Wm. J. A. King - John or Julius

THIS PAGE NOW IN RESEARCH STATUS Various census & other data have not been fully resolved. The issue of whether direct line ancestor Wm. J. A. King, husband of Sara Jane Plummer, was in fact John King or Julius King, remains unresolved. Please treat this page as a research worksheet at present.

Our direct-line ancestor George Washington King apparently had two children whose names were William Julius A. King and William John A. King. There is overwhelming evidence that these were not alternative names for the same child and were, in fact, distinct people. The similarity in names has made research into this family very challenging. One of these two similarly-named brothers is our direct-line ancestor, the other is not.

On this page, we present the research and logic on which we base the conclusion that our direct line ancestor was John, the youngest son of George Washington King. The nine points outlined below are the basis for this conclusion. To view the source documents which back the assertions made here, please see the source sections on the pages for George Washington King and William John A. King. To offer additional information or comments, please contact the maintainers of this website.

The case for John

1. In his will, George Washington King names his three living children: Margaret, William Julius, & John. The will also specifies "William J. King, my 2nd child." Using the naming system he used in the line above, it is assumed then that William Julius is his 2nd child. The two boys are minors and their uncle, Colin C. King, is appointed guardian. Margaret is not a minor, therefore she is the oldest child. Her marriage record in 1856 lists her age as 22, so she was born in about 1834. If Margaret is oldest and William Julius in 2nd, then John is the youngest child.
   
   
2. In the 1830 census, George Washington King's only children are two daughters under the age of five (one of which apparently does not survive to be listed on the 1840 census). There are no sons listed in 1830.
   
   In the 1840 census, George Washington King has one son under the age of five, one son aged 5-10 years, and one daughter aged 10-15 years. The two sons were therefore born between 1830 and 1840.
   
   
3. Based on his gravestone, the birth date of the Wm. J. A. King who married Sarah Jane Plummer is 15 Jan 1840. If both brothers were born before the census of 1840, the other son of George Washington King would therefore have to have been born before 1840, and be the older son (the "2nd child" listed in the will, hence, Julius). Thus, the brother who married Sarah Jane Plummer was John.
   
   
4. In the 1870 census, calculating from his age, Wm. Julius was born in 1838; whereas William John A. King was born 15 Jan. 1840, based on his gravestone record.
   
   
5. Julius A. King appears in the 1870 census, Haw Creek twp., age 32 years, so born about 1838; married to Betsy, age 32. Their birth years calculate to be 1838. (Julius King & Elizabeth Freeman were married 2 Apr 1861 (see Mecklenburg marriage bonds). This couple had no children.
   
   In the will of Julius A. King, 18 Nov 1893, he says that his estate is known as "the old George King place". This implies that Julius is a descendant of George King, and inherited his farm.
   
   Julius A. King leaves his estate to "Margaret E. King and her children by her husband Alphonso W. King during the joint or several lives of the said Alphonso W. and Margaret E. King and after the death of the said Alphonso W. King if said wife Margaret E. King shall survive him then to her during her widowhood and after death then to all her surviving children by her said husband Alphonso W. King." Without children of his own, it appears Julius is leaving his estate to his nephew Alfonso William King & his family. His brother, Wm. J. A. King was already dead since 1867. The conclusion is that if Julius A. and Wm. J. A. King are brothers, then Wm. J. A. King is the younger brother, John.
   
   
6. The mother of Alfonso William King in known. Mack Herron King pointed out the grave of Wm. J. A. King at Trinity Cemetery, saying that Wm. J. A. King was a veteran of the Civil War, and was the grandfather of Mack Herron King. Mack H. King separately pointed out the gravestone of Sarah Jane King as his grandmother. He said that his grandmother's maiden name was Sarah Jane Plummer.
   
   
7. Julius A. King is married to Betsy (both age 32, so born about 1838) in the 1870 census. Therefore the Wm. J. A. King married to Sarah Jane Plummer must be John, not Julius.
   
   
8. The military record: NC Troops 1861-1865, by Louis H. Manarin, Vol. IX, pg. 585. Company I, 37th regiment NC Troops: King, Wm. J., pvt., resides Mecklenburg Co., enlisted in Iradell County NC. Age 22 on Aug. 15, 1862 (calculated birth year of 1840, therefore the younger brother). A side note is that he enlisted with his cousin George W. King, pvt. in same Company I, 37th Regiment, both enlisting in Iradell Co., NC on the same day. The cousin George W. King was killed in action. This argues that he was George W. King, the son of Argyle King, rather than George W. King, the son of Colin C. King. Colin's son survived until Jan. 1890.
   
