• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

Faith column: The Prophet of Oak Ridge

Posted at 2:28 pm April 21, 2013
By Myra Mansfield 4 Comments

Prophet of Oak Ridge Column

In light of the upcoming visit from a Harvard psychologist who will discuss dreams and other problem-solving phenomena which occur during states of sleep, I offer the local story about supernatural predictions which pointed directly to the development and worldwide impact of the city of Oak Ridge:

There was a prophet in Robertsville. Yes, right around the turn of the 20th Century, one farmer’s life underwent such a transformation that his community nicknamed him “The Prophet.”

It began in the late 1880s when a young man brought his new wife up the Emery Road and claimed a piece of property with a cold water spring for his new home. Over the years they built cabins and barns and planted an orchard. They had five children: one boy and four girls.

With only primitive medical doctors and treatments available at the time, suddenly the youngest daughter contracted diphtheria and died. The wife was devastated, and eventually she packed up and took the remaining children with her to Arkansas.

Sometimes people turn to the Lord for comfort in a time of trouble, and that is what this farmer did. He began to take long walks praying in the woods. One day while on one of those long prayer walks, he was suddenly interrupted by what he called a “thunderous voice.” The voice told him if he would lay with his head on the ground for 40 nights that God would tell him the future of his land. This must have seemed like a crazy thing to do, but people in the Bible were inspired to do things much more unusual than this.

So for forty nights the farmer did it. The 1900 census taker couldn’t find anyone at his home and left him out of the census. He suffered hunger and freezing temperatures but stayed to do what he felt he was to do. When the time had passed the man emerged from the woods. He began traveling around his community telling outlandish stories of having had visions and of hearing God talk to him. He began to predict the future naming the source of his “revelations” as being after the fashion of the prophets of the Bible. Some people were scared of him, others mocked him, but others believed his stories. The people began calling him “The Prophet.”

Within 18 months, the first of this farmer’s predictions came true. He had said that a railroad line would expand into his community, and in 1902, it happened. The L&N Railroad, which tried to go through Clinton but met citizen opposition, changed their minds and put the railroad where John had said. He predicted other specific events, an invention that could carry freight and people through the air, lime to be used as fertilizer, and a huge explosion. He told how his community would go from a rural farm community to a city of thousands, with factories, administrative buildings, and constant activity. He said that his community would help win that war.

As the years passed, the farmer married again, and his new wife brought her children to live on the farm. Then the farmer had a new son by her. The farm was a lively place again.

When World War I began, he and his neighbors paid close attention to see if the predictions would come true. This was difficult in a day when there were no phones, no television or radio, few newspapers, and little mail. But during the war, pictures of fighter planes were shown which fulfilled his vision about an invention carrying people and freight.

Then another of his predictions happened—people began to die who he had said would not be alive when the visions became a reality. A plague of tuberculosis went through the community in 1914-1915. His daughter Georgia caught the illness and died. Some of his neighbors such as Joe Pyatt, Frank Turnbill, Dick Taylor’s wife, and others all died from the plague too. Then the farmer himself got sick and died.

As the community watched, the war ended. This pre-Oak Ridge community called Robertsville had not helped to win the war. His widow went on trying to survive the best she could. The predictions of the farmer were forgotten.

During the 40 years following the farmer’s first predictions, things changed greatly in the world. Knowledge of physics expanded and technological advances were made, while the political climate on the other side of the world stirred with unrest. In 1939, another great war began. The people of the community remembered the farmer’s predictions. Some of them joked about it while others began to tell the farmer’s visions to the new generation. Few were really concerned about it though.

Until suddenly in the fall of 1942, every household received a letter from the U.S. War Department informing them that the government was taking their land from them for the war effort. They had about three weeks to move whatever they could take in that amount of time. A great grief fell upon the entire community as they suffered the loss of all they loved and owned except for a few trinkets of furniture and household goods.

The war department built a new city here, and that city is Oak Ridge, Tenn. They created the crucial component for the first-ever atomic bomb. Though 100,000 lives were ended when the bombs were dropped in Japan, millions of lives were saved because the war came to a screeching halt. The soldiers who had survived came home and citizens who were at risk of torture were free again. Through the work of that new city, all the predictions of the farmer happened just as he said they would. It was then that this farmer, John Hendrix, became known as “The Prophet of Oak Ridge.”

