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There are two deeds in Stewart County, TN, registered after the fact in 1809, to men named William King. One, originally executed in 1805 mentions William King of Washington County, VA. The other, executed in 1807 mentions William King of NC.
The William King of VA appears to be the William King of Abingdon, VA, who owned the saltworks and was one of the richest men in Washington Co, VA. He died in 1808 and his estate was worth nearly one million dollars. He owned over 19,000 acres in Washington County, VA and almost 11,000 acres in Tennessee, including town lots in numerous towns. He does not appear to have spent significant time in Stewart County. Complications over his will required court attention and the case eventually reached the US Supreme Court. Descriptions of the case are numerous on the Internet. For example, http://books.google.com/books?id=5y43AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA206. As a result, the genealogy of this William King is fairly well documented.
The William King of NC is, I believe, the William King who married Rachel Petty, daughter of George Petty. He appears to be the son of Charles King and Elizabeth Rhodes of Bertie Co, NC. He lived in Stewart Co. until his death in 1825. He had three sons: John Rhodes King, Henry B.King and William George King; and his widow married John A. M. Boyd. They all ended up in Texas.
Since there is considerable confusion about the two William Kings, it is worth presenting a brief summary of some of the facts that distinguish them.
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The William King of VA was the son of Thomas King of Ireland. By one wife, Thomas King had children William, James, Nancy who married Connally Findlay, and Elizabeth who married John Mitchell. By another wife, Thomas had children Samuel and Hannah who married John Allen. The family came to America in 1784 when William was about 15.
This William King (the elder, to distinguish him from his nephew, below) b. 1769, d. 1808, married Mary Trigg. They had no children. When William died, his widow married Francis Smith.
His brother James King married Sarah Lewis and had children Thomas J. King who d. single, William King (younger), and Rachel Mary Elizabeth King who m. Dr. Alexander McCall. This brother was often styled "of Nashville".
William King (the younger), son of James, b. about Oct. 1803, m. Sarah Bekem about 1821 and had children William, James and Sarah. (James, the son of William the younger, is of some interest: he moved to San Francisco and was murdered there in 1856 by James Casey. See for example http://books.google.com/books?id=iUQOAAAAIAAJ&jtp=151.)
I believe it is the younger William King that is mentioned in the following newspaper tidbit: "King, Col. William Formerly of Nashville. Died at Saltville, Washington Co, VA, the 30th of April." Published in Nashville Whig, May 14, 1847.
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Guardian and probate documents following the 1825 death of William King of Stewart County, TN, support contentions that his wife was Rachel Petty and his children were John Rhodes King, Henry B. King, and William George King. Careful matching of guardian names suggest that other King children mentioned in county records belonged elsewhere: Charles Ann Rhoda King was the daughter of Charles King who died in 1821; Charles, Mary Ann and Elizabeth King were the children of John King who died about Feb. 1825.
The two sons of William King who survived until 1880, John and William G., both listed their father's birthplace as NC in the US census of that year. A Stewart County record of 1821 refers to William King as the brother of Charles King who died that year. This Charles King (III) is known to be the son of Charles King (Jr.) and Elizabeth Rhodes in Bertie Co, NC, and so William King would be their son as well, and also, apparently as it turns out, the John King who died in 1825. William's eldest son, John Rhodes King, appears to carry his grandmother's maiden name.
Charles King (Jr.) is descended from the immigrant Michael King of Nansemond Co, VA. (I would like to refer you to Hank King's website on this family, but my links are all messed up by ancestry.com's recent changes to rootsweb, and I don't have the correct location any longer.) DNA testing has recently also connected William King to Michael King of Nansemond Co. This does not prove Charles Jr. was father of William, but certainly would have to be true if he was.
Charles King (Jr.) married first about 1783 Elizabeth Rhodes and had children Charles, William, John, Henry, Judah Caudle, James, Alse, then married second in 1796 Elizabeth Benton and had Sally, Timothy, Richard and George. As the order is not known exactly, I may not have the children allocated entirely correctly between the two wives. Most of the children suspected to be from the first marriage ended up in Stewart Co, TN.
Based on North Carolina records, Charles King (Jr.) had a brother named William King, as well as a son named William King. Both migrated to Tennessee, the brother to Sumner Co, TN and the son to an unspecified location which I believe to be Stewart Co. This similarity seems to have caused trouble in the book Lees and Kings of Virginia and North Carolina (http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2018446) causing them to mistakenly assume both these individuals were the same person (p. 161).
If you have any additions or corrections, please contact me or post a reply.
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