My great grandfather, John King, was written about in a book of Portland, Oregon history. I know nothing about his parents and would greatly appreciate any help finding their names. I know the birth records in Ohio were not started until 1867. I don't know the date of his death. His son, William D. King, is my grandfather. John married Melinda Love in 1856. Below is the article. Thanks, Jim King jim@sequent.com Portland, Oregon This article was taken from the book: PORTLAND, ITS HISTORY AND BUILDERS By Joseph Gaston Volume III Page 63 The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1911 JOHN KING John King is regarded as one of the exemplary citizens of Clark County, Washington, whose well spent life has gained him the respect and esteem of all with whom he has been brought in contact. When the government owned much of the land in this district he took up a claim and is now giving his attention to its development. He was born in Fayette County, Ohio on a farm on Compton's Creek, March 26, 1835, and was but six years of age when his parents moved to Lee County, Iowa, where the father engaged in farming. John King continued in the locality until eighteen years of age, and then, attracted by the favorable reports which he heard concerning the opportunities of the Northwest, he started for Oregon on the 2nd of April, 1853, with an ox team, joining a wagon train of one hundred and twenty-five wagons. They proceeded westward to the Missouri river, which they crossed at St. Joseph on the 2nd of May, and at that point practically left behind them the outposts of eastern civilization. Then came the long and wearisome trip over the prairies, the plains and onward to the mountains, until they reached Portland, Oregon on the 26th of October. MR.King, however, stopped for a time at Deschutes, Oregon, where he operated a ferry boat across the Deschutes river for eighteen days. He then came to Portland and secured employment in a sawmill owned by W.P.Abrams & Company. Two months later he went to Benton County, Oregon, in the Willamette valley, where he continued until the fall of 1856, when he returned to Portland. So wild was the Northwest and so treacherous were the Indians that there was constant need for military surveillance,and in October,1855, MR.King enlisted as a member of Company I, of the Oregon volunteer Infantry under Captain L.B. Munson, of Corvallis, the regiment being commanded by Colonel Kelly. He served in the battle of Walla Walla at Whitman Station for four days and nights,and saw active service until the following April, when he was discharged in Portland. For a time he was employed in Portland and then went out to fight the Indians at the Cascades with a number from Portland, the Indians having massacred white settlers at the point indicated. After but little service there he assisted in getting boats over the rapids for ten days, and then returned to the Willamette Valley, where he spent the fall.He was afterward married and resided in the vicinity of Portland for two years, but in 1859 came to Vancouver, where he took charge of the engine in a sawmill owned by his father-in-law, Lewis Love. For over four years he was thus engaged, at the end of such time he began farming on the Love ranch known as Taylor Place on the river road. Two years were devoted to agricultural pursuits and the following year was spent in Washougal. Subsequently he took a homestead, which is now the Stamp Place, on La Camas Lake, but relinquished that to the Government after five years and on account of the illness of his wife moved down on the Columbia River to the Love Ranch and worked in a saw and flourmill. He afterward returned to Vancouver, where he entered the employ of the Oregon & California Railroad with which he was connected for two years, when he went to Columbia City, where he built a sawmill. A year later, however, he moved to Buena Vista, where he operated a sawmill, after which he engaged in various lines of work until 1888, when he settled upon the ranch which he now owns. He took this up as a claim from the government, one hundred and sixty acres. It was mostly covered with timber and he has cleared seven acres. He has put all good improvements on the farm, has fenced the place and is now devoting his energies to the cultivation of the fields. On the 26th of October, 1856, Mr.King was married to Miss Melinda J. Love of Portland, the wedding being celebrated at her home, then on Clay and Front Streets, in the Rose City. They became the parents of six children, but only one is now living, William D.,of Portland. Mr. King has reached the advanced age of seventy-five years. He is a member of the Pioneer Society, having been a resident of Oregon since 1853. His entire life has been characterized by high principles and manly conduct. He has never played cards nor drank liquor of any kind, and has always held firmly to a course that he has believed to be right, thus commanding the entire confidence and good will of his fellow men. ---------------- end of article jim@sequent.com