Descendants of William King

Descendants of William King

Generation One

1. William1 King was born at Swiss or French descent. He married an unknown person.

"He was first William King of which anything is known and was of the same generation as Jacob Landess. His wife or her parents were either born in Switzerland or at least were of Swiss descent. William's religious inclination was Presbyterian, but not much else seems to be known about him. However he had seven brothers, one of whom, Peter King was a wealthy shipowner and sailor. William might have fought in the Revolution as he would have been the right age. I'll have to check other charts to see if he is listed that way. Yes, he did, serving from Essex Co. N.J."

Children of William1 King include:

Generation Two

2. Morris2 King (William1) was born on 6 Dec 1795 at NJ. He married Susanna Landes, daughter of Jacob Landes and Mary (Runnels) Reynolds, at NJ. He died on 4 May 1851 at Buried in Baris graveyard, OH, at age 55.

He William King had five daughters, but he had only one son, Morris, who married one of Jacob Landes' daughters, Susanna. Susanna was born April 19, 1802 in North Carolina, emigrated to Kentucky and later to Ohio when she was about eleven years old. She lived to be 91, dying April 27, 1893. *Morris had been married before, his wife and child dying in childbirth. He was born December 6, 1795 and died May 4, 1851 at a much earlier age than his wife, according to her of hard work. They are both buried in 'Barr's Graveyard' which I believe is in Highland County, Ohio as that is where their children and some of their grandchildren were born, in particular Edithe's mother. *Susanna's reminiscences are as follows: married Morris King at the age of 16 in New Jersey. They settled in the woods in a log cabin with no doors, no chairs but a box, no bed but spikes in the logs in the wall, their floor was the ground. Wolves howled all about. Timber had to be felled before ground could be cultivated. Susanna would walk to New Market (then the county seat of Highland County) and sell her basket of eggs at three cents a dozen. Morris 'walked to the salt wells in Adams County, 25 or 30 miles distant, pumped water and boiled the same for its salt, and carried his weeks earnings home in a little bag which consisted of nothing but a few pounds of salt. What great times they had assisting each other in their log rollings, etc.; how they raised their flax, beat it and wove it into cloth and made all the clothing for the entire family.' They had thirteen children! *Some member of the family, probably a grandchild, said 'she was a noble woman of excellent Christian character, a good neighbor and in possession of her mental faculties until her death. She and her husband now lie in a little cemetery within a stone's throw from where they went to housekeeping in the woods.' *About Morris it was said 'he was a very muscular man of good moral character, never in trouble, and devoted to his family. His death was hastened by hard work.' (he was 56 when he died) *One of their daughters was the Rebecca whose marriage day was interrupted by the man trying to settle Aaron Burns estate. Of their sons, three apparently fought in the 'Rebellion',i.e. Civil War. *A cousin of Edithe's mother responded to Edithe's request for family information, confirming pretty much what is written above, but adding the following: 'It may be interesting to you to know that the entire families have always been highly esteemed in their respective communities; all are intelligent, hard working, honorable and honest; no member of any of the families has ever been convicted of a crime to my knowledge; all are peaceable and law-abiding; and there is no evidence of hereditary insanity or imbecility in the entire family. All are above average in intelligence and, while none have reached to top rung of the ladder of fame, several have held responsible positions and attained success; and there are those of us left who have high aspirations and ideals and I hope some day to see the name engraved indellibly where it will be a credit to posterity. But this has not been the highest ambition of our ancestors. A good name and a host of admiring friends seems to have been their greatest desire, and, after all, this is a noble ambition.' *The cousin was E. Scott King, son of one of Morris King's numerous children, and it was written in 1914. Reference: 6743.

Children of Morris2 King and Susanna Landes were as follows:

Generation Three

15. William3 King (Morris2, William1) was born on 28 Sep 1826 at Hillsboro, Highland County, OH. He married Sarah Elizabeth Young, daughter of Samuel Young and Sarah Whitlatch, on 25 Jan 1849 at Highland County, OH. He died on 20 Oct 1920 at age 94.

