Miss Jane Buchanan (1794-1888)

When Jane Buchanan died in Shippensburg in 1888, she was the last survivor of the eight children of Capt. Thomas Buchanan.¹ For more than 20 years Jane lived with her unmarried sisters Elizabeth and Mary in her sister Sarah McFarlane’s household on the Walnut Bottom Road in Newton Township near Park’s old tavern stand.²

According to Jane’s obituary, Jane, her elder sister Polly (Mary), Sarah and her husband Clemens McFarlane ³ moved to Shippensburg around the year 1865^[4 Clemens McFarlane died in 1869 and Mary Buchanan became the head of the household which included her sister Jane, her sister Sarah McFarlane as well as a domestic servant and her child.⁵

They lived in a large two-story brick house on East King Street between Penn and Prince streets. Their house was furnished with the accumulation of several generations, and their garden was filled with flowers, fruit trees, berry bushes, and grape vines.⁶

Jane was a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church in Shippensburg and gave liberally to their causes as well as aiding the poor of Shippensburg. “She was fond of the companionship of the young, and although having passed her four score years she very much enjoyed having them about her.” ⁷ “She was a lady of fine intellectual endowments, pleasant in her address and quite fastidious in her attire.” ⁸

Jane’s sister Sarah McFarlane died in 1872, and Jane and her older sister Mary continued to live in their house with the help of a domestic servant. In 1880, at the age of 97, Mary Buchanan wrote her will. She stipulated that all her estate was to be given to her sister Jane for her natural life, and after Jane’s death what remained was to be given to the following: TO the children of Alexander Buchanan of Crawford County, PA, TO Robert Buchanan of Cincinnati, Ohio, TO William and Margaret of Shippensburg, TO the female portion of the Powell family-grandchildren of Sarah Fulton of Crawford County, PA., TO Mary Compton and Lizzie Smith, whose maiden name was Compton, and James Compton, all of Erie County, PA.⁹ Miss Mary Buchanan died in June 1884 and is buried in Shippensburg’s Spring Hill Cemetery.

Jane Buchanan wrote her will in 1882. She stipulated that all her estate was to be given to her sister Mary for her natural life, and after Mary’s death she stipulated that certain amounts of money were to be given to the following: TO Mrs. Isabella Moore of Waterford, Erie Co., PA., TO Mrs. Mary McDannel of Newville, TO Jane Stewart of Columbus, Ohio, TO Matilda Sturgeon, sister of said Jane Stewart, TO Mrs. Margaret McCarrell, wife of Rev. W. A. McCarrell of Shippensburg, TO Mrs. Mary Shrom of Linnville, Mercer Co., TO Miss Margaret McFarlane of Shippensburg, TO Harriet Buchanan of Cincinnati, TO Lizzie Smith of Erie Co., TO James Compton of Erie Co., TO Sarah, Margaret, and Elizabeth McCune residing on the Turnpike near Shippensburg, and TO Mary Compton, sister of James Compton.

She also gave money to the Presbyterian Church of Shippensburg, and to Big Spring Presbyterian Church of Newville, as well as money to keep the family plots in Spring Hill Cemetery and at Big Spring Church in good repair. Jane willed one set of silver tablespoons, one set of silver forks and the portraits of Mr. Clemens McFarlane and Mrs. Sarah McFarlane to Mary Campbell of St. Louis.¹⁰

Jane died on Wednesday, April 4, 1888. According to her obituary, “She had been enjoying unusually good health until Monday evening. During the day she called upon a neighbor, Mrs. D. Gettell, who was moving into the dwelling adjoining, and as the day was cool and no fire in the room, she took cold which terminated [her life].” She died of pneumonia several days later.¹¹ Jane was buried in Shippensburg’s Spring Hill Cemetery.

A public sale of Jane’s goods was held on May 1, 1888. The sale started at 10 o’clock in the morning and did not finish until 8 o’clock in the evening. The Shippensburg News reported that “there were a great many pieces of furniture, some of it quite old and in good condition…. The grandfather’s clock sold for $25.” The sale was “without doubt the largest sale of personal property ever held in this borough….” and netted approximately $500. A Carlisle newspaper reported that “The attendance at the public sale was very large and a great many articles brought exorbitant prices on account of being very antique. China cups and saucers brought at the rate of $9.60 per dozen.¹²

In October of 1888, Dr. W. D. E. Hayes, Jane’s executor, held a public sale of her house and lot. It was purchased by Miss Maggie McFarlane for $2,501.¹³