Now consider this: Joel 2:28 in the Bible points to dreams, visions, and prophetic revelations as being what many Christians consider some of the ways that God speaks to man. Many Christians today believe that God still speaks to us through His Word, through dreams and visions, in quiet whispers, and in many other mysterious ways.

Do you believe this, and will you listen?

Myra Mansfield and her husband have developed the John Hendrix Memorial Prayer Walk. This half-mile nature trail which meanders beside Hendrix Creek has eight trail markers that tell the story of “The Prophet of Oak Ridge” along with other local history. The trailhead is located on Hendrix Drive across from Hampshire Court. For more information visit www.hendrixprayerwalk.com.

Filed Under: Faith Tagged With: bombs, Clinton, Emery Road, farmer, Hendrix Creek, Hendrix Prayer Walk, John Hendrix, John Hendrix Memorial Prayer Walk, Myra Mansfield, Oak Ridge, Prophet of Oak Ridge, Robertsville, war, World War I

Comments

  1. Sam Hopwood says

    April 21, 2013 at 6:08 pm

    I have been aware of quite a bit of this story for many years and predictions aside, the one thing that always stands out is the government taking these citizens land for almost nothing. Yes, it was wartime but at some point in time they should have been fairly compensated for giving up essentially everything that they had. What a sacrifice they made. It is still not too late to right a wrong, and no, I have no connection to that theft by our government. Unfortunately TVA did something very similar in the Tellico Dam affair.
    Just my view…

    Reply
    • Myra Mansfield says

      April 22, 2013 at 12:21 pm

      Thanks for you comment Sam. I have talked with members of those families and there truly was alot of suffering involved. But some of those I spoke with felt it was worth it because we won the war.

      Reply
  2. Anne Phillips says

    April 27, 2013 at 9:31 am

    God speaks to many of us, Myra, but few listen. Many Americans have made sacrifices and contributions. Our blessings are many here on earth and even greater in the afterlife. Thank you for sharing this story.

    Reply
  3. Curt Kelsey says

    April 28, 2013 at 8:50 am

    I watched a documentary on this a few months ago on one of the Discovery/History type channels .Very fascinating.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival Announces 2025 Storytellers
  • Laser-Engraved Bricks Will Line Walkway of New Chamber Headquarters
  • Democratic Women’s Club to Discuss Climate Change, Energy and Policy
  • Estate Jewelry Show at Karen’s Jewelers Features Celebrity Jewelry
  • Keri Cagle named new ORAU senior vice president and ORISE director
  • ORAU Annual Giving Campaign exceeds $100,000 goal+ORAU Annual Giving Campaign exceeds $100,000 goal More than $1 million raised in past 10 years benefits United Way and Community Shares Oak Ridge, Tenn. —ORAU exceeded its goal of raising $100,000 in donations as part of its internal annual giving campaign that benefits the United Way and Community Shares nonprofit organizations. ORAU has raised more than $1 million over the past 10 years through this campaign. A total of $126,839 was pledged during the 2024 ORAU Annual Giving Campaign. Employees donate via payroll deduction and could earmark their donation for United Way, Community Shares or both. “ORAU has remained a strong pillar in the community for more than 75 years, and we encourage our employees to consider participating in our annual giving campaign each year to help our less fortunate neighbors in need,” said ORAU President and CEO Andy Page. “Each one of our employees has the power to positively impact the lives of those who need help in the communities where we do business across the country and demonstrate the ORAU way – taking care of each other.” ORAU, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, provides science, health and workforce solutions that address national priorities and serve the public interest. Through our specialized teams of experts and access to a consortium of more than 150 major Ph.D.-granting institutions, ORAU works with federal, state, local and commercial customers to provide innovative scientific and technical solutions and help advance their missions. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Learn more about ORAU at www.orau.org. Learn more about ORAU at www.orau.org. Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OakRidgeAssociatedUniversities Follow us on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/orau Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/orau ###
  • Children’s Museum Gala Celebrates the Rainforest
  • Jim Sears joins ORAU as senior vice president
  • Oak Ridge Housing Authority Receives Funding Assistance of up to $51.8 Million For Renovating Public Housing and Building New Workforce Housing
  • Two fires reported early Friday

Search Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2025 Oak Ridge Today