A. R. King
Albert Richard King was born in 1864 on Bent Mountain in Virginia. He was one of nine children of Mary Jane Blankenship King and Robert Woods King. There was no future for an ambitious young man in the Virginia mountains, and in 1885 A. R. started working his way west. He stopped once to take a job rip-rafting on the Mississippi River. With wages of $1 a day he was content to stay. He figured a million days--a million dollars. After one of his companions fell in the river and nearly drowned he decided a million dollars wouldn't do much good if you were dead so he started west again. He traveled to Dallas by train, then on to the Indian Territory by foot. A. R. hired on with a cow outfit. They closed out at Cauldwell, Kansas in the fall of 1885. The boss let everyone go but A. R. and one other man. He gave them each a horse and sent them to Wolf Creek to work on the 7-K's. This was to be one of the most important happenings in A. R.'s life. He said much later, 'came to the Panhandle in the early days and had my pick of the land. I selected Wolf Creek for it cannot be equaled anywhere.' There were no women in the county when he arrived; in fact, there was no county. Families started coming and the county was organized the second year he arrived.
A. R. worked for the 7-K's for eight years. In the spring of 1886, the 7-K's had 50,000 head of cattle. They lost half of them that year in a blizzard. Hides brought $1 each and A. R. got to where he could skin twenty head a day.
On one occasion A. R. almost left Wolf Creek. He and Alec Barton took two of the best horses the 7-K's had and went to Oklahoma when they opened the Strip for homesteading. He said this was the best show he ever saw. Hundreds of people in wagons, surreys, buggies, on mules, horseback, and on foot, all lined up and taking off when the gun sounded. The two Wolf Creek cowboys were so fascinated they never got on their horses. They just stood and watched the crowd. When it was all over, they returned to Wolf Creek. A. R. said later that missing that one-fourth section was the best thing that ever happened to him. If he had gotten that land, one-fourth section would probably have been all he ever had.
A. R. had slept on the ground under a wagon for the eight years he had been in Texas. He had saved his money and was ready to get a place of his own. He gave an old man, named Cass, $45 and a horse to leave a section of land so he could file on it. He bought a building in Timms City, which had been a saloon, and had it moved to his land. He divided the building into two rooms and he and Alec Barton batched there. Later, he added three rooms to this house when he married Agnes Hyde in 1895. Agnes was a niece of Mrs. Bill Kelley and was living with the Kelley's. In 1897, their son, Harry was born. Three days later, Agnes died. The baby was taken to live with the Bill Kelleys until his Grandma Hyde could make arrangements to come take care of him. Mrs. Hyde had recently lost her husband, so she came to Texas to make a home for her son-in-law. She had two small children, Charlie, age 7, and Edna, age 5. Grandma Hyde lived with A. R. until he remarried seven years later. Grandma Hyde would not wash in the hard well water. Every Monday A. R. would take a sled and barrels to get water from the creek for her to wash.
On Sundays the family would hitch up the surrey and go to preachings at Second Creek. The church was held at Second Creek School north of dukes. One horse, Bushwacker, would pretend to be crippled when they hitched him to the surrey. After a few Sundays of this sudden lameness, A. R. cured him of this with a buggy whip. A. R. and Bushwacker once rode down a lobo wolf. Both Bushwacker and the wolf got tired and A. R. could never quite catch the wolf, and the wolf couldn't get away. A. R. called to Alec Barton who came on a fresh horse and roped the lobo.
The King horse brand was a heart on the left thigh. A. R. got caught in a grass fire in the section of the present King house. He did not have time to get off his horse and let down the fence, so he held his breath and rode back through the fire. A. R. was not seriously hurt but the horse was badly burned. He swelled so that the heart brand got as big as a hat. They carried water to him and he lived.
A. R. added to his land with both farming and grassland. He bough 25 Hereford-Durham crossed cows when he went into the cattle business and there has never been another cow bought on the King Ranch. Registered Hereford bulls have always been used and his great-grandson, Bill, still runs the descendants of these cows.
When Harry was seven, A. R. married Laura Widmer, daughter of . They had another son, Lloyd, and a daughter, Louise. One Fourth of July shortly after A. R. remarried, he decided to take his wife and Harry to the celebration in Miami. When they got to the Canadian River it was swollen a full mile wide. They left the team and buggy at Studers and walked across the railroad bridge with the water lapping at their feet. They got on the train at Canadian and went to Miami. On the return trip the train let them off and they walked back to get their buggy.
