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THE KING FAMILY
OF
SUFFIELD. CONNECTICUT
ITS
ENGLISH ANCESTRY
A. D. 1389—1662
AND
AMERICAN DESCENDANTS
A. D. 1662 — 1908
Comprising numerous branches in many states
of the United States
ALSO
Appendices containing information concerning
some of its
MATERNAL ANCESTORS
Compiled by
CAMERON HAIGHT KING
San Francisco. California
1908
o
%'
PRESS OF THE WALTER N. BRUNT CO.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 9
Origin of Family Names 11
Origin of the F"amily Name King 16
Devonshire, England, the Birthplace of Our Family 20
English and Irish Relationships 22
The King Coat of Arms 25
The Crest 38
English Ancestry : 43
Generations in England 52
American Ancestry — Explanation 61
SuFFiELD, Connecticut / 63
First Generation 65
Second Generation 68
Third Generation 82
Fourth Generation 109
Fifth Generation 141
Sixth Generation 190
Seventh Generation 295
Eighth Generation 398
Ninth Generation 471
Tenth Generation 497
APPENDICES
Page
Fuller-King 501
Emerson-King 510
Devotion-de Vaution-King 515
Remington-King 522
Adams-King 528
AuRiNGER- Jans-King 539
Preston-King 545
Farrar-King 550
Holliday-Hoover-Schoonover-King 557
Bayeux-Vanderheyden-King 560
Haight-King 564
Beveridge-King 570
Forney-King 574
Brown-King 579
Baker-Bridgwood-King 582
Washington-Lewis-Steele-King 586
Postscript 591
Index 593
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
^Parish Church at Ugborough, England Frontispiece
Cameron Haight King 9
King Arms in Colors 25
vKiNG Seals Used A. D. 1721 and 1728 28
â– Signature and Seal of Captain Joseph King, A. D. 1755 29
Signature and Seal of Joseph King, Jr., A. D. 1813 30
Signet Used by James King and Captain Joseph King 30
King of London Arms, A. D. 1611 32
Crest of King of London 39
â– Ugborough Church, Interior View 44
Deed of Roger Kynge of Dodebroke, Devonshire, England, A. D.
1389 46
â– Fowelscombe, King Manor House 51
Map of Suffield, Connecticut 62
First Church Erected in Suffield, A. D. 1680 64
Deed of James King, A. D. 1721 80
Autograph of James King, Jr 84
. Autograph of Willia m King 107
Lieutenant Eliphalet King and His Autograph 122
. Commissions of Lieutenant Eliphalet King 123
Autograph of Theodore King 132
Autograph of Ichabod King 139
Autograph of Ensign William King 140
Commission of Roger King 157
Autograph of Roger King 159
Homestead of Major Seth King, New Ipswich, N. H 160
ILLUSTRATIONS— Continued
\ ^^*^
Autograph of Major Seth King 161
LuciNDA ( King) Caldwell 178
' Joseph King 187
Cassius Perkins Byington, M. D 221
"* Colonel Jabez King 226
o Harvey James King 245
. i Autograph of Harvey James King 248
Autograph ok George Eliphalet King 252
-^Admiral James Augustin Greer, U. S. N 259
' Major General Thomas John Wood, U. S. A 262
Colonel Edward Augustine King, U. S. A 266
Julius King, M. D 278
Joseph Merritt King 289
\ Cameron Haight King and Family Zll
\Clifford Julius King 384
:» Charles Artemus King 386
Albert Lester King 387
Maria Jane (King) Quick 388
Charles Cook King, Wife and Three Surviving Children 394
' Charles Cook King, Jr 395
Joseph Merritt King, Jr 396
Robert Newton King 419
Edgar Day King 439
' George Cameron King 464
" Letter of President Theodore Roosevelt 464
â– ^Letter of Major General Leonard Wood 465
' Lochiel Montrose King 466
Cameron Haight King, Jr 467
Janet Cameron King 468
Rev. Henry Churchill King, Sy.Yi., L.L.D., President Oberlin
College 479
Doris Wadsworth King 496
Autograph of Rev. Ebenezer Devotion 520
Ca.mkkox Hak^ht Ki.^
NV,.
INTRODUCTION.
"Honor and shame from no condition rise
Act well your part, there all the honor lies."
Pope.
