Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published March 27, 2002

It was quite an Easter hunt

Easter fell on April 15 in 1906. That Easter weekend lived on in the memory of families in the Pleasant Hill and surrounding areas because of the search that took place. It was not a search for Easter eggs, but for a toddler.

The story began on Saturday afternoon, April 14, when the little daughter of Robert Wightman was last seen around 2 o'clock. Her mother was caring for their new baby, only several days old, when she last saw daughter Arizona.

She remembered that Zona, only 2 years and 4 months old, had told her that morning she wanted to go to Pleasant Hill to see her grandma. The grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Amos Wightman, were early settlers of Pleasant Hill. Their son, Robert, and family lived six miles from the town and one mile from Campbell Junction in a heavily forested section.

By late afternoon, search parties were formed. Twenty-five young men from Pleasant Hill Academy and a number of men from the community armed with lanterns began scouring the rough countryside looking for the lost toddler. Part of the group returned around 2:30 a.m., and the rest arrived back at daylight. By this time, there were about 100 men involved in the search and, as dawn broke, new parties were formed to continue looking.

The search became better organized, and daylight made the hunt easier. Seventy-five horsemen joined the nearly 150 men on foot. The hilly terrain and dense underbrush laced with streams and the Caney Fork River added to the fears for Zona's safety. Saturday night had been very chilly, and the little girl had been croupy on Friday night. Adding to those discouraging facts was knowing how many wild hogs and snakes roamed the countryside. Concern and fear reached a fever pitch.

Zona's mother fell into a short sleep from exhaustion during Saturday night but she was awakened by a dream. She saw Zona in a deserted house, and two boys responded to her frantic urging that they try to find the house. They found the house and tiny footprints, but no child.

A telegram was sent to Rockwood requesting bloodhounds to help in the massive hunt but was canceled when shots rang out alerting the searchers that the hunt was over. Zona was found alive and well around 1 Easter afternoon.

Jay Stanley and John Cook returned to an area that had been searched earlier. It was about three miles from the Wightman home and near the bend in the Caney Fork. They were rewarded when they heard a tiny cry, "Mammy, Mammy," and they spotted a pink gown. Little Zona was walking toward the river when they caught up with her and asked if she wanted to go home. The tot reached up her bruised and scratched arms, and Mr. Stanley picked her up as Mr. Cook wrapped his coat around her.

The account written by "Dixie," the Pleasant Hill correspondent for the Chronicle, said, "Tears streamed down the faces of all. Old men sobbed and young men were not ashamed of their manly tears of joy which fell when the mother clasped her little one with prayers and tears of gladness."

This little one had spent over 24 hours alone where she had never been before. Her tracks were found at a ford in the river, about 15 feet wide and nearly a foot deep. After crossing the stream, she followed a road and then went down into a ravine. The searchers followed her tracks left in the soft earth. Then she walked through about a mile and a half of woods toward the bend in the river, where she was found. The men marveled at how she had managed to pass over this rough ground when they had found it hard to traverse. Few doubted she had been watched over by her guardian angel.

Marlin Wightman brought this story to my attention. His father, Reuben, was Arizona's brother and he often told his children the story. He recalled that Zona told him she slept by something warm and furry. The silly thought popped into my head that maybe it was the Easter bunny taking time from delivering Easter eggs to save a precious life.

Whatever protected Zona from the cold that Easter in 1906 touched everyone with a deeper understanding of the first Easter. They were able to shout with joy, "she lives" just as those who visited the open tomb rejoiced knowing "He lives!"

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Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.