History of Bucks
County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis
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JOHN
G. KING JOHN G.
KING, vice-president of the Doylestown National Bank, was born in
New Britain township, December 6, 1857, a son of John F. and Mary (GODSHALK)
KING, both of German descent. Among
the early German emigrants to Pennsylvania were many of the name of KOENIG,
long since Anglicized into King, all of whom seem to have settled
originally in Montgomery county, from whence they migrated into several
other sections as the country became settled westward and northward.
Among these was Peter KING, who with two brothers, Nicholas
and Balthasar, emigrated from Germany in the year 1752, arriving in
Philadelphia on October 16th of that year in the good ship
“Snow Kitty,” Theophilus BARNES, commander.
They probably remained for some time, so says tradition, in the
neighborhood of Germantown, but about 1760 Peter KING purchased a
farm in Hatfield township, Philadelphia, now Montgomery county, and
settled thereon. Here his two
sons, Peter and Martin KING, were reared, though both eventually
found homes in Bucks county.
Martin KING, great-grandfather of the subject of this
sketch, first located in Bucks county in 1783, when he purchased a farm of
one hundred acres near Leidytown, in Hilltown township.
He later purchased another farm in that neighborhood and became a
prominent man in the community. He
was one of the original trustees of the Hilltown school house, erected in
1795, and maintained for the education of the youth of the neighborhood.
He died on his Hilltown farm in September, 1831, his wife,
Elizabeth, surviving him. His
children were: Peter; Catharine, wife of George ECKHARDT, of New
Britain; Henry; Martin, Jr.; John; Elizabeth, wife of Jacob WISLER;
Mary wife of Samuel DANNEHOWER; Sarah and Margaret.
Martin KING, Jr., was the grandfather of the subject of this
sketch. He was born in
Hilltown township, and on arriving at manhood married Catharine HARTMAN,
who bore him three children, John F., Amos and Catharine.
The father, Martin KING, Jr., died about the year 1827, and
his widow remarried a man by the name of SNYDER, and survived her
husband many years, dying in Doylestown about 1878.
John F. KING, the eldest son of Martin and Catharine (HARTMAN)
KING, was born in Hilltown township April 19, 1820.
At the age of sixteen years he went to Philadelphia and learned the
trade of a stair builder, which he followed for a few years in
Philadelphia, and then returned to Bucks county, where for several years
he followed the trade of a carpenter.
In 1849 he purchased of his cousin, John ECKHART, a lot of
eighteen acres near Newville, in New Britain township, where he made his
home until 1867, when he purchased the farm and mill property now owned by
the subject of this sketch, on the Herkiaken, a tributary of the North
Branch, near Fountainville, in New Britain township.
Mr. King was an active business man.
He operated the saw and grist mill in connection with his farm for
several years, and greatly improved the property.
Mr. KING was a man of high standing in the community.
Both he and his wife, Mary GODSHALK, were Mennonites. In
politics he was a Republican. He
died in August, 1892.
John G. KING, the subject of this sketch, was born near
Newville, in New Britain township, and was reared on the farm, obtaining a
good common school education. Being
the only child of his parents that grew to maturity, his only brother
Isaiah dying at the age of twelve years, his services were in demand in
the management of conduct of the mill and farm, and he never left home
excepting for a period of eighteen months, nine of which he spent in
travel and the other nine months in a mill. After the death of his father he acquired title to the farm, and has taken great pride in its management. In the fall of 1900 he was elected prothonotary of Bucks county, and filled the office with eminent ability for three years. At the reorganization of the Doylestown National Bank, in the fall of 1903, he was selected as a director and on February 1st, 1904, was elected vice-president and given a general supervision over the affairs of the bank, to which he devotes his entire time. In April, 1894, he removed to Doylestown borough. He was married, December 26, 1882, to Belle M. WORTHINGTON, daughter of Aaron M. and Elizabeth (MICHENER) WORTHINGTON, of Plumstead, and has one child, Mabel W., born September 19, 1895. In politics Mr. KING is a Republican, and has always taken an active interest in its councils. He is a member of Aquetong Lodge, No. 193, I.O.O.F., and of Doylestown Encampment, No. 35. Test taken
from page 472-473 of: Davis,
William W. H., A.M., History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New
York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III Transcribed November
2003 by Joan Lollis as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project,
www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html Published April 2004 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/ |
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Page was last edited:
11/15/2008