Col. King Had A Vast Estate But A Short Will

Though Col. James King had a vast estate, his will was short and simple. This will made Nov. 12, 1823 contained only 69 words. His widow (second wife) was the only person to receive anything under its terms. Shown with this article is a photographic copy of his portrait and is the only known image of this early Bristol area pioneer.

By: By Bud Phillips Special to the Herald Courier | TriCities.com
Published: August 09, 2009

The story of Col. James King is that of a lad that made good in a strange land.
He was born in Londonderry, Ireland, in 1752. By the age of 17, he had left his home, sojourned a while in London, England, there had learned to be a surveyor and had sailed to America.
Shortly, he came far inland and took up residence with Maj. Thomas Goodson and family who then lived in what is now Floyd County, Va.
He soon became engaged to a daughter of that family. While he was away on a surveying trip, she married another fellow. Seeing how distraught he was when he returned and was told this sad news, a younger sister, Sarah, volunteered to take her place. Young James King quickly accepted her offer.
In time, the couple established a home in the Holly Bend of Beaver Creek that is about five miles downstream from downtown Bristol.
The story of his iron works at the mouth of Steele’s Creek is too commonly known to bear repeating here.
However, I will tell that part of his great fortune was made from a sideline of his iron works. This was the manufacture of iron tools, cooking and washing pots, andirons and even grave covers.
He also established a furniture shop using the services of a master craftsman who was a slave trained at Mt. Vernon.
Peddlers sold these products over a wide area. Unfortunately, none of these products were marked, but I venture to say that many are in this area today.
A pair of andirons that were long here at Pleasant Hill are now at the Children’s Advocacy Center near Exit 7 and were said to have been made at his iron works.
A poster bed made in his furniture shop is now in a home on Richlands Avenue, Nashville, Tenn. The lady is a descendent of Col. King.
I was recently shown a bed here in Bristol that is almost identical to the one owned in Nashville and is most likely from King’s shop as well.
Col. King and Sarah were the parents of three children who reached maturity; Capt. William King, who never married; Sarah who married William Williams and the Rev. James King of much Bristol fame.
In December 1806, the wife of Col. King died suddenly while sitting by her fireside at Holly Bend while talking with her half-sister Martha O’Brian.
She was the first person buried in what we now call the Ordway Cemetery. Though she died 203 years ago, her obituary, clipped from a Jonesborough, Tenn., newspaper, still exists, pasted in an old Bible here at Pleasant Hill.
On Oct. 29, 1807, King married Margaret Richey. It is said that they had three or four children, but none lived to maturity.
One would have thought, being that Col. King had a very large estate, his will would have been long and complicated. But surprisingly, it is very short. It consists of only 69 words.
This was possible because he had already given his children their full share of his estate many years prior to his death. There is only one heir named in his will, that being his second wife. She received a fine plantation known as Woodlawn in Jefferson County, Tenn., and all his remaining real and personal property.
Col. King, returning from a visit to a doctor in Greeneville, Tenn., suffered from a heart attack and died by the roadside near what is now Bluff City. He is buried in the local Ordway Cemetery.
His widow lived on for several years at the Woodlawn Plantation.
In 1836, she married John Douglas of Knoxville, Tenn., who had previously been married to her sister Nancy (who had died in 1834). Margaret Richey King Douglas died in Knoxville on June 16, 1839.