King Family
Photo Album
Robert and Naney. Robert King and his wife, Nancy Agnes (Beaty) King, probably at home in Fentress Co. around 1890.
These excerpts from the History of Fentress County, Tennessee, published by the Fentress County Historical Society in 1987, were transcribed by Michael Allen in 2000. See notes at the end.
James King
by Sharon King Roberts
James King and his brother Robert married sisters Elizabeth and Nancy Beaty, daughters of Thomas Beaty and Jane Mullinix. Elizabeth was born 23 April 1822 in Kentucky. Thomas Beaty moved to Fentress Co. with his family about 1825.
James, born 1816 and Robert, born 1818 were both born in Tennessee. Jame’s nickname was “Silver Jim”. It is said he kept large amounts of silver in his home.
James and Elizabeth “Betsy” married about 1844. They had nine children all born and raised in Jamestown, Tennessee.
William G. Witt King born 22 April 1844. He married Pernina Jane Hinds about 1868. William “Bill” bought his land in Jamestown from his brother Andrew Jackson 30 August 1881. William died 27 October 1902 and is buried at the Ann Wood Cemetery in Little Crab, Tennessee.
Martha J. King, born 2 May 1845, married William Yeatman Wood. They were married in the home of Martha’s parents by Joel Reagan. Both are buried in the Centerville Cemetery in Tennessee.
Nancy Emeline King, born 21 February 1847, married Asa Smith 19 December 1866 in Fentress. They had three children before Nancy’s death 8 January 1891. Asa married for the second time another Nancy – Nancy Garrett – 18 June 1894.
Nina King, born 1846, died young with diphtheria.
Mahala “Hale” King, born 1848, married Noah “Node” Wright. Noah’s parents were John C. Wright and Mary Williams.
Thomas Jefferson King, born 1847, died before grown. It is told he was knocked out of a tree by Hiram Cyrus Beaty.
Andrew Jackson King, born March 1857, married Francis “Fanny” Cobb. Andrew lost his home, land, wagon, logs, and cattle to R.S. Windle. He invested everything in a logging business and could not repay his loan.
Tennessee King, born 23 January 1860, married Samuel S. Greer. Samuel’s father was a Methodist minister, John C. Greer. Both are buried in the Beatytown Cemetery in Fentress.
My grandfather, John A. King, was the last child of James and Elizabeth King. John A. King, born June 1865, married Adaline “Addie” Cain. John A. was called “John Blue “because he loved the color blue, and in Jamestown there were many John Kings. He always used his middle initial on any documents.
James King bought his land from Elizabeth’s father, Thomas Beaty, on 2 June 1851 for $400. Thomas sold James a tract of land in Fentress Co., District #1, and “bounded as follows: Beginning on the south west bank of the east fork of Obeys River. At the mouth of the said Beaty’s Spring Branch; thence up said branch to the fork’s of the branch; thence up the dry or south fork unto a large elm, below the corner of the fence, where Stephen Heath lives; then with a marked line to the corner of said fence; then with said fence to where it crosses the dry branch; then up said branch to the forks of the hollow; then up the left hand hollow into said Beaty south line; thence eastward with said line unto Jonathan Hull’s line, the same being a conditional line between Beaty and Hull; thence with said line to the east fork of Obeys River; then down the same to the beginning. Containing one hundred acres, more or less”.
This land remained with James and Elizabeth until 30 September 1882 when a deed was drawn to sell the land to their daughter and her husband Samuel S. Greer and Tennessee King. This deed had a consideration that Samuel and Tennessee would take care of Elizabeth King for the rest of her natural life. Elizabeth died 25 January 1881 on her land. She was buried at the Joel Beaty Cemetery in Riverton, Tennessee.
Andrew J. and John A. King moved to Casey Co., Ky., after Andrew lost his business and home, about 1903. John A. bought land from Samuel S. Greer in Casey Co., KY and sold it a year later because of Andrew J.’s death. Andrew J. King was buried at Whited Cemetery in Casey Co., KY. John A. moved his and Andrew’s families back to Fentress where he lived about a year before he moved both families to Tarrant Co., Texas.
