A Mysterious Ruling of Providence

Photo by James Allen

Mrs. Sarah Barker rests in the Eglantine Square section of Rose Hill Cemetery. According to a news article, TWO SISTERS, IN DEATH, SLEEPING SIDE BY SIDE [Macon Telegraph (Georgia), 17 May 1906, pg. 1], her sister rests beside her. Unfortunately, it seems the grave of Sarah's sister (Mrs. Marian S. Kimbrough) is unmarked. There is mention of a Mrs. Mary Kimbrough in the Rose Hill Cemetery database online, but the specific burial whereabouts are unknown...

"DEATH CAME TO SISTERS AT ALMOST SAME TIME

Mrs. Marian S. Kimbrough Passed Away in Alamaba [sic] and Mrs. Sarah A. Barker in Houston County, Ga. Both Buried in Macon Today.

Within six hours, two of the oldest and most beloved former residents of Macon, both sisters, passed away yesterday morning, one shortly after midnight, the other at 6 o'clock in the morning.

First, Mrs. Marian S. Kimbrough passed away at her home in Opelika, Ala. Mrs. Kimbrough was the mother of R. H. Nesbit, a prominent citizen of Knoxville, Tenn. She died at midnight Monday.

Six hours later, Mrs. Sarah A. Barker, widow of the late George R. Barker, succumbed, after lingering between life and death for several weeks. The latter's death was due to the result of a fall sustained three weeks ago. She died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. S. D. Smith, in Houston county.

Both of these aged women formerly lived in Macon. They lived together, died on the same day, and their bodies will be interred side by side in Rose Hill cemetery today.

The body of Mrs. Kimbrough arrived in the city at an early hour this morning. The funeral services were conducted in Opelika, Ala., yesterday. The committal services will be conducted at the grave at Rose Hill cemetery at 10 o'clock this morning.

The funeral of Mrs. Barker will be conducted at 4 o'clock this afternoon at the home of her friend, Mrs. George Wright, 140 Magnolia street. The interment will also be in Rose Hill cemetery.

Mrs. Barker was born in Jefferson County, November 25, 1826. Her family moved here when she was aged one year. She lived in Macon until the death of her husband two and a half years ago, after which she made her home with her children. Mrs. Barker, therefore, lived in Macon over 75 years.

She is survived by four children: Mrs. Walter B. Hill, widow of the late lamented chancellor of the University of Georgia; Mrs. J. M. Skinner of Atlanta; Mrs. S. D. Smith, of Houston County, and George M. Barker, of Atlanta.

Mrs. Barker and Mrs. Kimbrough were the most devoted of sisters. It was one of the mysterious rulings of providence that both should die within the same day, in just a few hours of each other.

Both were women of the purest of characters and the most kindly and charitable of natures. The death of each filled hundreds of homes in Macon and else where in deep sorrow, and that of both in such a short length of time has prostrated the families and friends in the deepest of grief and mourning." [Macon Telegraph (Georgia), 16 May 1906, pg. 3]