Whatever may be one's responsibility to his descendants for
their moral or physical characters, it is certain that no person is
entitled either to credit or blame for the virtues or vices, the
greatness or lowliness of his ancestors ; yet a knowledge of who
they were, whence they came and what pursuits they fol-
lowed is usually of interest to most men ; and if among them is
found here and there some one who was eminent or distinguished
in the times in which he lived, his descendants may be pardoned
for feeling that natural pride of one kinsman in the achievements
of another. Even between two friends the success of one is a
source of gratification to the other. Influenced by some such
feeling I venture to hope that the following remarks on the ori-
gin of family names in general and of the surname King in par-
ticular, the short sketch of the King family in Great Britain, and
especially the genealogical and historical record of one branch of
the King family which has now been established in America for
nearly two and a half centuries — eleven generations of which
have lived upon her soil and many members of which have fought
to establish and perpetuate the Great Republic under which we
live and to preserve the liberty we enjoy — may not prove uninter-
esting to those who are connected by blood with that family.
Many years ago my father, George Eliphalet King, Esq., ex-
hibited to me an old manuscript which gave some account of my
great-grandfather, Lieutenant Eliphalet King, his service as an
officer in the Continental Army, his presence at the Battle of
Bunker Hill and his participation in many other engagements dur-
ing the struggle of the American colonies for independence. After
my father's death in 1897 I discovered that this old manuscript
had been accidentally destroyed and I resolved to supply its loss
by collecting from authentic sources such data concerning the
10 KING GENEALOGY.
lives of my American ancestors as could be conveniently obtained.
My intention at first was to write merely a concise history of my
own immediate ancestors beginning with William Kinge who was
the first of our family to come to America. Before I had pro-
ceeded far with my self-appointed task I was urged to extend the
scope of my investigations so as to include some research con-
cerning our English ancestry and also to embrace, as far as
possible, the various branches of the family in America, which are
scattered over many states of the Union. In an unguarded
moment, without fully realizing the vast amount of labor it
involved, I rashly consented and began the compilation of this
Genealogy.
Eight years have elapsed since then and during that period I
have devoted all the time which I could spare from professional
duties to this work. It has necessitated the investigation of
parish registers in England and of many church and town records
in New England ; the searching of probate, court and land
records ; the examination of numerous ancient and modern deeds,
wills and documents relating to members of the King family ; the
carrying on of a very extensive correspondence as a means of ob-
taining more accurate information ; and the collection generally
of the material which is herein presented to the reader. Members
of the same family sometimes differ as to dates. A few records
will be found incomplete, but generally this is due to the failure
of persons to make reply to repeated letters of inquiry. And
though I have exercised the greatest possible care to avoid errors,
undoubtedly some will be discovered in the book. Notwith-
standing these imperfections I am content with the work. I have
done the best I could do and I sincerely hope that my kinsmen
who read these pages may also be satisfied with my effort.
ORIGIN OF FAMILY NAMES.
Family names were in use among the Romans and the great
antiquity of the early Roman patrician gentes is indisputable, yet
toward the close of the republic there were not more than fifty
patrician famiUes. (Dionys. i. 85.) Even in these, owing to the
frequency of the practice of adoption, while the historical iden-
tity of the family was certain, yet it was no guarantee of the
personal genealogy of the individual. The plebeians also began
to preserve the busts and names of those of their family who
attained to curule office. The many and great social changes,
however, which marked the closing centuries of the Western
Empire militated with great strength against the maintenance of
an aristocracy by birth and as a consequence family names fell
into disuse.
In modern Europe prior to the middle of the eleventh century
surnames were entirely unknown and the documents speak merely
of Fredericus, Ernestus and the like, with at most only the addi-
tion of the title. This absence of family names presents an
insuperable barrier to genealogizing back beyond that time.
""About the year 1050 the custom of using family or surnames
(that is a descriptive name added to the christian name) began;
but it made way so very slowly that even at the close of the
twelfth century it had not diffused itself very much beyond the
ranks of the higher nobility and throughout the thirteenth century
the old habit of self-designation by the christian name merely was
still exemplified in a vast number of instances. (Encyc. Brit.
"Genealogy.")
Even William, the Conqueror, had no family name, but assumed
a surname as is shown by his proclamation as follows : "I,
William, surnamed the Bastard."
