Most of us probably think of the state of Tennessee as part of the “Bible Belt” an area of the southern United States known for its religious fervor. But it has not always been so. According to author and historian Jack Neely, at the turn of the 19^th century, Tennesseans were a largely heathen people. Traveling evangelists and missionaries made little impression on either the cotton growers on the west end of the state or the hillbillies on the eastern end.

Then, on December 16^th, 1811, a massive earthquake rolled across the southern United States. The ground cracked and shifted, houses collapsed, mountains spewed forth jets of hot water, and the smell of sulfur filled the air. And suddenly, people across Tennessee and the whole South began to pray. A number of small earthquakes followed …