On February 20, 1920, a silent film adaptation of “The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come” was released to audiences, bringing to life John Fox Jr.’s beloved novel about an orphan caught in the turmoil of the Civil War when he joins the Union Army. While this film, directed by Wallace Worsley and starring Jack Pickford, has since been lost to time, the novel and its author’s legacy continue to captivate readers and historians alike.
Born on December 16, 1862, in Stony Point, Kentucky, John Fox Jr. was a writer whose works vividly depicted life in the Appalachian region. The son of John William Fox Sr. and Minerva Worth Carr, he excelled academically, graduating from Harvard University in 1883 with a degree in English. He initially pursued journalism in New York City, working for The New York Times and The New York Sun. However, his passion for storytelling led him to fiction writing, and by 1892, he had achieved success with A Mountain Europa, serialized in Century Magazine.
Fox’s works often reflected his experiences in the mountains of Kentucky and Virginia. His time as a war correspondent during the Spanish-American War and the Russo-Japanese War further shaped his perspective on conflict and humanity. By 1903, he had become a household name with “The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come”, which became the first American novel to sell over a million copies. His later work, “The Trail of the Lonesome Pine” (1908), also achieved bestseller status and was later adapted into multiple films and a stage play held every year in his adopted home town, Big Stone Gap, Virginia.
Fox’s writing offered a deep, often nostalgic look at mountain life.
Given the novel’s massive popularity, it was inevitable that Hollywood would soon came calling. Goldwyn Pictures, one of the leading studios of the silent era, produced the film version of “The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come”, with Wallace Worsley directing and Jack Pickford—brother of Hollywood icon Mary Pickford—in the lead role.
The silent film, like the book, followed the journey of Chad Buford, an orphan raised in the Kentucky mountains who finds himself entangled in the Civil War. The film likely emphasized themes of personal growth, regional loyalty, and the impact of war on rural communities, staying true to Fox’s narrative style.
Unfortunately, like many silent films of the era, this adaptation has been lost, with no known surviving copies. Silent films were often destroyed due to the flammable nature of nitrate film stock or simply discarded as the industry moved toward “talkies” in the late 1920s.
Despite the loss of the 1920 film, John Fox Jr.’s influence remains undeniable. His detailed depictions of Appalachian life, drawn from his time in Big Stone Gap, helped shape the region’s literary identity. His home in Big Stone Gap has since been preserved as a museum, offering visitors a glimpse into the world that inspired his novels. In 2015, he was posthumously inducted into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame, solidifying his place in American literary history.
Fox passed away in 1919, just months before “The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come” film debuted, a victim of the influenza epidemic. Though he never saw his work come to life on screen, his storytelling continues to resonate.