He immigrated to Farmer. He William King said of his early years, according to his son-in-law, Frank Herrick, 'When I was a very small boy I used to help my Father thresh his grain which threshed with a flail, and I used to pull the grain back with a rake, when I was six years old I attended my first school, at our school log school house which stood about forty rods from my fathers house. I used to cover corn for my Father with a hoe, and I used to Harrow in the Grain for my Father around the stumps with one horse which was a very tedious job, and when I grew older I learned to cut grain with a Cycle (Scythe?)., and and learned to bind the grain to help my Father along with his work, and when I was 18 years old I took my ax and walked 30 miles to the Miami bottoms and cut cord wood and for my compensation for cutting the wood twenty eight cents a cord and boarded my self which was very small wages in starting a future for myself. then I came home and chopped and split rails for thirty five cents a hundred. The next year I commenced farming. I sowed 16 acres of wheat by hand and done various other work such as farmers had to do in these early days and in the evenings I used to enjoy myself going to dances. Grandmother (Sarah Elizabeth Young) and I were married on January 25th 1849 and we rented Fathers place for one year, and after that we bought a Farm of 90 acres and I grubbed out large trees and built our first home, and Grandmother here learned to spin yarn on the big wheel, and spin flax on the small wheel and made blankets and sheets and cloth and picked the geese and made feather beds. We lived on this farm from 1851 to 1868, and then moved to Jasper County, Iowa in the year 1869. (note: Mary Elizabeth King Close, mother of Edithe, was born while they still lived in Ohio in 1865) and moved from Jasper County to O'Brien county in the year 1872. and we moved from the farm in Highland township to our home here in Primghar in the year 1894 and have lived here ever since.' *. Reference: 6708.

Children of William3 King and Sarah Elizabeth Young were as follows:

Generation Four

24. Mary Elizabeth4 King (William3, Morris2, William1) was born on 12 Dec 1865 at Highland County, OH.13 She married George Noble Close, son of William Close and Priscilla Meseritz, on 18 Apr 1889 at Primghar, O'brien, IA. She died on 26 Aug 1942 at Sheldon, IA, at age 76.

She More is known of their thirteenth child, Mary Elizabeth King, because she was living when her grandchild, Elizabeth was growing up, and told her many stories of her childhood and youth. On her first day of school, probably in 1872, little Mary King walked along a rutted Iowa road with several of her brothers and sisters. There were about seven in the family going to school at the time. They walked barefoot carrying their shoes to put on when they got near school. Soon after they arrived, it began to snow and by noon it was evident there was going to be a storm. The teacher had the older boys bring in all the wood for the stove and stack it around the walls. They unscrewed the desks from the floor and arranged them around the stove for warmth. Classes continued that afternoon in a half-hearted manner with students constantly changing places to keep warm. When evening came, the teacher gave Mary, because she was the youngest, the one sandwich he had saved from lunch. Everyone went to sleep on the hard benches covered by coats with the fear that they would be snowed in for days. Just at dawn there was a pounding on the door. Mary's father and two of her older brothers had come to the rescue with a sleigh. They had almost driven past the school as the snow reduced the visibility to almost zero when they saw sparks and a puff of smoke coming from the chimney from the stove the teacher had kept burning. The children were taken safely home. Not at any time did Mary say she was frightened, but she never forgot the blizzard that marked her first day of school. This blizzard has been rated as the worst Iowa ever experienced. Another incident of Mary's childhood was her first encounter with a Negro. She was scrubbing carrots and potatoes under the pump for the evening meal when she looked up and saw a grinning white mouth in a black face. 'Can you-all give me some water, Missy?' he said. Mary was terrified and ran screaming into the house. The Negro was friendly and laughed heartily at her fright. The rest of the family forced her to bear much teasing because of the incident. About the same time, she got into trouble with her mother bacause she didn't want to dig a few potatoes. She was given the brass pot that Laura Evensen now has, to carry the potatoes. Because she was angry she banged the pot on the ground as she went to the garden. It still carries the dents. She was spanked on account of her actions.

