In talks by the roadside, at the gate of his humble home, seated on the
rocks that surround the spring, many a neighborhood dispute has been
settled that prejudice could have fanned into a lawsuit.
Yet William York never prospered, as prosperity is measured by the
accumulation of property, and it has been said of him that he "just
about succeeded in making a hard living."
He was farmer, blacksmith, hunter--a man of the mountains who found
pleasure in his skill with his rifle. But the memories of him that
linger in the valley, or those that are revived at the mention of his
name, are of him in the role of husband, father and friend.
The Civil War had scattered much of the wealth that Old Coonrod Pile had
accumulated and Elijah Pile had conserved. The number of heirs brought
long division to the realty and most of those who had benefited by the
inheritance were all left "land poor."
To Nancy Brooks, as her part, came the home the old "Long Hunter" had
built with such thoroughness and care, together with seventy-five acres
of land. This she left to her boy who had been named after his ill--
fated father--and he lives there to-day. To Mrs. York had been given
seventy-five acres, "part level and part hilly," that was the share of
her aunt, Polly Pile.
In the cave above the spring, which was Coonrod Pile's first home,
William York built a blacksmith's shop, where he mended log-wagons and
did the work in wood and metal the neighborhood required.
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