Willie King, Rapides Parish
Submitted by William R. (Bill) King Jr. 

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WILLIAM RILEY KING 'WILLIE'   
Born 13 December 1898 Fayette Township Calhoun County, Arkansas  
Died 24 April 1945 Pineville Rapides Parish, Louisiana   
Educated at Third District Agricultural School Magnolia, Arkansas 1916-1920     
   
Willie King was born 13 December 1898 in Fayette Township, south of the old 
community of Artesian in southern Calhoun County, just a couple of miles north 
of the beautiful Ouachita River. His mother, SALLIE HARRIS PARKER KING (1869-1899), 
died shortly after the birth from 'complications'. Her actual date of death and 
place of burial have never been determined, as death records were 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 afterward he delivered young 'Willie', 
at the age of two, over to the care of his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Catherine 
'Kate' Caroline Davis Harris King (1847-1914). Grandma Kate had first married a 
Harris (Sallie's father--full name unknown), sometime about the time of the 
Civil War. Kate later married WILLIAM 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 of James M. King, young Willie's paternal grandpa and Ed's 
father. Will King died 20 December 1890 and is buried in the old abandoned Moody 
Farmplace Cemetery on Bangs Slough, south of Artesian. Young Willie was named for 
Kate's husband and Sallie's stepfather, 'Will' King, whom Sallie had loved dearly.  
Willie's mother, Sallie, first married George W. Parker in Calhoun County at the 
age of 16 on 17 January 1886. There were at least two sons born to Sallie from 
this first marriage; Thomas, born 1890 and Robert, born 1892. Grandma Kate 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 of Kate'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 the 1910 Calhoun 
County census of Fayette Township. GRANDMA 'KATE' s DEATH  The second tragedy 
came into Willie's early life on June 13, 1914, with the death 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 lady that he loved so 
much, buried beside her husband, William R. King in the old Moody Cemetery.  
Also buried at Moody  was George L. King (1885-1911), the only child of Kate 
and 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 on Witherington Family timber land situated on Bangs Slough below Artesian.  
Repair of the large gravestone of George L. King was required, and over 50 
years growth of brush and briars were cut back, and the three gravestones 
bleached white. They were very high quality and extremely attractive gravestones, 
and they appeared almost new when the 'cleanup' was completed. Only the three 
King gravestones mentioned were found, but other graves are reported to be in 
this early 'burial ground'. It is thought that Willie's mother, Sallie, is 
also buried there, but her gravestone, nor actual date of death, has ever 
been located. Kate had planned well in behalf of her grandson, Willie, naming 
him in her will 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 tidy sum for that day, with the Bank of Hampton. Her will, executed on the 
7th day of July 1913, named CLYDE C. CAMPBELL, a family friend and the bookkeeper 
at the 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 and 
all other items of value were used for the sole purpose of providing Willie 
with a quality education. Mr. Campbell accomplished this responsibility with 
a great degree of diligence over the next six years. Willie attended the high 
school in Hampton and graduated in May 1916, while living in the Campbell home.  
WILLIE IN MAGNOLIA, ARKANSAS  Soon 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 timing of this move to Magnolia by the Campbell family, 
Willie was soon enrolled at the Third District Agricultural School (later 
renamed Magnolia A & M and now known as Southern Arkansas State University), 
for the fall session of 1916. The school was located just a few blocks north 
of the Campbell home on Washington Street, near downtown Magnolia. It was an 
easy walk to classes for Willie. Records indicate that Willie was a better 
than average student, taking courses in 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 as president 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 serve briefly in 
the Army during the final days of WW-I. The war ended soon afterward, and 
he quickly returned to Magnolia to complete his schooling and to rejoin 
Coach Bacot and his teammates on the football squad. Willie played on the 
1919 undefeated 'Mulerider' team, playing right guard alongside team captain 
and center Dolph Camp of Haynesville, La.  Willie's  teammates wrote of him 
in the yearbook: "His level head and steady hand and loyalty made him a man 
of unusual quality for the team and a man of no small ability for the enemy 
to reckon with." Dolph Camp was later to be named President of Southern 
State Arkansas College in 1951. In 1952, Willie's son, Bill, then a high 
school football player for Bolton in Alexandria, was the invited guest of 
President Dolph Camp for 'Homecoming 1952' at Southern State. Riding in the 
parade through downtown Magnolia in the president's convertible with President 
Camp and the Mayor of Magnolia is a memory not forgotten 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 the booming sawmill town of Selma in Grant Parish, Louisiana. Ed had 