Gatterer in his "Abriss der Genealogie" (sec. 41, A. D., 1788)
says that there is only one class of cases in which it is possible
to trace a pedigree beyond the eleventh century — those cases,
namely, where a family happens to have established a fund for the
12 KING GENEALOGY.
deliverance of the souls of certain ancestors (christian names
specified) from purgatory.
Mr. Edward A. Freeman, the distinguished English historian,
has proved most conclusively that very few families in England
could trace a descent from scions of the fourteenth century and he
mentions only some five or six fam.ilies whose history could be
proved as belonging to the time of William, the Conqueror. The
Domesday book alone (1080-1086) proves the absence of sur-
names.
Camden says ("Britannia" A. D. 1586) that the first use of
surnames in England was in the Great Domesday book and that
this was the beginning of family names in Great Britain.
The Great Domesday book of England was a survey of the
counties of England begun by order of William, the Conqueror,
and completed about the year 1086. It was an enumeration not
only of the lands in the Kingdom but also of the names of the
landholders and tenants, the size and description of their hold-
ings, the number of their villeins and slaves and the number and
kinds of their live stock. The surnames found in it, if they can
be called such, either merely indicate the owners place of resi-
dence, as Robertus de Albemarle (i. e. of or residing at Albe-
marle), or his relationship, as Robertus, filius Geroldi (Robert,
son of Gerald), Aldrit frater Odonis, (Aldrid, brother of Odo),
or his office, profession or vocation, as Gulielmus Camerarius
(William, the Chamberlain), Radulphus Venator (Rudolph, the
hunter) Gislebertus Cocus (the cook). They were, of course,
certainly surnames in the sense that they were descriptive of the
persons whose christian names they followed, just as Tom, of
San Francisco, Dick, the son of Richard and Harry, the cook,
would represent the surnames of Tom, Dick and Harry. It is
true that many of the descriptive names used in Domesday book
did descend from father to son and thereby became true family
names, but in a large number of other cases they did not become
hereditary.
Even in the Domesday book descriptive names were for
the most part only applied to the larger landholders. Each
county or shire is treated separately. There is a numbered list of
the landholders and tenants in each. The King (always Rex,
ORIGIN OF FAMILY NAMES. I3
possessive Regis, for the book is written in Latin) comes first in
order. Following him come the great church and lay tenants and
these in turn are followed by the smaller proprietors and sub-ten-
ants. In most cases these small proprietors are described by
their christian names alone and without any attempt at further
descriptive or surnames.
About A. D. 1350, "to speak generally, the surnames of
the middling and lower ranks began to descend from
father to son but even at the beginning of the fifteenth cen-
tury there was much confusion in names" (Lower's "English
Surnames," p. 20). The middle class had become important poli-
tically in the latter half of the thirteenth century. Between 1258
and 1350 burgesses had been summoned to parliament, city
representation in parliament was established, taxes could not be
imposed without the consent of this middle class and wages for
workmen had risen enormously on account of the Great Plague
and scarcity of laborers. Surnames then became general during
the fourteenth century among the middle and working classes,
who were more prosperous and independent than they had ever
been before. In the rising of the English peasantry in 1381 Wat
Tyler was the leader ; Wat being an abbreviation of the christian
name Walter and Tyler being a surname meaning the trade or
occupation of a tiler, one who tiles roofs of houses. This name
was evidently inherited from his father since Wat Tyler himself
was a blacksmith. But among the people of England generally
it is undoubtedly true, as Mr. M. A. Lower observes ("English
Surnames," p. 22), that "surnames can scarcely be said to have
been permanently settled before the era of the Reformation
(Archaeologia Vol. XVIII p. 108). The keeping of Parish Reg-
isters, begun A. D. 1538, was probably more instrumental than
anything else in settling them, for it is not likely that a person
baptized by one surname would be married under another and
buried under a third."
Of course some few of the middle class families, perhaps those
connected or intimate with the nobility or higher classes, followed
the example of the latter and adopted surnames even before the
thirteenth century. From an examination of ancient documents,
while pursuing some investigations as to the origin of the name
/
14 ^ KING GENEALOGY.
