COLBERT COUNTY, ALABAMA
BIOGRAPHIES
FRANCIS "FRANK" R. KING
FRANK R. KING, born at Leighton, Ala., October 30, 1857, is a son of Hartwell P. and Mary Henderson (Smith) King.
The senior Mr. King was born near Raleigh, N. C., in 1820. He entered the army as a member of Captain Rand’s Company, with which he served until the close of the war. He had born to him eight children, viz.: Henry, Hartwell, Richard, Duncan, Paul, William, Frank R. and Susie. The three first named died when quite young.
The grandfather of our subject, Hartwell King, was a native of North Carolina. He reared a large family and died before the war. His widow died in 1871, at the extreme old age of 88 years.
The subject of this sketch engaged in mercantile business with his brother Paul, which business they are still conducing. This firm is one of the oldest in Leighton, and has the largest trade of any of its kind in that section of the country.
Mr. King was married in June, 1876, to Imogene white, daughter of James White, of Memphis, Tenn. The union has been blessed with one child, Walter. Mr. King and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian Churches, respectively.
[SOURCE: Northern Alabama Historical and Biographical. Illustrated. Smith & DeLand, Birmingham, Ala. 1888. p. 105]
FRANCIS R. KING, one of the leading and well-known inhabitants and merchants of Leighton, Ala., and member of the mercantile firm of F. R. King & Co., was born in Colbert county, Ala., October 30, 1859. A brief account of his parentage may be found in connection with the memoir of Paul S. King, elsewhere in this work. He was reared on the farm until he was fifteen years of age. His early education was obtained at the common schools and he attended the university of Alabama during the years 1875 and 1876. Leaving college, he entered his brother’s store at Leighton, as a clerk, and in 1880 became a member of the present firm of F. R. King & co., succeeding his brother William. Mr. King was married June 30, 1886, to Miss Imogene White of Memphis, Tenn., by whom he has had four children. Mr. King is a Knight of Honor, and as a citizen he is one of the best and most reliable in the county. In politics he is a staunch democrat, yet he is not an office seeker, content to remain in the private station, which is the post of honor.
[SOURCE: Memorial Record of Alabama. A concise account of the state’s political, military professional and Industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people. In Two Volumes. Illustrated. Brant & Fuller, Madison Wis., 1893. Volume I. p. 694.]
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