Homepage: http://theusgenweb.net/la/grant.htm - Grant Parish Louisiana Bio: Willie King of Southern Arkansas, Grant &Rapides Parishes Submited by: his Son William R. (Bill) King Jr. 14106 Carolcrest Circle, Houston Texas 77079 BillKing@houston.rr.com ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** WILLIAM RILEY KING'WILLIE'Born 13 December 1898Fayette TownshipCalhoun County, ArkansasDied 24 April 1945PinevilleRapides Parish, LouisianaEducated atThird DistrictAgricultural SchoolMagnolia, Arkansas1916-1920Submitted to USGENWEB by his SonWilliam R. (Bill) King Jr.14106 Carolcrest CircleHouston, Texas 77079July 4, 1998 William R. Willie' King (1898-1945) of Calhoun County, Arkansas and Grant & Rapides Parishes LouisianaWillie King was born 13 December 1898 in Fayette Township, south of the oldcommunity of Artesian in southern Calhoun County, just a couple of milesnorth of the beautiful Ouachita River. His mother, SALLIE HARRIS PARKER KING(1869-1899), died shortly after the birth from 'complications'. Her actualdate of death and place of burial have never been determined, as death recordswere not required at that early time. His father, ARTHUR EDWARD 'RED' KING,was only 20 years of age at the time of his wife's death, and soon afterwardhe delivered young 'Willie', at the age of two, over to the care of hismaternal grandmother, Mrs. Catherine 'Kate' Caroline Davis Harris King(1847-1914). Grandma Kate had first married a Harris (Sallie's father--fullname unknown), sometime about the time of the Civil War. Kate later marriedWILLIAM R. KING in Calhoun County on 5 January 1882. Her second husband,'Will' King was the uncle of Arthur Edward King, and a younger brother ofJames M. King, young Willie's paternal grandpa and Ed's father. Will Kingdied 20 December 1890 and is buried in the old abandoned Moody FarmplaceCemetery on Bangs Slough, south of Artesian. Young Willie was named for Kate'shusband and Sallie's stepfather, 'Will' King, whom Sallie had loved dearly.Willie's mother, Sallie, first married George W. Parker in Calhoun County atthe age of 16 on 17 January 1886. There were at least two sons born to Salliefrom this first marriage; Thomas, born 1890 and Robert, born 1892. GrandmaKate was responsible for raising her two Parker grandsons and young Willie,following Sallie's death. Little is known of either of the two Parker boys.Thomas had died prior to June 1914, as he was not mentioned in the probate ofKate's will, written in 1913. Robert Parker, age 18, and Willie King, age 12,were living on the farm of Kate King and her son, George, according to the1910 Calhoun County census of Fayette Township.GRANDMA 'KATE' s DEATHThe second tragedy came into Willie's early life on June 13, 1914, with thedeath of his beloved 'Grandma Kate'. According to her death certificate,signed by Dr. W.B. Wooldridge of Hampton, the cause of her death was given as"chills and malaria of one months duration". Willie, at age 15, saw this ladythat he loved so much, buried beside her husband, William R. King in the oldMoody Cemetery. Also buried at Moody was George L. King (1885-1911), theonly child of Kate & Will King. On a cold rainy day in November 1997, Willie's three sons--Carroll, Bill &Wayne, and Bill's son--Don located the long abandoned cemetery which is onWitherington Family timber land situated on Bangs Slough below Artesian. Repair of the large gravestone of George L. King was required, and over 50years growth of brush and briars were cut back, and the three gravestonesbleached white. They were very high quality and extremely attractivegravestones, and they appeared almost new when the 'cleanup' was completed.Only the three King gravestones mentioned were found, but other graves arereported to be in this early 'burial ground'. It is thought that Willie'smother, Sallie, is also buried there, but her gravestone, nor actual date ofdeath, has ever been located.Kate had planned well in behalf of her grandson, Willie, naming him in herwill as the principal heir to her 40-acre farm, farmhouse, farm animals,wagons and tools. In addition, she had managed to save almost $3000, a tidysum for that day, with the Bank of Hampton. Her will, executed