When John Thomas Pilk was born on 17 June 1887, in Scotland, Greene, Indiana, United States, his father, John W. Pilkenton, was 39 and his mother, Malinda Emeline Riley, was 33. He married Rosa Goad on 26 May 1914, in Bloomfield, Greene, Indiana, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 3 daughters. He lived in Bloomfield, Greene, Indiana, United States in 1930 and Richland Township, Greene, Indiana, United States in 1940. He died on 24 May 1949, in Greene, Indiana, United States, at the age of 61, and was buried in Bloomfield, Greene, Indiana, United States.