Brown-Johnson County IN Archives Biographies.....King, Henry W. 1842 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 4, 2007, 4:33 pm Author: B. F. Bowen (1904) HENRY W. KING. From remote antiquity agriculture has been considered an honorable vocation, and in all ages men of sterling worth and humane impulses, as well as those of energy and thrift, have been tillers of the soil. The free outdoor life of the farm, besides inspiring new life and hope, has a tendency to develop and foster independence of mind and self-reliance, characteristic of strong, virile manhood, and no greater blessing can befall a boy than to be reared in close touch with nature amid the healthful labors of the field. From this fruitful soil and air spring in a large degree the moral bone and sinew of the county, and the majority of America's great warriors, wise statesmen, renowned scholars and distinguished men of letters, as well as the great captains of industry and leaders in the domain of thought, were born and reared on the farm, and to this fact is largely due the eminence to which they have attained. The well known subject of this review is one of Brown county's representative agriculturists and as such has met with success such as few achieve. He stands high in the esteem of his fellow men and as a broad-minded, progressive citizen, fully abreast with the times, exercises a wholesome influence in the community, besides being a factor of no little weight in the public affairs of his township and county. Henry W. King was born in Brown county, Indiana, May 19, 1842, and is the oldest of seven children, five sons and two daughters, who constituted the family of Isaac and Violetta (Porter) King. Isaac King, whose birth occurred in South Carolina, was taken to Kentucky in an early day, about 1840, and came from the latter state to Brown county, Indiana, accompanying his father, Daniel King, who entered about two hundred acres of land in what is now Hamlin township. The family moved to their new home in a small wagon drawn by a pair of mules and, like the majority of pioneers, experienced the privations and hardships incident to backwoods life in-this part of the state nearly three-quarters of a century ago. Daniel King cleared and otherwise improved a portion of his land and continued to cultivate the same until his death, which occurred about 1850. Isaac, who was about twenty-one years old, on coming to the county, also developed a good farm from the wilderness and lived on the same until 1854, when he sold it and purchased a place about a half a mile from Nashville, where he made-his home until his death, in August, 1864, his wife surviving him until the year 1892. Both possessed noble Christian characters, being members of the Baptist church and lived worthy lives, void of offense toward God and man. Their virtues were many, their faults few, and their influence made for good among the large circle of friends and acquaintances with whom they mingled. Henry W. King spent his early life on the home farm, and this part of his life was uneventful, being closely devoted to the routine of honest toil to which the majority of country lads soon become accustomed. A vigorous physique, good health and a steadfast purpose to succeed in life were among the legacies of this early period, and as the years went by he gained new resolutions to make the most of his opportunities so as to become a good citizen and to be of some use to the world. At intervals during his minority he attended the public schools and on reaching manhood's estate was made deputy county recorder under Fountain F. Sutherland, the duties of which he discharged about one year, when he resigned to enter the service of his country. In 1863 he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Twentieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the summer of 1865, in June of which year he was discharged on account of physical disability caused by a fourteen weeks' illness with typhoid fever, being reduced during that time from his normal weight of one hundred and sixty-four pounds to ninety-six pounds. Immediately after his discharge he returned home and, when sufficiently recuperated, began farming, which he continued until 1869, when he moved to Franklin, Johnson county, where he resided during the seven years following, when he returned to Brown county, and two years later, 1878, purchased the farm in Jackson township on which he has since lived and prospered, his success the meanwhile being all that he could reasonably expect or desire. Mr. Kink's [sic] one-hundred-and-thirty-seven-acre farm is well improved and most productive, and his manner of cultivating it attests his familiarity with agricultural science and high standing as a capable manager and far-sighted business man. He has a substantial residence and good outbuildings, and spares no reasonable expense in surrounding himself and those dependent upon him with the comforts and conveniences of life. In early manhood he was a Democrat, but becoming dissatisfied with the policy of the party and its attitude toward the government immediately preceding and during the war of the rebellion, he changed his political views and for a number of years past has been a pronounced Republican, and as such has been a persistent worker. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias and religiously the Presbyterian church represents his creed, his wife being a member of the same congregation with which he is identified. Mr. King has been twice married, the first time, in 1862, to Miss Nancy Jane Sutherland, who departed this life in the year 1877, after bearing him five children, namely: Thomas D., Mary E., Laurie, Luella and Maggie Gertrude, the two oldest being the only ones living. The second marriage was solemnized on January 14, 1878, with Mrs. Maria (Butler) Adams, the union resulting in the birth of the following children: Frank G., Edwin T., Kate and Charles G., the latter being the only survivor. Mr. King has experienced many of life's vicissitudes as well as its benefits, the most of the former being caused by the death of his loved ones, the dread messenger having seven times invaded his household. While called to drink the bitter cup of bereavement, he has not been discouraged or cast down, but with an abiding trust in Him who ordereth all things after the counsel of His will, and cheered by the hope of sometime, somewhere being, reunited with the loved and lost, he bears his burden with the fortitude of the true Christian, trusting in divine guidance as he pursues his onward way through life. In things temporal fortune has not withheld her smiles, as he has been successful in his business affairs, being a possessor of a liberal share of the world's goods, both for present needs and future exigencies. Generous in his benefactions to all worthy objects, enterprising in all that concerns the material advancement and moral good of the community, and public spirited in his efforts to promote the welfare of his fellow men generally, he is destined to remain as long as he lives one of the representative citizens of Brown county. Additional Comments: Extracted from BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY INDIANA INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GOVERNORS AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF INDIANA ILLUSTRATED 1904 B. F. Bowen PUBLISHER File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/brown/bios/king863gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/ File size: 7.8 Kb