moved down to Selma early in 1900, had remarried and was busy farming his 20 
acres of land growing corn, melons and peanuts. With the remaining funds left 
to him by 'Grandma Kate', Willie and his father entered into a mercantile 
venture to be known as 'Ed King & Son', selling dry goods, clothing and 
groceries to the growing number of families coming to Selma to work for Grant 
Timber & Manufacturing Company, known at the time to be the largest timber 
mill of pine lumber in that part of the country. Life was 'pretty good' 
during Willie's early years in Selma (1920-29). Willie met, 'courted' and 
married Gertrude Dillon of Selma in 1926. Their first son, James Carroll, 
was soon born in Selma in 1928. THE DEPRESSION and THE MOVE TO PINEVILLE  
Then, 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 mercantile 
and grocery store which had been doing very well, with over $5000 monthly in 
sales of merchandise, was forced to close its doors in 1929. Times were 
difficult for everyone during the depression. Willie drove a Standard Coffee 
truck in Ruston for the next couple of years, then the young family moved down 
to Pineville, Louisiana in 1932. Both he and Gertrude worked briefly for the 
Central Hospital in Pineville. Willie then applied, passed the Civil Service 
Commission test and went to work as 'village letter carrier' for the Pineville 
Post Office. A second son, William R. Jr. (Bill), was born soon afterward in 
1934, and a third son, Clyde Wayne, was born in 1943. It looked as if 'the 
luck 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 of Willie's death, caused 
by a massive heart attack, on 24 April 1945 in Pineville, he had been employed 
by the postal service for over 13 years and had been promoted to the position 
of clerk in the office. He was but 46 years of age. Willie was a Mason and 
a member of the  First Baptist Church. He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in 
Pineville with both Masonic Rights and an American Legion 'Honor Guard'. Willie 
was remembered by all who knew him throughout 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 had adopted the name of "Bill" and the folks of Pineville 
will recall him by that name. Following Bill's death in 1945, Gertrude accepted 
the job as postmistress at the Louisiana College Post Office Station, working 
there for over 20 years. She loved the 'kids at La. College' and her association 
with the Baptist Church there in Pineville. His wife of almost twenty years, 
Gertrude Dillon, rests there in the Greenwood Cemetery family plot beside Willie.  
She died in 1972. THE THREE SONS of WILLIE & GERTRUDE James Carroll was born in 
Selma, Grant Parish in 1928. He immediately went to 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 help support the family. For over 30 years, 
Carroll worked for the Postal Service; as a substitute carrier, rural route carrier, 
clerk, supervisor, financial officer, assistant postmaster, and postmaster in the 
offices at Pineville, Alexandria and Tioga. Now retired, he resides in Pineville 
with his wife Margaret Dupuy. They have two children, Donna King Burch of Dallas 
and Ronald Carroll of Shreveport. William R., Jr. (Bill) was born in Pineville 
in 1934. He graduated from Bolton High School in 1953 and attended LSU for two 
years before joining the Marine Corps. Returning to Pineville in 1957, Bill 
entered Louisiana College to complete his education. He worked 'part time' for 
the Rapides Bank while attending LC, and graduated in 1960. He married Lynn 
Bagley of Alexandria in 1959. Lynn had also graduated from Bolton in 1953 and 
from Louisiana Tech in Ruston in 1957. Bill and Lynn moved to Dallas on April 
Fool's Day 1960 and to Houston in 1975.  Now retired after over 30 years in the 
banking business,  they remain in Houston today.  They have two sons, Robert 
Martin and Donald William, both of whom live in the Houston area.  Robert is 
employed as Senior Vice President of Nuevo Energy  Company and Don is a 
professional photographer. Clyde Wayne was born in Culpepper Clinic in 
Alexandria in 1943.  He graduated from Pineville High School and from Louisiana 
College (B.S. Degree in Business & Psychology) in 1971.  He served with the 
Army in Vietnam as a Supply Sergeant.  Wayne has been employed for a number 
of years by the Louisiana State Employment Commission in the Alexandria office. 
Married to Diane Redmond in 1965, they have two children. Daughter Shelley is 
employed by Troop 'E' of the Louisiana State Police, in Alexandria. Their son, 
Scott, is presently enjoying pursuits in Colorado.  Submitted  4 July 1998    

A FAMILY NOTE 
First, a special word of 'thanks' goes to Catherine Caroline Davis Harris King 
of Calhoun County, Arkansas. "Grandma Kate', with wisdom far beyond most others 
of her day, provided a loving and caring atmosphere for Dad's early years on 
the family farm, and she also made it possible for him to obtain a good education.  

Secondly, a debt of gratitude is certainly owed to Clyde C. and Minnie Campbell of 
Calhoun County and Magnolia, Columbia County, Arkansas for their love and positive 
influence throughout Dad's years of schooling and while growing into manhood in 
Magnolia.  Dad was treated as their "son" during the years that he lived in the 
Campbell home. THANKS, KATE, CLYDE and MINNIE!!  
Carroll, Bill & Wayne