Ringing in the New Year One Hundred Eleven Years Ago

The start of the new year, 1913, would have been a solemn one for the Shakers of Pleasant Hill. In that week they buried two members of the community; their numbers were quickly dwindling.

The sad occasion of Sister Jane Sutton's passing on December 29th (see the obituary) turned tragic with the passing of another beloved Shaker, John Pilkington, the next day. With two deaths so close together, the next and final day of 1912 was marked by their double funeral.

1912 - 1914 microfilm reel

As grim an occasion as that would have been, we should also consider that they had both been blessed with close to eight decades of life. More than that, they willingly and gratefully chose life as Shakers and died of natural causes having lived their utopian existence on Earth.  

Obituaries often contain clues that need to be followed-up and when I read that the Harrodsburg Herald, the paper that had covered the funeral, had also done an "extended sketch" on the life of Jane and that John Pilkington was "also mentioned" in the article, which reportedly appeared in the Herald two weeks earlier, I knew I had to track it down.

Over the course of two months, inquiries were made and a microfilm reel slowly made its way to me from the University of Kentucky, which I learned was the sole repository of the reel from 1912. While none of my nearby libraries maintain a microfilm reader any longer, I knew one still existed in my county's historical society research room. At last I was able to see for myself the "extended sketch." 

While I was hoping the article would reveal all sorts of Runyon / Sutton connections it does not. Rather, the article is more accurately described as an "extended sketch" on the life of John Pilkington that also mentions Jane Sutton. Still, it is genealogy gold and thrilling to find a description of a family member in print, beyond the details of occupation and when and where they were born or died. Jane -- the daughter of my first cousin five times removed -- was described as "loved by everyone" and a "natural leader" who "commands respect and a following."

Here is the complete article:

Three Shakers

Oldest in Village Are Very Ill and Facing the End.

Three of the oldest citizens of Shakertown are dangerously, ill, and for them life's shadows are growing long and purple, and it may be that soon the shadows will be blotted out altogether by the dark of eternity. The three who are facing the shadows are Sister Jane Sutton, Sister Sarah Nagel and Brother John Pilkington. Sister Jane is known and loved by every one. She has been one of the commanding figures of Shakertown for years, and is a natural leader who would command respect and a following no matter in what walk of life she had been placed.  There are many, even outside the Shaker village, who will grieve that her firm hand is beginning to tremble with the weakness of age. Sister Sarah Nagel is now ninety-seven. She joined the colony over sixty-eight years ago and her life has been a silent, simple benediction, just as even and peaceful as it is now that with resignation she is waiting for the end.

Brother John Pilkington is one of the most picturesque and interesting members of the shaker colony. He was formerly a thorough man of the world, highly educated for his day and at one time was the friend and private secretary of George D. Prentice. About the time of the Civil War ended he came to Shakertown, broken in health from the reckless life he had lived. In three years he was a different man, well poised, vigorous, clear of mind, and he went back to the world he had loved. But a year later the quiet village saw him again and took him once more to her peaceful bosom. He vowed never to leave the Shaker village again, and he never has. Later on his mother joined the colony and afterward died there. Brother John is well along in the seventies, now, and in spite of his secluded life he has always kept abreast of the times. He was a printer by trade, has been a great reader and a philosopher in his way, and even today his wit is keener than that of the average person. The history of Brother John's life there among the hills lying along Kentucky river, is touching in the extreme. From childhood he has always desired to be a great musician, yet his only audiences have been the quaint brother and sisters of the little colony. In the top drawer of the old bureau in his small bare room mare all the treasures that he brought from the outside world with him. They are his violin, his mother’s picture, and a faded daguerreotype that is never opened in the sunlight. It is the dearest of all his treasures for it is the likeness of the girl he loved many many years ago. "She was the sweetest girl I ever knew," Brother John would say when showing the picture, and his lips would quiver as he added, "She died." The violin is the second love of the aged Shaker, and despite his stiffened fingers he has never ceased to make his fiddle sing. Not the new songs - oh no! - but the sweet old melodies that will live in always in the human heart. "Annie Laurie," "Robin Adair," "Auld Land Syne" and "Ah, I Have Sighed to Rest Me!" Brother Pilkington will soon know the long long rest beside his comrades who are sleeping in the quiet God's Acre on the hill overlooking the peaceful village. At one time there were many to keep step beside him, but time and change and death have narrowed the little band to a mere handful, and soon there will not be one left to watch the sunset behind the green Kentucky hills along the river.

-published in the Harrodsburg Herald, December 13, 1912

Happy New Year everyone. May 2024 be a year of peace and contentment for you and your loved ones.

We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet, For auld lang syne.