Northwest Iowa was more of a prairie then than it is now. There weren't as many trees so when a fire got started, it swept across the prairie grass which was very combustible. Mary's family could see the smoke in the distance, and knowing they didn't have much time, her father and older brothers hurriedly plowed a strip all around the homestead wide enough that the fire couldn't jump across. That must have been quite a feat with a horse-drawn plow. They saved their homestead. At some time in the 1880's or 1870's Iowa experienced a plague of grasshoppers, quite possibly having already devestated South Dakota. The sky grew as dark as if there were a summer storm. The grasshoppers ate all the crops, the leaves on the trees and grass on the ground. Those that got into the house ate holes in curtains and other material. They even ate the paint off the buildings so that the wood looked like new raw wood. After the grasshoppers moved on, of course times were hard. However, life went on, including a church supper. One woman brought a pie and when complimented on it, said that it was a grasshopper pie! Mary began teaching school when she was sixteen, in the same school where she spent her first day. The county superintendent had visited her school and on hearing her recite, urged her to teach as there was a shortage of teachers. He had to arrange a special permit for her as she was under age. She taught on this permit for one year, then went to normal school and received her second grade certificate. When she was 20 she decided to go to high school. There was no high school in the neighboring town so Mary went to Woonsocket, South Dakota to live with an uncle and aunt and help in their home and go to school. Here she learned to play the piano - to 'chord' - as she expressed her ability. Also, here she had her first taste of social life. Her social activities before had consisted of county fairs and spelling bees. In Woonsocket she attended sedate dances which ended at midnight. With her relatives she visited in friends' homes for group singing around the organ. At one of these homes she met her future husband. He was playing the violin for the gathering and asked Mary to chord for him. She played often for him after that occasion, and after their marriage their home was the center for all the young couples of the community who liked to sing the popular songs George Close readily picked up on his fiddle. Before they were married, apparently George had returned to his home in Inwood, Iowa and wrote the following letter: 'Inwood, Iowa February 27th 1887 Miss Mary E. King Woonsocket, Dakota Friend Mary - Your very letter of the 18th reached me last Sunday Evening and you may be sure I was glad to Hear from you again. I always thought the letter I Spoke of getting no Answer From you had never Recieved it Or you had answered it and I did not Recieve the answer. Well I am glad to learn you are enjoying yourself so well. I expect you get lonesome since your Brother has gone home. I was sorry to hear your Other Brother at home was sick hope he is well again By this time. I am still at Inwood and Am trying to enjoy myself the Best I can. have Been so Busy since New Years could not get away very often I was to a Masquerade Ball At Rock Valley Tuesday Evening the 22nd. There was a very large crowd ther: A great many from Pattersonville were Present and we had a Real nice time. The young People at Inwood are getting To good to dance, most of Them have Been attending A Revival Meetting this winter at Inwood And since it has closed they Seem to think it is Wrong to Dance. I have Been attending the Meettings to but have never Yet Felt it was wrong to go To a nice Respectable Dance. When I was to Primghar last That Lady across the road East of Mr McMans Sent me Word To come over and sing the Golden Slippers For her. She said when we sang it that Evening at Mr McMan's she Thought it was so nice. Mr McMan has Rented his Farm and is going to move up to Primghar Soon. It is getting so Dark I can Hardly see the Lines so I must close hoping This Letter may reach you and that I may hear From you soon. I am as ever Your true Friend. George N. Close.

Children of Mary Elizabeth4 King and George Noble Close were:

Generation Five

29. Edithe5 Close (Mary4King, William3, Morris2, William1) was born on 21 Dec 1889 at Primghar, O'brien, IA. She married Edward Chamberlain Starrett, son of Edward Burgess Starrett and Isadore Chamberlain, on 30 Jul 1912 at Des Moines, IA. She died in 1965. She was buried in 1965 at Eastlawn Cemetery, Sheldon, O'Brien, IA.

Children of Edithe5 Close and Edward Chamberlain Starrett were:

Generation Six

30. Elizabeth Close6 Starrett (Edithe5Close, Mary4King, William3, Morris2, William1) was born on 23 May 1926 at New York, NY. She married Charles Samuel Stubbs, son of Robert Gaston Stubbs and Dora Frances Gibson, on 19 Dec 1948 at Sheldon, IA. She died on 12 Apr 1998 at New Brighton, Ramsey, MN, at age 71. She was buried on 3 May 1998 at Eastlawn Cemetery, Sheldon, O'brien, IA.

Children of Elizabeth Close6 Starrett and Charles Samuel Stubbs were as follows:

Generation Seven

32. Rebecca Elizabeth7 Stubbs (Elizabeth6Starrett, Edithe5Close, Mary4King, William3, Morris2, William1) is still living.

Children of Rebecca Elizabeth7 Stubbs and David Charles Englund all born at CA are as follows:

33. Laura Ruth7 Stubbs (Elizabeth6Starrett, Edithe5Close, Mary4King, William3, Morris2, William1) is still living.

Children of Laura Ruth7 Stubbs and Jeffrey Lee Evensen are as follows:




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