James and Robert King are either the sons of John A. King and Leann Ferriel or brothers to this John A. King, born 1795 in Tennessee. The 1840 census of Fentress shows James living next to this John A. King. James Mark is erased from John A.’s household and James is put in a separate household next door. James was not married at that time.
My grandfather was named John A., Robert named his children John A. and Leann. All of James’s children named one of their children either John A. or Leann or used both names. These are definitely family names being used thru four generations. If I had only known that before I had children I would have named them John A. and Leann.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/king_j.htm
Robert King
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
Robert King, my father’s maternal grandfather, was born in March 1819, in Tennessee. He died November 3, 1900, in Fentress County. I am not sure who his parents were. Some say that they were John A. King and Ann (Shields) King; while others say that his father was Robert King, Sr. He appears to have been a younger brother of William King, born in 1814, and James King, born in 1816. But these 3 do not appear to fit into the John A. King – Ann (Shields) King family. For they had a son named James, born in 1829; and also one named William, born in 1834. And there was a Robert King listed in the 1830 Fentress County census who was born between 1770 and 1780. He had a wife, 3 sons and 6 daughters. And their two oldest sons fitted the age brackets of William and James King. The Fentress County Kings probably were descendants or close kin of those who lived in Washington and Sullivan County, Tennessee, around 1800.
In June 1841, Robert King married Nancy Agnes Beaty, in Fentress County. She was born November 14, 1824, in what is now Clinton County, Kentucky; which was part of Cumberland County, Kentucky, at that time. She died June 28, 1904, in Fentress County, Tennessee. Her parents were Thomas Beaty born in 1801, in Kentucky; and died about 1880, in Fentress County; and Jane (Mullinix) Beaty, who was born in 1804, in Barren County, Kentucky, and died January 7, 1893, in Fentress County. Her paternal grandparents were Andrew Beaty, (1758-1836), and Elizabeth (Cooper) Beaty, daughter of John Cooper. Her paternal great-grandparents were John Beaty, Sr., born in Ireland, and Margaret (Montgomery) Beaty. Her maternal grandparents were Nathaniel Mullinix and Delilah (?) Mullinix. Her maternal great grandparents were Richard Mullinix and Elizabeth (Poynter Mullinix.
The children of Robert and Nancy King were as follows: Thomas Green, born November 8, 1843; James Foister, June 1, 1845 – April 25, 1864; William Jefferson, born January 23, 1848; Peter Priam, August 22, 1849-January 2, 1929; Sarah Jane, February 23, 1852 – December 1, 1924; Elizabeth Ann, February 27, 1854 – April 16, 1911; Martha Emeline, December 24, 1857 – January 17, 1913; Matilda Catherine, March 20, 1862 January 1925; Susan Ellen, born July 24, 1864; John Cyrus, December 29, 1866; August 2, 1935; and Henry Robert, February 8, 1870 – December 6, 1941. Thomas Green King, the oldest son, probably died as a child, or as a soldier in the Civil War, as I have no more information on him. James Foister King, the second son, a Union soldier in the war, was in Company D, 2nd Regiment, of the Tennessee Infantry, and died as a p.o.w. in the Andersonville, Georgia prison, before his 19th birthday; so he never married. William Jefferson King, the third son, probably died young too, as I have no more information on him.
The marriages of the other sons and daughters were as follows: Peter Priam King, the 4th son, married Susan Ann Beaty, daughter of William R. Beaty and Rebecca (Sells) Beaty, in 1870 probably; Sarah Jane King, the oldest daughter, married Thomas Cooper, son of Jacob and Catherine Cooper, about 1870; Elizabeth Ann King, the 2nd daughter, married John Taylor Wright, son of Mathias Austin Wright and Elizabeth Jane (Wright) Wright, in 1869; Martha Emeline King, the 3rd daughter, married Marion B. Beaty, son of David and Jane (Smith) Beaty, about 1676; Matilda Catherine King, the 4th daughter, married John Allen McDonald, son of Thomas and Susan (Hunt) McDonald, about 1880; Susan Ellen King, the youngest daughter, married Alexander Smith; John Cyrus King, the 5th son, married Catherine Beaty, daughter of Joel and Rebecca J. (Young) Beaty, about 1886; and Henry Robert King, the youngest son, married Selena Beaty, daughter of James Kuhn Beaty, born in 1845, and Sarah Beaty, born in 1845. James K. was a son of Allen Beaty, who was born about 1815. James K. married two women named Sarah. By this first one, he had 4 daughters: Margaret, born in 1866; Melvina, born in 1868; Selena, born about 1972; and Mary Celina (Jan. 17, 1873 – Aug. 6, 1947). By the 2nd wife, Sarah E. (Smith) Beaty, born in 1853, a sister to Asa Smith, he had 3 other daughters: Lee Ann, born in 1876; Dora, born in 1879; and Fannie, who was the mother of Kelly Cobb.
