Los Angeles County CA Archives Biographies.....King, Abraham Lincoln December 28, 1867 - January 8, 1927 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com April 2, 2006, 11:59 pm Author: The Lewis Publishing Company California and Californians, Pages 34-35 ABRAHAM LINCOLN KING. A citizen of the highest usefulness and honor and of marked business integrity was the late Abraham Lincoln King, who died at his home at Palms January 8, 1927. Mr. King was a pioneer in the development of that section of the suburban district of Los Angeles, and he figured prominently in connection with the public life of the city and county, particularly through his service on the Board of Public Utilities and Transportation. Mr. King was born at Mason City, Iowa, December 28, 1867, son of Rev. Abraham N. King, a retired resident of Los Angeles. Rev. Abraham N. King married Alice Thompson, who died at Palms about 1889. Their children were: Abraham L.; Howard and Oscar, of Long Beach; Frank of Newhall; Fred, of Los Angeles; and Walter, of Burbank, and two daughters, Mrs. S. G. Hall, of Monrovia, and Mrs. E. L. Wade, of Long Beach. Rev. Abraham N. King gave many years to the ministry of the United Brethren Church and organized a church at Palms. He was a minister in Iowa and in the Dakotas before coming to California. He was a native of Wisconsin. His home has been in California since 1882. Abraham Lincoln King was educated in public schools at Cherokee, Iowa, and was fifteen years of age when he came with the family to California in 1882. In 1887 he started life for himself, working by the day or month, and carefully saving with a view to the future. The great success he made as a business man was the result of his well timed efforts and exceptional judgment. It is said that Mr. King had only twenty dollars when he married. He was a farmer in Los Angeles County, and at one time he and a brother-in- law, Mr. S. G. Hall, owned the site of El Secundo, and for a number of years he farmed a thousand acres in Los Angeles County. The first land he purchased was only fifteen acres, but he rented 900 acres for farming purposes. Many years ago he purchased 130 acres at Palms, where the Cheviot Hills tract is located, and he instituted many developments that give permanent character to the locality. He sold a large part of these holdings about 1923. About fourteen years before his death he bought the two acres on which he erected his wonderful home, a splendid piece of domestic architecture standing on high ground at the head of Motor Avenue, on Irene Street in Palms. Mr. King in addition to his operations as a farmer and dealer in real estate was a member of the Citizens Mortgage Company of Santa Monica, and was vice president at the time of his death. He was a director of the Citizens State Bank of Palms until it was taken over by the Security Trust and Savings Bank of Los Angeles and converted into a branch bank. His service on the Los Angeles Board of Public Utilities and Transportation was rendered in 1923. He was always influential in the civic affairs of his home locality, was a Republican and a man of widely extended social, civic and business connections. He was a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, being a life member of Al Malaikah Shrine and master of the Royal Secret of the Scottish Consistory. He was awarded this degree September 11, 1909, in the Los Angeles Consistory. He had much to do with bringing about the organization of a Masonic lodge at Palms and became a charter member. Masonic affiliations were an important part of his life, and at his funeral the Masons had an official part in the ceremonies. Many tributes from individuals and organizations at the time of his death expressed the sense of loss at the passing of such a splendid citizen and also paid tribute to the fine personal qualifications of Mr. King. The Board of Public Utilities and Transportation made official record of their respect “to the memory of a man who was not only an exceptionally faithful and conscientious public official, but one whose integrity in both public and private life was beyond question,” and gave expression to a fact noted elsewhere that the city had lost “one of its pioneers and developers of all that has made the city what it is today.” Similar expressions of esteem and sense of loss came from the business organizations with which he was identified, including the Los Angeles Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of which he had been a member of the Board of Directors for twenty years. Mr. King during 1923-24 also served as a member of the State Board of Agriculture and one of its directors. He married at Los Angeles, April 22, 1890, Miss Frankie LaForge, who was born near LeMars, Iowa, and was reared and educated there. Mrs. King is a member of the Eastern Star at Palms. Since the death of Mr. King his extensive business interests have been carried on by the corporation known as the A. L. King Estate, Incorporated, at Palms, of which Mrs. Frankie L. King is vice president, and her sons and daughters occupy the other official positions, Shirley L. King, president, Harry N. King, treasurer, Mrs. Alta R. McMillan, secretary, Ruth M. and Dorothy F., directors. Mr. and Mrs. King had seven children: Lenora Alice, who died July 9, 1899, at the age of seven, having been born at Palms September 12, 1892; Shirley L., owner of a walnut ranch at Puente; Harry N., who has a walnut ranch at Covina; Alta R., wife of Lester McMillan, of Monte-Mar Vista; Ruth Mae, Dorothy F. and Dolly I., the latter the wife of Carlin D. Perkins, of Los Angeles. Mrs. King also has three grandchildren, Robert Bruce, son of Shirley King, Harry Milton, son of Harry King, and Byron, son of Alta McMillan. Additional Comments: California and Californians, Volume IV, Edited by Rockwell D. Hunt, A.M., Ph.D., Assisted By An Advisory Board, The Spanish Period, By Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez, The American Period, By Rockwell D. Hunt, California Biography, By a Special Staff of Writers, Issued in Four Volumes, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, 1932. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/losangeles/bios/king366gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 6.6 Kb