Shortly before A. R.'s death, Wolf Creek dried up. Harry would plow in the creek and make a dam to get water. A. R. said Wolf Creek had never dried up, and he refused to come see it dry.
On December 2, 1929, Albert King slumped in a chair in the bank in Canadian. It was his habit to walk downtown every day and to the bank and visit. They carried him home and called his son, Harry. A. R. never regained consciousness. He died early that evening. He returned to his Virginia birthplace only once, the year Harry was born.
Wheatheart of the Plains - An Early History of Ochiltree County, published 1969
~~
Thank you to researcher Edith Guynes Stanley (FAG# 47114458) for her additional information and support in obtaining information for Albert King. The headstone shows his year of birth as 1865 but his death certificate shows 1864, so I am going to leave it as the headstone shows and the researcher may take which ever date they want.
Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982
Name: Albert Richard King
Birth Date: 24 Aug 1864
Birth Place: Ronoke, Virginia
Gender: Male
Race: White
Father: Robert ?? King
Mother: Mary Jane
Age at Death: 64
Death Date: 2 Dec 1929
Death Place: Canadian, Hemphill, Texas, USA
Albert Richard King was born in 1864 on Bent Mountain in Virginia. He was one of nine children of Mary Jane Blankenship King and Robert Woods King. There was no future for an ambitious young man in the Virginia mountains, and in 1885 A. R. started working his way west. He stopped once to take a job rip-rafting on the Mississippi River. With wages of $1 a day he was content to stay. He figured a million days--a million dollars. After one of his companions fell in the river and nearly drowned he decided a million dollars wouldn't do much good if you were dead so he started west again. He traveled to Dallas by train, then on to the Indian Territory by foot. A. R. hired on with a cow outfit. They closed out at Cauldwell, Kansas in the fall of 1885. The boss let everyone go but A. R. and one other man. He gave them each a horse and sent them to Wolf Creek to work on the 7-K's. This was to be one of the most important happenings in A. R.'s life. He said much later, 'came to the Panhandle in the early days and had my pick of the land. I selected Wolf Creek for it cannot be equaled anywhere.' There were no women in the county when he arrived; in fact, there was no county. Families started coming and the county was organized the second year he arrived.
A. R. worked for the 7-K's for eight years. In the spring of 1886, the 7-K's had 50,000 head of cattle. They lost half of them that year in a blizzard. Hides brought $1 each and A. R. got to where he could skin twenty head a day.
On one occasion A. R. almost left Wolf Creek. He and Alec Barton took two of the best horses the 7-K's had and went to Oklahoma when they opened the Strip for homesteading. He said this was the best show he ever saw. Hundreds of people in wagons, surreys, buggies, on mules, horseback, and on foot, all lined up and taking off when the gun sounded. The two Wolf Creek cowboys were so fascinated they never got on their horses. They just stood and watched the crowd. When it was all over, they returned to Wolf Creek. A. R. said later that missing that one-fourth section was the best thing that ever happened to him. If he had gotten that land, one-fourth section would probably have been all he ever had.
A. R. had slept on the ground under a wagon for the eight years he had been in Texas. He had saved his money and was ready to get a place of his own. He gave an old man, named Cass, $45 and a horse to leave a section of land so he could file on it. He bought a building in Timms City, which had been a saloon, and had it moved to his land. He divided the building into two rooms and he and Alec Barton batched there. Later, he added three rooms to this house when he married Agnes Hyde in 1895. Agnes was a niece of Mrs. Bill Kelley and was living with the Kelley's. In 1897, their son, Harry was born. Three days later, Agnes died. The baby was taken to live with the Bill Kelleys until his Grandma Hyde could make arrangements to come take care of him. Mrs. Hyde had recently lost her husband, so she came to Texas to make a home for her son-in-law. She had two small children, Charlie, age 7, and Edna, age 5. Grandma Hyde lived with A. R. until he remarried seven years later. Grandma Hyde would not wash in the hard well water. Every Monday A. R. would take a sled and barrels to get water from the creek for her to wash.
On Sundays the family would hitch up the surrey and go to preachings at Second Creek. The church was held at Second Creek School north of dukes. One horse, Bushwacker, would pretend to be crippled when they hitched him to the surrey. After a few Sundays of this sudden lameness, A. R. cured him of this with a buggy whip. A. R. and Bushwacker once rode down a lobo wolf. Both Bushwacker and the wolf got tired and A. R. could never quite catch the wolf, and the wolf couldn't get away. A. R. called to Alec Barton who came on a fresh horse and roped the lobo.