   
9. Rationale for the inconsistent use of names: It appears that both sons of George Washington King had the initials W. J. A. King. Both were apparently named William, possibly after their grandfather, William King. The name behind the initial "A" is not known; Alphonso is seen in later generations, and may represent a link to a maternal grandfather or other ancestor.
   
   Naming more than one child after the same grandparent was not unusual in that day. Having matching initials is not unheard of today; some families find a certain unity in giving all their children names starting with the same letter. Having 3 matching initials is admittedly peculiar. If George Washington King enjoyed this repetitive naming, his sons identities were confused by it (then & now), and his descendants' research efforts are certainly made difficult.
   
   Julius, who married Elisabeth "Betsy" Freeman, is named as Wm. Julius in the will of his father (George Washington King), but named Julius A. King in his own will.
   John, husband of Sarah Jane Plummer, is named as John in the will of his father (George Washington King), as William in the 1860 census, living with his uncle, and is marked Wm. J. A. King on his gravestone.
   
   It is believed that their using both their first and middle names at various times stems from the experience of going to live with their uncle, Colin C. King, at the death of their father. Uncle Colin already had a son named John in his household. (John I. King, born 1831; his gravestone at Trinity Cemetery is engraves as "oldest son".) To avoid having two young boys in the house, both named John, the newcomer was called by his first name, William (he appears in the 1860 census as a 19 year old William in the home of Colin C. King). His brother, William Julius, apparently dropped the William and went by Julius. This sorted out the three young boys, John I., Wm. John, and Wm. Julius in the records, as John, William and Julius at home.

Work In Progress

This section is my scratch pad as I try to make sense of all the data relating to this question. -RBW

Part I: Who was Alfonso's Father?

We know from direct family memory and strong documentation that our KING line goes back through Alfonso William King.

The name of Alfonso's mother can be found in Alfonso's death certificate, marriage license, and in the 1870 and 1880 census data, though together these will only reveal the middle initial--to get the full middle name we have to look at either her grave stone or her will. Regardless, the documentation identifying Sarah Jane Plummer as Alfonso's mother is strong. Coming up with a full name and life details for Alfonso's father has proven elusive thus far. Alfonso's death certificate and marriage certificate refer to the father as William King.

The census data don't offer any information as to the identity of Alfonso's father. Sarah is a listed as a widow in 1880, and there is no mention of William in 1870 (there is no means on the 1870 census form to indicate whether she was already a widow, divorced, separated, or if her husband was simply living elsewhere temporarily for some reason). In 1860, Sarah is still living with her parents. Thus, William never appears in a census with either Sarah or Alfonso.

There is a marriage bond record for Sarah J. Plummer and William W. J. A. King getting married on 3 Oct 1861 (two months prior to the birth of Alfonso). In this document, William's name is written out on three occasions as having three middle initials, but his signature reads "W J. A. King." The Record of Marriages in Mecklenburg County in 1861 also lists William's name as W W J A King. The Mecklenburg Co. marriage bond abstracts collection (1789-1866), on the other hand, refer to him as William J. A. King.

In an attempt to find more documents that might refer to William King by full name, we turn to documentation regarding the children of William and Sarah. The 1910 census indicates that Sarah had a total of five children, all of whom are still alive in 1910. Their full names can be retrieved from the 1870-1910 census data, Sarah's will, and assorted marriage and death certificates. In order of their birth, the five children are Alfonso William King (1861), Lillian Calidonia King (1867), Josephus H. King (1869), John Frank King (1874), and Cora Jane King (1875). The lack of a father listed in the 1870 census has led some to suggest that William was already dead by 1870 and that John Frank King and Cora Jane King were children of Sarah's with some other man. However, looking at John and Cora's death certificates we see their father's name given as William A. King in both cases. Either there was a second father involved who's name was also William King, or all five children have the same father, William J. A. King, who lived to at least 1875 (but was dead by 1880) and his absence in the 1870 census is an unexplained fluke. At this time we find the latter explanation more credible.

The death certificates for Sarah's first three children list the father's name as William King, William King, and W. F. King (this last one, from the death certificate of Josephus H. King, is believed to be in error. The data for Josephus' death certificate was provided by his brother, John Frank King, and there is no corroborating data to back up the F middle initial. Birth certificates have not been uncovered for any of the people involved in this research; it may be that North Carolina was not retaining these documents at this point in history. Marriage certificates of the five children also list their father's name. Alphonso's marriage certificate from 1883 lists his father as William King. Lillian was married twice, first to William Herron on 22 Jun 1884. The marriage certificate for this marriage is still being sought. The marriage certificate for Lillian's second marriage, to George Robert Todd on 15 Feb 1894, lists her father as William King. A detailed marriage record for Josephus's ~1896 marriage to Lula Jolly hasn't be found yet. The same is true of John Franklin King's marriage to Virgie Elliott. Cora Jane King never married. The fact that all children list their father as William and no one mentions the "J" middle initial suggests that the name he went by was William and that the J middle name wasn't used except, perhaps, on legal documents.

