Sylvia Babelay has always had a lingering desire to revisit one place, The Walker Sisters’ Cabin, that impacted her childhood, and recently she was able to embark on this visit. Last Friday, Tom Harrington wrote about this historic Smoky Mountain location, and today, we tell Sylvia’s story of an incredible journey back to this place from her youth.

The Walker Sisters’ Story as recounted by Sylvia Babelay

“One of the Walker sisters, maybe Caroline, married and moved out of the mountains. When she came down with an earache, she ended up at my dad’s office. Dad, Dr. A. D. Simmons, was a general practitioner in Corryton, Tennessee. The sister soon understood that my dad had a caring bedside manner and had grown up the same way she and her sisters had. She also found out Dad and our family often visited the Smokies. So, she asked if Dad would see the two remaining sisters, as they had refused to leave the mountain for medical care.

Dr. A. D. Simmons

“Dad managed several trips to their cabin during the 1950s. I have one photo of me outside their cabin, barefoot, holding an ax. I do have a memory of my dad using a stethoscope as he checked them. Mostly, I remember playing with salamanders in the spring house.

 

“Dad’s visits lasted a long time when he went, as he would end up talking with the sisters about their similar childhoods and farming. We came away with handwritten poems and walking sticks made by one of the sisters. Our most precious treasure was what Dad called Walker Sisters corn seed. We had to plant a couple of rows of it every year for years. I remember it not being as tasty as peaches-and-cream corn or other varieties we grew, but he had to have it.”

Sylvia recounts her time at the Walker Sisters’ Cabin

So how did Sylvia get back to visit the cabin? She recalled these same memories to a group of friends, who then decided to help her get to the cabin so she could retell them on the same spot where they were made.

“Fourteen of us went on November 24, 2025. I had broken my knee cap seven months ago and could hike with a bit of assistance, but found out the park service would provide a special chair and a volunteer who would roll me the mile up and back. This turned out to be a wonderful adventure. A couple of the men in our group took turns pushing as well.”

Sylvia credits her brother, David, and her sister, Rada, for some of the stories she now remembers about her dad and the Walker sisters.

“My brother, David, told me about the walking sticks.

Sylvia with walking sticks

“My sister, Rada, gave me clear memories, even though she was pretty young at the time. Rada remembered how Dad was raised in a cabin in Puncheon Camp near Washburn, TN. He also carried his doctor’s bag there and back each time.  Rada also remembered getting to go with her dad once when she was very young. She remembered how one sister didn’t talk at all, and the other sister recommended that Rada stay in the house because she had seen snakes that morning. Rada says she stayed in one spot during that trip.”

 

Rada met a docent a couple of years ago who said she was a little girl who often helped the sisters as she lived nearby. The docent remembered how Sylvia’s Dad showed her plants to gather to make a poultice for a sister with pneumonia.

This trip was more than just a visit; it was a homecoming, a chance to rekindle memories from Sylvia’s youth and to honor her father, the doctor, who made these special recollections possible.

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