"King" I discovered abundant evidence that the family or"
surname "King" was well established as early as the twelfth cen-
tury and probably long before that. The following are some of
these records : "Grant by Peter, the Prior and the Convent of the
Holy Trinity to Alan King" in the time of Richard I, A. D. 1190,
"Descriptive Catalogue of Ancient Deeds," published by the Gov-
ernment of Great Britain, p. 198, A. D. 1695. Mention is also
made of Roger Kynge in Middlesex A. D. 1199. See also Domes-
day Book of St. Pauls for the year 1222 in which is mentioned
"Hugh King" as a tenant at Thorp (p. 40), "Robert King," tenant
at Ardleigh (p. 26), "William King" tenant at Novestoke (p. 85),
"William King" son of Roger de Tia (p. 84). So also in "Calen-
darium Genealogicum, Inquisitions Post Mortem" (Records of
Chancery Proceedings — De Morte Rodulphi de la Greve) p. 7
we find an order made in the 28th year of Henry HI (A. D. 1244)
relating to "Willielmus Kyng, alias King;" and another order re-
lating to "Robertus, dictus (called) King" (in the year 1247). In
the "Calendar of the Close Rolls" (pp. 12-13) we find that on
March 4, 1308 an order is made to the sheriff of the County
Devon for the release of Richard le Kyng" and "Harlewyn King"
(without the "le"). A great many deeds made during the 12th
and 13th centuries wherein persons having the surname King are
mentioned either as grantors or grantees, can be found m the
"Catalogue of Ancient Deeds" mentioned above.
All names, without exception, were originally significant,
although in the course of ages the meanings of many of them
have lapsed from the memory of mankind. If the names of com-
mon objects were not dictated by mere caprice, and philology has
shown clearly that they were not, certainly the names of persons
had no such vague beginning. A glance at the Bible-names
shows that they all had a meaning, as for instance Abraham,
which meant "the father of many nations" (Gen. CXVII, v. 5),
his wife Sarah meaning "princess," Israel, meaning " a prince of
God" (Gen. CXXXII v. 28), Melchizedek, "King of Righteous-
ness." Nearly all Hindoo names are epithets and the same is
true as to Anglo-Saxon, old French and English names of the
middle ages. We see the same thing exemplified in Indian names.
English surnames originally designated place of residence, es-
ORIGIN OF FAMILY NAMES. I5
tate, occupation or some particular thing or event that related to
the person. Many names of today at once show their relation to
or connection with familiar objects, such for instance as Wood,
Church and Hall ; other names again are evidently epithets, such
as Wise, Good, Long and Little; others are descriptive of per-
sonal appearance, as Brown, Black and White. The son of
William, the Conqueror, was surnamed Rufus (red) from the
color of his hair. Some names clearly indicate the occupation
followed by an ancestor, as Smith, Carpenter, and Miller; while
others again indicate localities as Forest, Heath and Hill.
The use of surnames began, as we have seen, among those of
highest rank. The heir of the estate or office naturally adopted
the same name on the death of his ancestor and so a true family
name arose. The younger sons would take the names of the sev-
eral manors that might be given to them as their share of the es-
tate. Pride of birth and a desire to show their connection with
some powerful or distinguished person made the name common to
all the children of the same father. Charters in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries often describe the same individual under differ-
ent surnames ; sometimes because he had lost his original manor
or because he had come into possession of a more valuable one,
but as a rule there was handed down to the children the name
of the oldest or richest estate they possessed. The Crusades gave
rise to many surnames taken from the devices on the shields of
the Knights, such for instance as Griffin, Rose and the like.
But I have said enough to emphasize the fact that each name had
originally a meaning and was descriptive of the identity of the
individual or family.
ORIGIN OF THE FAMILY NAME, KING.
It may now be asked, "How is the name King descriptive of our
family?" "Are we descended from Royalty?" "Are we con-
nected with some king of ancient times?" It would be quite
absurd to suppose so. In order to bear the name of King it does
not at all follow that we are descendants of or in any way related
by blood to any person who held the office or title of king. Even
if it did the honor would not be so great, if we consider the
persons and their stations to whom the title of King has been
applied.
While the word king ordinarily means the ruler or sov-
ereign of a kingdom, yet it has far oftener and from time
immemorial been also applied to the chiefs of tribes or clans. Such
were the kings which Joshua is said to have slain by thirties at a
time on the banks of the river Jordan (Joshua, ch. XII, v. 9-24),
mere chiefs or sheiks of Arab tribes. The kings of Sparta were
hereditary yet they were only subordinate chiefs of a severe
lepublic. In its primary sense the word King (Sax. Cyng,
Cynig or Cyning; Ger. Koenig; D. Koning; Sw. Konung, Kung;
Dan. Kong; Welsh, Cun) meant merely a cunning, knowing, or
able man, a guide, a leader, a head, a chief. The designation or
title king was applied to the head men of clans or tribes. Five so-
called kings were seen in Ireland when Henry II conque,red
that country in 1172. Scottish and British chiefs assumed the
title of king. So that in reality, king meant little else than a head
man, or a leader of a group or tribe.
