Page 559-560, transcribed by Carolyn Ward from History of Butler County, Kansas by Vol. P. Mooney. Standard Publishing Company, Lawrence, Kan.: 1916. ill.; 894 pgs.


  HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY 559 cont'd

F. J. B. King, a Butler county pioneer, and prosperous land owner, is a native of England. He was born in Somersetshire, England, in 1842, and is a son of William and Hannah (Burroughs) King, both natives of England, the father being born in 1790 and the mother in 1800. They were the parents of eight children. The King family immigrated to America in 1851, and settled at West Liberty, Ohio. Of the eight children born to the parents, only two are now living, F. J. B., the subject of this sketch, and S. S., who resides at Dietrich, Idaho. He is an attorney, and for a number of years has been prominently identified with the affairs of Idaho. He is an author of note, and an especially gifted political writer; and he is secretary of the Good Roads Association of Idaho. While a resident of Kansas, he served as commissioner of Kansas City, Kans., having been appointed to that office by Governor Stanley. He was also a candidate for Congress prior to that time.

F. J. B. King, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of Ohio, and the Prairie City Academy, Prairie City, Ill. Mr. King has followed farming almost exclusively, with the exception of eighteen months, when he was engaged in the clothing business at Prairie City, Ill. He came to Kansas in 1870, and located in that part of Little Walnut township which is now Glencoe. Here he preempted 160 acres of land, and engaged in farming and stock raising, and was successful from the start. He added more land to his original homestead, and now owns 400 acres in Glencoe township, which he bought in 1888, and paid $5,000 for it. About 160 acres of his land is fertile bottom land and very productive. After a residence of twenty years on his place in Glencoe township, he came to El Dorado, and his present residence is on a twelve-acre tract, which adjoins the city of El Dorado on the west.

Mr. King was married in 1867, to Mary J. Taylor, at Prairie City, Ill. Three children were born to this union, as follows: Mrs. Anna Dubach, Kansas City, Mo.; Clyde B., farmer, El Dorado township; and Mrs. Inez Brenton, Kansas City, Mo. The mother of these children died in 1907.

In 1908, Mr. King was married to Mrs. Nellie Heath, of Henniker, N. H., a daughter of Eri Colby, and a descendant of a very old New England family. The Colby family was founded in America in 1630, and came to this country with Governor Wentworth. The direct lineal an-


560 HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY  

cestors of Mrs. King of the family are as follows: her father, Eri Colby, was a son of Silas Colby; Silas was a son of Levi; Levi was a son of Eliphalet; Eliphalet was a son of Isaac; Isaac was a son of Isaac; Isaac was a son of Thomas; and Thomas was a son of Anthony Colby, who was a native of Ross Hall Beccles, England. Anthony Colby came to New England with Governor Wentworth in 1630. The Wentworth fleet first dropped anchor in Salem Harbor, and two or three days later, sailed to what is now Boston Harbor, and founded the city of Boston, and Anthony Colby was number 93 of the roll of the first Church in Boston colony.

Mr. and Mrs. King have a fine modern home with pleasant and attractive surroundings, and here they are spending their lives in peace and plenty, as the result of former toil and well directed efforts.


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