of East Tennessee, in addition to preaching at Knob Creek. In 1919, Pritchett was asked to take on the French Broad church. In 1920, the Pritchett family, with four children, moved to a farm in White Pine (Tn.) near the French Broad Church of the Brethren where Pritchett worked as the minister for twenty-five years. He served as Moderator of the Southeastern Tennessee District Conference and frequently attended the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference. In 1945, after the conclusion of World War II, Pritchett traveled to Greece assisting with care for a shipment of livestock sent by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration for post-war reconstruction. Upon his return home, Pritchett resumed his evangelizing work in Tennessee and many surrounding states. Pritchett was an avid collector of the antiquated, resulting in a collection including, though not limited to, items of East Tennessee and Church of the Brethren history, Civil War artifacts and old books. In 1953, he donated his extensive collection to Bridgewater College (Bridgewater, VA), founding the Reuel B. Pritchett Museum. In 1956, Pritchett was named Rural Minister of the Year for the State of Tennessee. In 1969, Pritchett was named Bridgewater College Alumnus of the Year. The Reverend Reuel B. Pritchett died in Maryville (Tn.) on April 2, 1974, eleven days before his 90th birthday.
DONORS:
Pritchett, Reuel Bowman, 1884 - 1974.