But even in England, where the king was sovereign and ruler
of the whole kingdom, there were those who were attached to the
king's service or person as his knights, squires, foresters, soldiers,
guards and servants of various kinds who were called the king's
men or the king's. It frequently happened that their very occupa-
tion such as knight, squire or forester, originated their surnames.
It also so happened that as they were the king's men, John, a
king's guard, became familiarly called "John, the king's," and in
ORIGIN OF THE FAMILY NAME_, KING. 17
course of time merely "John King." In the same way, too, estates
were held and owned by the king which were rented to tenants
and they were called tenants of the king, while other persons
might be tenants of a Bishop or some other titled person. Even
towns have taken the name of king from the fact that they were
part of the king's estate. Thus Kings-ton on Thames, County
Surrey, England, derived its name from the fact that at an early
period it was a royal demesne.
In the Domesday book the smaller proprietors, whose christian
names alone were given, were grouped in classes as "servientes
Regis," "Taini Regis" or "Elesmosynarii Regis," that is the king's
Serjeants, the king's Thanes, the king's Almsmen, etc. Each ten-
ant of the king being described by his christian name and the
land he held. So it could happen that the tenant of a royal
estate would, when spoken of as a tenant, be called, for instance,
"Roger, the king's," and in time the surname or descriptive name
would become merely "King" — Roger King, from the fact that
he was a tenant of the king.
There is indeed an ancient and persistent tradition, several cen-
turies old, that our King family derived its surname and sprang
from a line of West Saxon kings ; but however agreeable or ^
flattering such a derivation of name and race might be to us, we
are in possession of no facts tending to support it. It has also
been suggested that perhaps the name was given to some illegiti-
mate issue of a king, but this is fully as preposterous as to assert
that the bearers of the name are legitimate descendants and be-
sides, as Mr. M. A. Lower remarks ("English Surnames"),
there is no evidence or reason to sustain it. Any reasons given
therefor must apply with equal force to the surnames Prince,
Duke, Count, Bishop and a host of other names and makes the
suggestion absurd.
A much more plausible theory has been advanced which
ascribes the origin of the surname King to the very
ancient miracle plays. It is said that in these old miracle
plays, acted in public upon the streets, greatly favored by the
church and in which the people generally took part and repre-
sented the characters therein, the individual who played the king
or who in the mediaeval pageantries and mock ceremonies was
l8 KING GENEALOGY.
monarch of the feast would be habitually spoken of as the king
or as king until the appellation so fastened itself upon him as to
originate a lasting and hereditary surname. Even at present in
Germany where the miracle and passion plays are still presented,
persons are for years thereafter spoken of by the name of the
character they represented. In Cornwall and Devonshire these
miracle plays were especially popular and in A. D. 1302 we find
in Devonshire (Calendar of the Close Rolls, pp. 12-13) ^^e sur-
name "le Kyng" (the king) and in Calendarium Genealogicum, —
Inquisitions Post Mortem — "Robertus dictus King" (Robert
called King) which would tend to strengthen this theory.
Hon. Marquis F. King of Portland. Me. (recently deceased),
a genealogist of note, in an historical and genealogical address
delivered at Taunton, July 20, 1899, says:
"Genealogists have generally accepted the theory that King as
a surname originated in those popular mediaeval pastimes in
which 'Kings of the Bean,' 'of May,' 'of Cockneys,' 'of Mis-
rule' and others held temporary sway ; and sometimes the title
was given for some special accomplishment or leadership ; for
instance, Adenes, le Roy of the minstrels, Robin Hood, King of
the Greenwood. I do not think the supposition entirely improb-
able, but conclude it more likely that as so many surnames came
from occupation, that in those countries where state and king
were synonymous terms, 'de King,' or 'du Roy' would naturally
become an affix to any servitor's name in the absence of official
titles. I have noted that even as late as 1445 Nicholas de King
and others were witnesses to the conveyance of one virgate
of land in his manor of Wattume, for the health of his soul and