During a conversation with my Uncle Bill (William Ira King) on October 18, 1982, he said that his great great grandfather was buried in a cemetery on old Salt Road in East Penfield, New York. Two and a half years later in an interview he stated more explicitly that when 7 or 8 years old he had been shown a spot in an orchard on Eldridge Road in East Penfield where his great grandfather had been buried. He recalled that the site was outlined with field stones and was not in a regular cemetery. Uncle Bill referred to his great grandfather as half breed, Either I misunderstood him or Uncle Bill slipped in one too many greats in our 1982 conversation. Undoubtedly he was referring to Benedict King who in 1815 purchased from Daniel Penfield a 50-acre farm approximately two and a quarter miles north of East Penfield (formerly Lovetts Corners) on the road now known as Salt Road.
Frequently a road is named after the family living near the end of it farthest from the center of town, In the census of 1830 Ebenezer Eldridge is listed as the second neighbor beyond Benedict King. Perhaps, therefore, even as late as 1900 the road where Uncle Bill saw the burial site of his great grandfather was still called Eldridge Road. Neither the Penfield Town Historian nor the librarian in the History and Genealogical Section at the Rochester Public Library could tell me how Salt Road got its name and whether at an early date it was called Eldridge Road. However, on a 1926 map of Monroe County it is labeled Salt Road.
The notion that we Kings have some native American blood in us had been passed down from our grandfather; but, if it were true, where it came into our line had not been clearly stated. The facial characteristics of high forehead, deep-set eyes, and high cheekbones especially evident in earlier generations were ascribed to this Indian heritage. However, I never put much stock in the story until Shirley Muszynski of Erie, Michigan, contacted me by telephone one evening in 1984. After introducing herself and suggesting that we might be related to one another she asked if I had been told about havin g some American Indian in me.
As it turns out, Shirley is a great great granddaughter of Ebenezer King, one of Benedict's son, while I am a great grandson of his. Thus she and I are second cousins once removed. Anyhow, I had been told by my father that two or three of his uncles had moved to Michigan and Ohio and one as far away as Oregon; so, it was no surprise to learn that I have relatives in Michigan. But the surprising thing to learn was that the story of a natve American ancestor had been passed down through her family as well as mine thus suggesting a common origin of several generations back.
Shirley and her husband Dan are ardent genealogists who are in the process of tracing the King ancestry. They found that Ebenezer was the son of Benedict and grandson of Henry King. In subsequent correspondence with Helen Fyvie of Mayfield, New York, I learned that Henry had moved from Hancock, Massachusetts, to Northampton, New York. In a history of Hancock mention was made that the town had been settled by Baptists from Connecticut and Rhode Island. Indeed I found a Henry King listed as head of household in the 1774 census for West Greenwich, Rhode Island; that he had married Martha Sweet of West Greenwich on March 10, 1766, and lived there for the next nine years.
Martha's father William Sweet, who not only had a farm but also owned and operated a sawmill at the head of his small mill pond, had acquired the nickname 'Wickaboxett William' probably to distinguish him from several other William Sweets. Wickaboxett is a Narragansett word meaning "at head of a small pond." This designation suggests that William Sweet may have been on good terms with the local Indians. Perhaps Henry learned the carpentry trade by working for Martha's father.
Henry and Martha King then moved to Coventry, Rhode Island, and from there in 1786 to Hancock, Massachusetts. Finally, in 1795, they moved once again to Northampton, Fulton (formerly part of Montgomery) County, New York. This part of Henry King's story is told more fully elsewhere.
Thus far neither Shirley and Dan nor I have identified Henry's father or other progenitors. If there is any truth to my Uncle Bill's recollection about his great grandfather, Henry and/or Martha could be the native American in the family line. In the 1774 census, however, both Henry and Martha are listed under "Whites," not under "Indians." Furthermore, in the Rhode Island 1777 Military Census both Henry King and William Sweet (and his son) are listed as white males, not American Indians. Therefore, Martha and her son Benedict King would have no native blood in them.
We must conclude either that Benedict's wife Mary may have been a native American woman and, therefore, their children would have been "half breed" or that my Uncle Bill's recollection is in error.
March 1,1974