The King horse brand was a heart on the left thigh. A. R. got caught in a grass fire in the section of the present King house. He did not have time to get off his horse and let down the fence, so he held his breath and rode back through the fire. A. R. was not seriously hurt but the horse was badly burned. He swelled so that the heart brand got as big as a hat. They carried water to him and he lived.
A. R. added to his land with both farming and grassland. He bough 25 Hereford-Durham crossed cows when he went into the cattle business and there has never been another cow bought on the King Ranch. Registered Hereford bulls have always been used and his great-grandson, Bill, still runs the descendants of these cows.
When Harry was seven, A. R. married Laura Widmer, daughter of . They had another son, Lloyd, and a daughter, Louise. One Fourth of July shortly after A. R. remarried, he decided to take his wife and Harry to the celebration in Miami. When they got to the Canadian River it was swollen a full mile wide. They left the team and buggy at Studers and walked across the railroad bridge with the water lapping at their feet. They got on the train at Canadian and went to Miami. On the return trip the train let them off and they walked back to get their buggy.
Shortly before A. R.'s death, Wolf Creek dried up. Harry would plow in the creek and make a dam to get water. A. R. said Wolf Creek had never dried up, and he refused to come see it dry.
On December 2, 1929, Albert King slumped in a chair in the bank in Canadian. It was his habit to walk downtown every day and to the bank and visit. They carried him home and called his son, Harry. A. R. never regained consciousness. He died early that evening. He returned to his Virginia birthplace only once, the year Harry was born.
Wheatheart of the Plains - An Early History of Ochiltree County, published 1969
~~
Thank you to researcher Edith Guynes Stanley (FAG# 47114458) for her additional information and support in obtaining information for Albert King. The headstone shows his year of birth as 1865 but his death certificate shows 1864, so I am going to leave it as the headstone shows and the researcher may take which ever date they want.
Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982
Name: Albert Richard King
Birth Date: 24 Aug 1864
Birth Place: Ronoke, Virginia
Gender: Male
Race: White
Father: Robert ?? King
Mother: Mary Jane
Age at Death: 64
Death Date: 2 Dec 1929
Death Place: Canadian, Hemphill, Texas, USA
A. R. King
Albert Richard King was born in 1864 on Bent Mountain in Virginia. He was one of nine children of Mary Jane Blankenship King and Robert Woods King. There was no future for an ambitious young man in the Virginia mountains, and in 1885 A. R. started working his way west. He stopped once to take a job rip-rafting on the Mississippi River. With wages of $1 a day he was content to stay. He figured a million days--a million dollars. After one of his companions fell in the river and nearly drowned he decided a million dollars wouldn't do much good if you were dead so he started west again. He traveled to Dallas by train, then on to the Indian Territory by foot. A. R. hired on with a cow outfit. They closed out at Cauldwell, Kansas in the fall of 1885. The boss let everyone go but A. R. and one other man. He gave them each a horse and sent them to Wolf Creek to work on the 7-K's. This was to be one of the most important happenings in A. R.'s life. He said much later, 'came to the Panhandle in the early days and had my pick of the land. I selected Wolf Creek for it cannot be equaled anywhere.' There were no women in the county when he arrived; in fact, there was no county. Families started coming and the county was organized the second year he arrived.
A. R. worked for the 7-K's for eight years. In the spring of 1886, the 7-K's had 50,000 head of cattle. They lost half of them that year in a blizzard. Hides brought $1 each and A. R. got to where he could skin twenty head a day.
On one occasion A. R. almost left Wolf Creek. He and Alec Barton took two of the best horses the 7-K's had and went to Oklahoma when they opened the Strip for homesteading. He said this was the best show he ever saw. Hundreds of people in wagons, surreys, buggies, on mules, horseback, and on foot, all lined up and taking off when the gun sounded. The two Wolf Creek cowboys were so fascinated they never got on their horses. They just stood and watched the crowd. When it was all over, they returned to Wolf Creek. A. R. said later that missing that one-fourth section was the best thing that ever happened to him. If he had gotten that land, one-fourth section would probably have been all he ever had.