on the 7th dayof July 1913, named CLYDE C. CAMPBELL, a family friend and the bookkeeper atthe Bank of Hampton, as the guardian of Willie and the executor of her will.Campbell was directed in the will to see that Kate's savings in the bank andall other items of value were used for the sole purpose of providing Williewith a quality education. Mr. Campbell accomplished this responsibility witha great degree of diligence over the next six years. Willie attended the highschool in Hampton and graduated in May 1916, while living in the Campbellhome.WILLIE IN MAGNOLIA, ARKANSASSoon afterward, Mr. Campbell accepted a position with a bank over in Magnolia,a few miles to the southwest of Hampton. As a result of the fortunate timingof this move to Magnolia by the Campbell family, Willie was soon enrolled atthe Third District Agricultural School (later renamed Magnolia A & M and nowknown as Southern Arkansas State University), for the fall session of 1916. The school was located just a few blocks north of the Campbell home onWashington Street, near downtown Magnolia. It was an easy walk to classes forWillie.Records indicate that Willie was a better than average student, taking coursesin English, math, speech, animal husbandry, bookkeeping and cotton accounting.(We must remember that 'Cotton was King' in Southern Arkansas at the time!)The 1919-20 school yearbook, 'The Monitor', also shows that he served aspresident of the Yuma Literary Society and was a member of the voice club.'The Monitor' said of him, "He's Irish; 'nuff said. If he were not Pat's kin,His hair'd not be red." In the fall of 1918, Willie was called to servebriefly in the Army during the final days of WW-I. The war ended soonafterward, and he quickly returned to Magnolia to complete his schooling andto rejoin Coach Bacot and his teammates on the football squad. Willie playedon the 1919 undefeated 'Mulerider' team, playing right guard alongside teamcaptain and center Dolph Camp of Haynesville, La.Willie's teammates wrote of him in the yearbook: "His level head and steadyhand and loyalty made him a man of unusual quality for the team and a man ofno small ability for the enemy to reckon with." Dolph Camp was later to benamed President of Southern State Arkansas College in 1951. In 1952, Willie'sson, Bill, then a high school football player for Bolton in Alexandria, wasthe invited guest of President Dolph Camp for 'Homecoming 1952' at SouthernState. Riding in the parade through downtown Magnolia in the president'sconvertible with President Camp and the Mayor of Magnolia is a memory notforgotten soon.WILLIE JOINS FATHER IN SELMA, LA.After completing his studies at Third District Agricultural School in 1920,Willie left Arkansas, traveling south to join his father, Ed King, in thebooming sawmill town of Selma in Grant Parish, Louisiana. Ed had moved downto Selma early in 1900, had remarried and was busy farming his 20 acres ofland growing corn, melons and peanuts. With the remaining funds left to himby 'Grandma Kate', Willie and his father entered into a mercantile venture tobe known as 'Ed King & Son', selling dry goods, clothing and groceries to thegrowing number of families coming to Selma to work for Grant Timber &Manufacturing Company, known at the time to be the largest timber mill of pinelumber in that part of the country. Life was 'pretty good' during Willie'searly years in Selma (1920-29). Willie met, 'courted' and married GertrudeDillon of Selma in 1926. Their first son, James Carroll, was soon born inSelma in 1928.THE DEPRESSION and THE MOVE TO PINEVILLEThen, the Irish Luck turned bad for the two King families of Selma in 1929.The timber mill moved away and the depression came, and the little mercantileand grocery store which had been doing very well, with over $5000 monthly insales of merchandise, was forced to close its doors in 1929. Times weredifficult for everyone during the depression. Willie drove a Standard Coffeetruck in Ruston for the next couple of years, then the young family moved downto Pineville, Louisiana in 1932. Both he and Gertrude worked briefly for theCentral Hospital in Pineville. Willie then applied, passed the Civil ServiceCommission