Pierson George Still is my great grandfather. I thought it appropriate to feature him this week since yesterday was the 38th anniversary of his passing away.
His stone is a simple one. He is buried with his wife and
three of their four children. My grandfather is the only one to have married
and is buried elsewhere. Pierson and the others are buried at Doe Run Cemetery in East Fallowfield, Chester County
Pierson was born 16 March 1886 in Unionville to Franklin and
Sarah Jennie Van Horn Still. He built the house where my uncle’s family still
lives in Unionville. A simple, yet comfortable, house. He lived out West to Clark , Colorado Kennett Square
I remember fondly him living at my grandparents’. We kids just loved him. He was a big man, even
in his later years, but always so gentle with us. He was a farmer, a ranch
hand, and a blacksmith. I never knew him as any of those. In fact, physically
speaking (and keeping in mind I was only eight when he passed) I only recall
him as a wonderfully pleasant old man in a wheelchair. I do not recall why he
was in the wheelchair. In the end, it was a two day bout with pneumonia that
caused his death.
The photo is of my cousins and I with our great grandfather. Beth and I are the same age and Ken is two years older than us. The photo was not dated.
Mary Kilpatrick, his wife, is buried with him. She was born
in 1885 in Ireland Main Line when she and Pierson met. He was a
blacksmith and traveled often to the Main Line
to work for several families. They married in 1908. Mary died from complications
in childbirth in 1916.
Also buried with Pierson and Mary (known as Minnie) are:
Margaret (1908-1909), James (1910-1979), and Dorothy (1912-1912). Uncle Jim
never married though there is a family story of him fathering a son while out
West.
Photo and text by Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman
© Jeanne
Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015