A. R. had slept on the ground under a wagon for the eight years he had been in Texas. He had saved his money and was ready to get a place of his own. He gave an old man, named Cass, $45 and a horse to leave a section of land so he could file on it. He bought a building in Timms City, which had been a saloon, and had it moved to his land. He divided the building into two rooms and he and Alec Barton batched there. Later, he added three rooms to this house when he married Agnes Hyde in 1895. Agnes was a niece of Mrs. Bill Kelley and was living with the Kelley's. In 1897, their son, Harry was born. Three days later, Agnes died. The baby was taken to live with the Bill Kelleys until his Grandma Hyde could make arrangements to come take care of him. Mrs. Hyde had recently lost her husband, so she came to Texas to make a home for her son-in-law. She had two small children, Charlie, age 7, and Edna, age 5. Grandma Hyde lived with A. R. until he remarried seven years later. Grandma Hyde would not wash in the hard well water. Every Monday A. R. would take a sled and barrels to get water from the creek for her to wash.
On Sundays the family would hitch up the surrey and go to preachings at Second Creek. The church was held at Second Creek School north of dukes. One horse, Bushwacker, would pretend to be crippled when they hitched him to the surrey. After a few Sundays of this sudden lameness, A. R. cured him of this with a buggy whip. A. R. and Bushwacker once rode down a lobo wolf. Both Bushwacker and the wolf got tired and A. R. could never quite catch the wolf, and the wolf couldn't get away. A. R. called to Alec Barton who came on a fresh horse and roped the lobo.
The King horse brand was a heart on the left thigh. A. R. got caught in a grass fire in the section of the present King house. He did not have time to get off his horse and let down the fence, so he held his breath and rode back through the fire. A. R. was not seriously hurt but the horse was badly burned. He swelled so that the heart brand got as big as a hat. They carried water to him and he lived.
A. R. added to his land with both farming and grassland. He bough 25 Hereford-Durham crossed cows when he went into the cattle business and there has never been another cow bought on the King Ranch. Registered Hereford bulls have always been used and his great-grandson, Bill, still runs the descendants of these cows.
When Harry was seven, A. R. married Laura Widmer, daughter of . They had another son, Lloyd, and a daughter, Louise. One Fourth of July shortly after A. R. remarried, he decided to take his wife and Harry to the celebration in Miami. When they got to the Canadian River it was swollen a full mile wide. They left the team and buggy at Studers and walked across the railroad bridge with the water lapping at their feet. They got on the train at Canadian and went to Miami. On the return trip the train let them off and they walked back to get their buggy.
Shortly before A. R.'s death, Wolf Creek dried up. Harry would plow in the creek and make a dam to get water. A. R. said Wolf Creek had never dried up, and he refused to come see it dry.
On December 2, 1929, Albert King slumped in a chair in the bank in Canadian. It was his habit to walk downtown every day and to the bank and visit. They carried him home and called his son, Harry. A. R. never regained consciousness. He died early that evening. He returned to his Virginia birthplace only once, the year Harry was born.
Wheatheart of the Plains - An Early History of Ochiltree County, published 1969
~~
Thank you to researcher Edith Guynes Stanley (FAG# 47114458) for her additional information and support in obtaining information for Albert King. The headstone shows his year of birth as 1865 but his death certificate shows 1864, so I am going to leave it as the headstone shows and the researcher may take which ever date they want.
Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982
Name: Albert Richard King
Birth Date: 24 Aug 1864
Birth Place: Ronoke, Virginia
Gender: Male
Race: White
Father: Robert ?? King
Mother: Mary Jane
Age at Death: 64
Death Date: 2 Dec 1929
Death Place: Canadian, Hemphill, Texas, USA
Albert Richard King was born in 1864 on Bent Mountain in Virginia. He was one of nine children of Mary Jane Blankenship King and Robert Woods King. There was no future for an ambitious young man in the Virginia mountains, and in 1885 A. R. started working his way west. He stopped once to take a job rip-rafting on the Mississippi River. With wages of $1 a day he was content to stay. He figured a million days--a million dollars. After one of his companions fell in the river and nearly drowned he decided a million dollars wouldn't do much good if you were dead so he started west again. He traveled to Dallas by train, then on to the Indian Territory by foot. A. R. hired on with a cow outfit. They closed out at Cauldwell, Kansas in the fall of 1885. The boss let everyone go but A. R. and one other man. He gave them each a horse and sent them to Wolf Creek to work on the 7-K's. This was to be one of the most important happenings in A. R.'s life. He said much later, 'came to the Panhandle in the early days and had my pick of the land. I selected Wolf Creek for it cannot be equaled anywhere.' There were no women in the county when he arrived; in fact, there was no county. Families started coming and the county was organized the second year he arrived.