test and went to work as 'village letter carrier' for the PinevillePost Office. A second son, William R. Jr. (Bill), was born soon afterward in1934, and a third son, Clyde Wayne, was born in 1943. It looked as if 'theluck of the Irish' was again smiling on Willie and his family.But tragedy was soon to visit the King family once more. At the time ofWillie's death, caused by a massive heart attack, on 24 April 1945 inPineville, he had been employed by the postal service for over 13 years andhad been promoted to the position of clerk in the office. He was but 46 yearsof age. Willie was a Mason and a member of the First Baptist Church. He wasburied at Greenwood Cemetery in Pineville with both Masonic Rights and anAmerican Legion 'Honor Guard'. Willie was remembered by all who knew himthroughout his life as a quiet, soft spoken and deeply committed family man.By the time that Willie and Gertrude moved to Pineville in 1932, he hadadopted the name of "Bill" and the folks of Pineville will recall him by thatname. Following Bill's death in 1945, Gertrude accepted the job aspostmistress at the Louisiana College Post Office Station, working there forover 20 years. She loved the 'kids at La. College' and her association withthe Baptist Church there in Pineville. His wife of almost twenty years,Gertrude Dillon, rests there in the Greenwood Cemetery family plot besideWillie. She died in 1972.THE THREE SONS of WILLIE & GERTRUDEJames Carroll was born in Selma, Grant Parish in 1928. He immediately wentto work for the Pineville Post Office upon the death of his father in 1945.Only 16 at the time, he was forced to drop out of Bolton High School to helpsupport the family. For over 30 years, Carroll worked for the Postal Service;as a substitute carrier, rural route carrier, clerk, supervisor, financialofficer, assistant postmaster, and postmaster in the offices at Pineville,Alexandria and Tioga. Now retired, he resides in Pineville with his wifeMargaret Dupuy. They have two children, Donna King Burch of Dallas and RonaldCarroll of Shreveport.William R., Jr. (Bill) was born in Pineville in 1934. He graduated fromBolton High School in 1953 and attended LSU for two years before joining theMarine Corps. Returning to Pineville in 1957, Bill entered Louisiana Collegeto complete his education. He worked 'part time' for the Rapides Bank whileattending LC, and graduated in 1960. He married Lynn Bagley of Alexandria in1959. Lynn had also graduated from Bolton in 1953 and from Louisiana Tech inRuston in 1957. Bill and Lynn moved to Dallas on April Fool's Day 1960 and toHouston in 1975. Now retired after over 30 years in the banking business, they remain in Houston today. They have two sons, Robert Martin and DonaldWilliam, both of whom live in the Houston area. Robert is employed as SeniorVice President of Nuevo Energy Company and Don is a professionalphotographer.Clyde Wayne was born in Culpepper Clinic in Alexandria in 1943. He graduatedfrom Pineville High School and from Louisiana College (B.S. Degree in Business& Psychology) in 1971. He served with the Army in Vietnam as a SupplySergeant. Wayne has been employed for a number of years by the LouisianaState Employment Commission in the Alexandria office. Married to Diane Redmondin 1965, they have two children. Daughter Shelley is employed by Troop 'E'of the Louisiana State Police, in Alexandria. Their son, Scott, ispresently enjoying pursuits in Colorado.Submitted to USGENWEB 4 July 1998A FAMILY NOTEFirst, a special word of 'thanks' goes to Catherine Caroline Davis HarrisKing of Calhoun County, Arkansas. "Grandma Kate', with wisdom far beyond mostothers of her day, provided a loving and caring atmosphere for Dad's earlyyears on the family farm, and she also made it possible for him to obtain agood education.Secondly, a debt of gratitude is certainly owed to Clyde C. and MinnieCampbell of Calhoun County and Magnolia, Columbia County, Arkansas for theirlove and positive influence throughout Dad's years of schooling and whilegrowing into manhood in Magnolia. Dad was treated as their "son" during theyears that he lived in the Campbell home.THANKS, KATE, CLYDE and MINNIE!! Carroll, Bill & Wayne