Working backwards from Sarah J. Plummer and her children with William J. A. King using documents alone, we have not been able to illuminate any additional information regarding William's full name.

There is additional information available from interviews of descendants by researcher Murphy Whistnant. He interviewed Mack Herron King, son of Alfonso, who indicated that Alfonso's father's name was William J. A. King and identified his gravestone at Trinity Methodist Cemetery, Mecklenburg Co., NC. This is the same cemetery where Sarah Jane Plummer is buried (and her stone is inscribed "wife of William King"). We have not yet obtained a photograph or transcription of William's gravestone nor any confirmation that the gravestone is co-located with the stone of Sarah Jane Plummer. Whistnant indicates that William's headstone includes a birth date of 15 Jan 1840.

Mack Herron King also indicated to Whistnant that William was a veteran of the Civil War. A Military record was found that indicates a William J. King enlisted with Company I, 37th Regiment on 15 Aug 1862 at the age of 22. This age is consistent with the birthday derived from the gravestone. His records indicate he survived the war and was released from duty on 28 Jun 1865.

Another of Whistnant's interviews was with Henrietta King DeV. Rotunno, daughter of Alfonso William King, who told a story of how she thought as a child that her great grandfather was George Washington, but that her father had corrected her and indicated to her that her great grandfather's full name was George Washington King. Perhaps working forwards from George we can link to Alfonso and his siblings and thus pin down an identity for William.

Part II: Who Were George's Sons?

The will for a George Washington King lists his three children as Margaret, William Julius, and John. The name William Julius King seems like an obvious match for William J. A. King, though John King could also be a match.

There is a will for a Julius A. King in which he leaves all of his land and property to Alfonso and his wife, though the will never indicates that Julius is the father of Alfonso.

What we don't have documents showing:

• That the John King mentioned in the will of George Washington King actually was named William John A. King.
• Something to corroborate the 1830 and 1840 census information for the George Washington King family; the errors in age ranges are too frequent for comfort.
• Julius' whereabouts between 1850 and 1860.

The weaknesses in the 1830 and 1840 census entries for the family of George Washington King, combined with the existence of two Julius Kings in 1870, one of whose ages matches the William J. A. King tombstone exactly, invalidates the John argument (see above). There is not clear evidence, however, that it isn't still the correct conclusion.

There seems to be ample evidence that Alfonso's grandfather was George Washington King, and that either William Julius or John was his father.

Wishlist

• Birth certificates for anyone involved
• Death certificate for Sarah Jane Plummer
• Gravestone photo for the Wm. J. A. King grave at Trinity Methodist Cemetery, hopefully with birth an death dates on it
• 1870 census showing William J. A. King living on his own and perhaps a clue as to why

Other Kings of Interest

Mecklenburg Co., NC, has a list of Marriage Bonds from 1789-1866 which includes the following list of King marriages during that time period:

• 26 Apr 1797 - John King to Elizabeth McCormick <-- possibly the parents of George Washington King
• 30 Jun 1798 - James King to Elizabeth Smith
• 21 Dec 1818 - John King to Margaret Rogers <-- second marriage? Or
• 12 Jun 1821 - George King to Polly Hipp <-- Probably George Washington King, father of the William J. A. Kings
• 15 Jun 1822 - Colin King to Cynthia Hipp <-- Probably brother of George Washington King
• 25 Nov 1823 - Richard King to Matilda Morrison
• 17 Oct 1840 - A. S. King to Margaret H. Hart
• 4 Aug 1852 - R. R. King to Martha E. Morris
• 3 Apr 1854 - John O. King to Roxana K. Alexander
• 1 Jan 1857 - R. R. King to Sarah J. Parks
• 7 Jun 1858 - Colin C. King, Jr., to Narcissa Wright
• 13 Jun 1860 - George W. King to Mary Isabella Todd
• 2 Apr 1861 - Julius King to Elizabeth Freeman <-- Probably William Julius A. King
• 3 Oct 1861 - William J. A. King to Sarah J. Plummer <-- definitely direct line by relation to Sarah Jane Plummer, known to be direct line