BIOGRAPHY: Dorsey S. KING, Cambria County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Lynne Canterbury and Diann Olsen. Portions of this book were transcribed by Clark Creery, Martha Humenik, Betty Mirovich and Sharon Ringler. USGENWEB ARCHIVES (tm) NOTICE All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information are included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cambria/ ____________________________________________________________ From Wiley, Samuel T., ed. Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Union Publishing Co., 1896, p. 297-8 ____________________________________________________________ DORSEY S. KING, is a son of John H. and Harriet (Thomas) King, and was born April 5, 1883, in Bedford county, Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Jacob King, was born in Bedford county and emigrated to Ohio, where he died. John H. King (father) was also born in Bedford county at the beginning of the present century. He is now located in Hollidaysburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania, where for a number of years he has been extensively engaged in the merchant tailoring business. In politics he was formerly an old-line whig, but on the disruption of that party became a republican, and has always manifested an intelligent interest in all political issues, whether local or national. He married Miss Harriet Thomas, and to this union were born six sons and three daughters, all of the sons served in the late war of the Rebellion. Erastus, who lives at Roaring Springs, Blair county, Pennsylvania, is a merchant tailor. During his service as a soldier in the Civil War he was seriously wounded; Dorsey S.; Hezekiah, a hotel man in Altoona, Pennsylvania, who during his long service in the Civil War was wounded; William Henry Harrison, now deceased, served four years in our late war, and at the battle of the Wilderness was captured and taken to Libby Prison, and died from the effects of the service; John T., who resides in Bedford county, lost his hearing as a result of his army life; Samuel, located in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, also served during a long period of our late war. Dorsey S. King received his early education in the common schools of Bedford county. At the age of thirteen years he left his home to begin life for himself. He very early in life developed a fancy for horses, and when but a youth ran a stage line between Chambersburg and Pittsburg [sic], this State. He conducted this line for thirteen years, first as employee, then as proprietor. He then took charge of a livery stable in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, which he managed for a time, and then for several years drove a stage on the old National Pike, from Brownsville, Pennsylvania, to Cumberland, Maryland, and later was transferred to Pittsburg [sic] Pike. He enlisted in the Civil War in 1863, with company A, One Hundred and Thirty-third regiment, for nine months. He served first as a private and later as a corporal in charge of an ambulance corps. At the expiration of the time of his first enlistment, he re-enlisted in an independent company, which was afterwards attached to the Twentieth regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, in which he served five months. Among the important engagements in which he participated were the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. On leaving the service he formed a partnership with Mr. Shoffner, and, under the firm name of Shoffner & King, conducted a grocery store, and two stage lines, between Johnstown and Somerset, one by way of Stoystown, the other by way of Jenner X Roads. The firm's contract expired at the end of two years, and they dissolved their partnership. Mr. King then engaged in the produce business in Johnstown for a short time, and then, under the firm name of King & Jones, established a lightning rod agency, and for eight years was engaged in placing their products throughout Cambria and adjoining counties. At the end of this period, having had considerable experience in the management and care of horses, he was offered and accepted a position as superintendent of the driving stables of the Cambria Iron company. About the year 1851, Mr. King traveled with such circuses as Joseph Pendleton's, Maby & Crosby's, etc., and later assisted Adam Forepaugh in buying horses. In 1875 he engaged in the livery business on his own account in Johnstown, and at the present time his livery and feed stables rank among the best in the city. Mr. King was twice married. His first marriage was with Emma Parsons, a daughter of James O. Parsons, of Somerset county. To this union one child was born, Minnie May. As his second wife he married Miss Sue McGehan, a daughter of M. D. McGehan, an attorney of Ebensburg, this county. His second marriage resulted in the birth of a daughter, Anna Mary.