A. R. worked for the 7-K's for eight years. In the spring of 1886, the 7-K's had 50,000 head of cattle. They lost half of them that year in a blizzard. Hides brought $1 each and A. R. got to where he could skin twenty head a day.
On one occasion A. R. almost left Wolf Creek. He and Alec Barton took two of the best horses the 7-K's had and went to Oklahoma when they opened the Strip for homesteading. He said this was the best show he ever saw. Hundreds of people in wagons, surreys, buggies, on mules, horseback, and on foot, all lined up and taking off when the gun sounded. The two Wolf Creek cowboys were so fascinated they never got on their horses. They just stood and watched the crowd. When it was all over, they returned to Wolf Creek. A. R. said later that missing that one-fourth section was the best thing that ever happened to him. If he had gotten that land, one-fourth section would probably have been all he ever had.
A. R. had slept on the ground under a wagon for the eight years he had been in Texas. He had saved his money and was ready to get a place of his own. He gave an old man, named Cass, $45 and a horse to leave a section of land so he could file on it. He bought a building in Timms City, which had been a saloon, and had it moved to his land. He divided the building into two rooms and he and Alec Barton batched there. Later, he added three rooms to this house when he married Agnes Hyde in 1895. Agnes was a niece of Mrs. Bill Kelley and was living with the Kelley's. In 1897, their son, Harry was born. Three days later, Agnes died. The baby was taken to live with the Bill Kelleys until his Grandma Hyde could make arrangements to come take care of him. Mrs. Hyde had recently lost her husband, so she came to Texas to make a home for her son-in-law. She had two small children, Charlie, age 7, and Edna, age 5. Grandma Hyde lived with A. R. until he remarried seven years later. Grandma Hyde would not wash in the hard well water. Every Monday A. R. would take a sled and barrels to get water from the creek for her to wash.
On Sundays the family would hitch up the surrey and go to preachings at Second Creek. The church was held at Second Creek School north of dukes. One horse, Bushwacker, would pretend to be crippled when they hitched him to the surrey. After a few Sundays of this sudden lameness, A. R. cured him of this with a buggy whip. A. R. and Bushwacker once rode down a lobo wolf. Both Bushwacker and the wolf got tired and A. R. could never quite catch the wolf, and the wolf couldn't get away. A. R. called to Alec Barton who came on a fresh horse and roped the lobo.
The King horse brand was a heart on the left thigh. A. R. got caught in a grass fire in the section of the present King house. He did not have time to get off his horse and let down the fence, so he held his breath and rode back through the fire. A. R. was not seriously hurt but the horse was badly burned. He swelled so that the heart brand got as big as a hat. They carried water to him and he lived.
A. R. added to his land with both farming and grassland. He bough 25 Hereford-Durham crossed cows when he went into the cattle business and there has never been another cow bought on the King Ranch. Registered Hereford bulls have always been used and his great-grandson, Bill, still runs the descendants of these cows.
When Harry was seven, A. R. married Laura Widmer, daughter of . They had another son, Lloyd, and a daughter, Louise. One Fourth of July shortly after A. R. remarried, he decided to take his wife and Harry to the celebration in Miami. When they got to the Canadian River it was swollen a full mile wide. They left the team and buggy at Studers and walked across the railroad bridge with the water lapping at their feet. They got on the train at Canadian and went to Miami. On the return trip the train let them off and they walked back to get their buggy.
Shortly before A. R.'s death, Wolf Creek dried up. Harry would plow in the creek and make a dam to get water. A. R. said Wolf Creek had never dried up, and he refused to come see it dry.
On December 2, 1929, Albert King slumped in a chair in the bank in Canadian. It was his habit to walk downtown every day and to the bank and visit. They carried him home and called his son, Harry. A. R. never regained consciousness. He died early that evening. He returned to his Virginia birthplace only once, the year Harry was born.
Wheatheart of the Plains - An Early History of Ochiltree County, published 1969
~~
Thank you to researcher Edith Guynes Stanley (FAG# 47114458) for her additional information and support in obtaining information for Albert King. The headstone shows his year of birth as 1865 but his death certificate shows 1864, so I am going to leave it as the headstone shows and the researcher may take which ever date they want.
Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982
Name: Albert Richard King
Birth Date: 24 Aug 1864
Birth Place: Ronoke, Virginia
Gender: Male
Race: White
Father: Robert ?? King
Mother: Mary Jane
Age at Death: 64
Death Date: 2 Dec 1929
Death Place: Canadian, Hemphill, Texas, USA
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