The War Between The States

 

The King Brothers

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Seated, L-R:    Francis Marion King, Alfred Augustus King
Standing, L-R: John Hamlin King, Sylvester Capers King

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John Ragin King moved to Perry, Georgia, from Sumter County, SC on February 15. 1851.  He became a very prosperous plantation owner in Houston County and still today the family name endures in the county.  Kings Chapel CME Church and also Kings Chapel Rd. located in Perry honor the family name.

Francis Marion King was named for his great-uncle, Francis Marion who was the famed Swamp Fox of the Revolutionary War.  Marion King enlisted first in 1861 in the Southern Rights Guard and served as 2nd Corporal.  When the SRG's one year term was finished the unit disbanded,  he  then enlisted as a private in Co. B, 2nd Rgt., South Carolina Artillery.  This unit occupied a coastal battery position in Charleston and was seriously wounded in hip at the battle of Secessionville in 1865.  He surrenderedd at Greensboro, NC on April 26,. 1865 and returned to Perry, Georgia.  Mention is made of Mr. King in Grice's A History of Houston County, Georgia ..."the live oaks in front of the old home of Dr. P.B.D.H. Culler, now the dwelling of Captain Francis Marion King.  (He recalled that Captain King was a grand nephew of General Francis Marion and owned General Marion's war chest which he used to show to his friends.) " * Marion King married Miss Georgia Davis.  He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Perry.

Sylvester Capers King was 3rd Sgt. of the Southern Rights Guard during its one year period of service.  In March of 1862 he joined the newly formed Southern Rights Battery (Co. A, 14th Battalion, Georgia Light Artillery) in which he was again a 3rd Sgt.  In October of 1862 he transferred to Co. G (Mose's Battery). Company G was disbanded and the soldiers transferred into Company B.    It was with this company a the war's end that he surrendered at Greensboro, April 26, 1865.  He was killed in a railroad accident after the war.

Alfred Augustus King was born Oct. 11, 1831and like his two brothers, Sylvester and Marion, enlisted in the Southern Rights Guards and then the Southern Rights Battery.  He was a 1st Corporal in the SRG but enlisted as a private in the SRB.   He was wounded during his service but surrendered with the battery at Greensboro, NC, on April 26, 1865.  Alfred died Nov. 28. 1903 and  is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Perry, Georgia.

John Hamlin King: Served with Company G, 8th Rgt., Silver Greys; C. D. Anderson's Brigade; Smith's Division; State Troops.  This unit was organized June 1864, disbanded May 1865.  He was born May 11, 1826 and   married Camilla Killen a local Perry beauty.  On Dec. 10, 1878 he died and was buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Perry, Georgia.

 

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*This entertaining reminiscence was reprinted in Bobbe Hicks Nelson's book A Land So Dedicated.

Deep appreciation goes to Mr. Monroe M. King and Mrs. Susan Hamersky who so graciously provided the photo and the information about their King ancestors.


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Ashokan Farwell