Robert King’s daughter Susan Ellen and her husband Alexander Smith migrated to Oklahoma. Elizabeth Ann (King) Wright, her husband John Taylor Wright and their family moved here to Casey County, Kentucky, about 1903. John Cyrus King and his family moved to Monroe. Overton County, Tennessee. Matilda Catherine (King) McDonald, her husband and their family also moved to Overton County. Four of Sarah Jane (King) Cooper’s daughters also moved to Overton County. These were the 3 oldest ones, Nancy (Cooper) Numan, Tilda Ellen (Cooper) Smith, and Cora (Cooper) Wright, and the youngest one, Ova (Cooper) McDonald. Two of Martha Emeline (King) Beaty’s sons, William Richard Beaty and Johnnie Beaty, were also among the Fentress County families who moved to the Monroe area of Overton County. Another of Sarah (King) Cooper’s daughters, Ollie (Cooper) Wright, moved to Oak Grove, in southern Pickett County, Tennessee.
The burial places of Robert and Nancy (Beaty) King, their sons, daughters, and some of the grandchildren are as follows: Robert and Nancy are buried in King-Beatytown Cemetery, in Riverton area, in western Fentress County. Two of their sons, Peter Priam King and Henry Robert King, their wives, some of their sons and daughters, and several other relatives are also buried there. Sarah Jane (King) Cooper and her husband Thomas Cooper are buried in Cooper Cemetery, in Fentress County. Their oldest daughter, Nancy (Cooper) Numan, and her husband John Numan are buried in Fellowship Cemetery in Overton County. Their 2nd daughter, Tilda Ellen (Cooper) Smith, and husband Ruffin H. Smith are also buried there. There 3rd daughter, Cora (Cooper) Wright, and her husband James M. Wright are buried in Bethsaida Cemetery in Overton County. Their youngest daughter, Ova (Cooper) McDonald, and her husband Webb McDonald are also buried there. Their 4th daughter, Ollie (Cooper) Wright, is buried in Oat Grove Cemetery in southern Pickett County. Elizabeth Ann (King) Wright, her husband John Taylor Wright and several relatives and friends are buried in Whited Cemetery, here in Casey County, Kentucky. Martha Emeline (King) Beaty is buried in Ann Wood Cemetery, near Little Crab, in Fentress County. Two of her sons, William Richard Beaty and Johnnie Beaty, and Johnnie’s wife, Benice (Taylor) Beaty, are buried in Robbins Cemetery, near the home of Martha’s grandson, Willie Beaty, on East Port Road, at Monroe, in Overton County. Matilda Catherine (King) McDonald and her husband John Allen McDonald are buried in McDonald Cemetery, in Overton County. John Cyrus King, his wife Catherine, and some other relatives are buried in Beaty Swamps Cemetery, near Monroe, in Overton County. The Kings here in Casey County, Ky. are not kin to the Fentress County Kings, as far as I know.
Source: https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~bp2000/fentress/king_r.htm
Transcriber’s note: Most, but not all, [transcribed] excerpts relate to Beaty families. Don’t forget the first rule of genealogy — everything should be backed by primary documentation — This book was written by the Fentress Co. Historical Society. It’s mainly a collection of personal histories told from memory and family tradition with little documentation, and should be taken as such.
TNGenWeb Coordinator’s note: Curtis Media Corp. gave permission to post this material originally, and it was uploaded in a free account at Rootsweb. We do not intend copyright infringement on anyone. However, Rootsweb has experienced viability issues in the past. We want to make sure the information is retained and available for Fentress County researchers.