William Jones King was born on June 14, 1803, in Milford, Massachusetts. He married Lydia C. Gilbert on October 17, 1832, and they had at least seven children: Elizabeth, born around 1835; William, born around 1837; Charles, born around 1839; Edward, born around 1841; Frederick, born around 1843; Lydia, born around 1846; and Theodore, born around 1849. He worked as a cotton merchant in Providence, Rhode Island, and by 1860, he owned $26,500 of real estate and $157,000 of personal property. He supported the Union war effort during the Civil War. In October 1861, he declared that Union soldiers “deserve great praise for their patriotism and self denial.”  

 

By 1870, he owned $322,200 of personal property. He served as a church deacon, and he was a “prominent leader” in the local Sunday school. He also served as a trustee of the local Reform School and a trustee of the Young Ladies’ Seminary in Norton, Massachusetts. He died in Providence on August 8, 1885.

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