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Submitted: 9/11/23 • Approved: 9/11/23 • Last Updated: 9/14/23 • R1500677-G1500677-S3
John
December 4, 1874 - October 15, 1970
John Henry King was born 4 December 1874 in Charleston, Franklin, Arkansas. He is the oldest of the four children born to Isaac and Mary Flynn King. Isaac is the son of Andrew and Elizabeth King and Mary is the daughter of Miles and Sarah Davis Flynn of Charleston, Franklin, Arkansas. John was born on the family farm, south and east of Charleston on what was called Potato Hill Prairie, in the Revillea Township. At the age of 19, he wanted to get married. His mother gave him $20.00 so he was able to marry Martha Mattie Robertson on 15 Oct 1893 in Franklin County, Arkansas. The marriage ceremony was performed by Father Frances Dunn, of the Catholic Church in Charleston. After their marriage, John and Mattie moved to a farm just south of Charleston, Arkansas and began to work the land and raise a family. They were the parents of 8 children: William Isaac King (1894-1973), Claude Melvin King (1896-1984), Bertha T King (1897) Mamie M. [King] Craig (1900-1986) Clarence Alvin King (1902-1957), John Henry King Jr. (1903-1980), Lawrence Edward King (1906-1978) and Clara R King (1909). The children were baptized and raised in the Catholic Church (Bertha and Clara both died as children). As a member of the Catholic church, John worked on the construction of the building that still houses the Catholic Church of Charleston. His part in the work stopped the day that he fell from the steeple while working. He received a head injury but recovered nicely, still, he never forgot it. Even to his dying day he talked about it and showed his scar with pride. John and Mattie remained in the Charleston area until about 1911, when on the advice of an old friend, Hinnie Bieker, they uprooted the family and moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas. They were convinced by Hinnie, that Fort Smith was at the end of the rainbow. On their arrival, it did not take them long to figure out that things were not exactly as they were told and times were just as hard here as they were in Franklin County. The only work that John could find was unskilled, menial labor jobs. In spite of the hardships, the family worked hard and persevered and they were able to hold on. A few years later however, tragedy struck. On January 3, 1919 Mattie passed away. She had been working as a nurse and mid-wife, for Dr. Freer, during the great flu epidemic of 1917-1919. Mattie died of the illness that she fought so hard to eradicate.
John Henry King's 2nd wife, was Louise Henrietta (Etta) Elizabeth Sanders. Her maiden name was Howard (her parents were James Marvin Howard & Mary Jane Willbanks). They were married on June 19, 1919. Together they had one son, Paul Wesley King (1923), but they were divorced a short time later.
John then married Ola Mae Phillips on 26 March 1928. Ola had 5 children from 2 previous marriages and John shouldered the responsibility of being a father to Ola's children. He never considered them as step children and he never treated them as such, but he raised them and loved them and cared for them as if they were his own flesh and blood. Then together, John and Ola became the the parents of 5 more children: Loretta Marie (1927-1996), Vina Ann (1929-1971), Margie Louise (1932), George Franklin (1936) and Bobby Gene (1938-2017). Ola Mae passed away in 1960 and John lived with his son Bobby Gene until he died on 12 October 1970.
Ola
May 21, 1894 - August 13, 1960
Ola (Olar) Mae Phillips was born 21 May 1894 in Booneville, Logan, Arkansas. She was 6th of the 9 children born to William [Bill] Thomas Phillips and Sarah Cora Holland Phillips. Siblings: James Wesley (1883), S.E.Vianer (1884), Myrtle Edola (1889), Stephen 'B' (1891), her twin Odis (1894), Zula Jane (1895), Ruby Marie (1899) and William Thomas II (1900). Ola was born without eardrums, a handicap which made her young life very hard. 3 days before her 7th birthday, on May 18, 1901, her father was shot and killed . Her mother remarried in 1906 to Gilbert Wesley Hunt and gave birth to 2 more sons George Washington Hunt (1907) and Frank Hugh Hunt (1909). Olar married Jesse Melvin Canada on 15 April 1911 in Greenwood, Sebastian, Arkansas and they were the parents of Cecil Melvin (1912-1981), John Thomas (1914-1990), Edith Mae [Hodge] (1917-2009), and Hattie Lee (1919-2004). Jesse passed away on March 1, 1920.
Shortly after his death, she married Robert Welker on 21 December 1920. They had one son, Granville (1921-2003). They later divorced, then remarried on 3 May 1925 and then divorced again. Olar then married John Henry King Sr. on 26 March 1928 and they were the parents of 5 children, Loretta Marie (1927-1996), Vina Ann (1929-1971) Margie Louise (1932-), George Franklin (1936-2017), Bobby Gene (1938-2004). The family lived on and sharecropped land at the Wilson Farm that later became the Roselawn Cemetery. John died in 1970. Ola passed away on August 13, 1960.
Photo courtesy of Frances Allen Titsworth
Contributed on 9/11/23 by Billsully060
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Record #: 1500677