The earliest record of Henry King we have located so far is found on page 31 of Arnold's Vital Records of Rhode Island 1636- 1850 Vol.I. Henry King and Martha Swet, both of West Greenwich, were married on March 10, 1766 by Samuel Hopkins, Justice of the Peace. By the following year Martha's maternal grandfather John Case(Cass) of West Greenwich had died and Henry received on behalf of his wife "the sum of 20 pounds old tenor it being the full sum or right that fell to my wife from the sd. deceased personal estae & I do receive the same in behalf of my wife I say received the same in full." Henry signed the affidavit with "his mark." This act indicates that he could not write even his name at this time (January 14 1767).
The next record is in the Rhode Island census of 1774 for West Greenwich as discussed below. Then, from Records of Deeds for Coventry, RI., we find Henry purchased land in Coventry on March 11, 1775, and presumably moved there; for in 1782 he and his family are listed in Rhode Island's Coventry census for that year. Finally, the Coventry Records of Deeds show that Henry and Martha sold their Rhode Island lands in January 1787.
The Record of Deeds for Berkshire County, Massachusetts, on file in Pittsfield show that Henry King purchased a farm in Hancock on February 27, 1787; and three years later he is listed in the first federal census as being a resident of that town. Then, as filed in Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, on April 1, 1794, Henry and Martha (her mark) signed a deed of sale for the farm.
We next find Henry and Martha King living in the Northampton, New York, where they remained for the rest of their lives. Henry is listed for that town in the federal censuses of 1800 and 1810 but not in the 1820 census although he lived until 1824. His Will of 1824 lists Anne as his wife and only 8 children. Evidently Martha had died sometime before 1820. She and Henry had at least 10 children, as I shall now demonstrate.
The census data of 1774 for Henry and his family are:
1M>16, 2M <16;1F>16, 2F<16.In this and the following entries M and F stand for male and female and the numbers represent age ranges. I shall interpret this array of numbers to mean:
1M over 16, 2M 0-16; IF over 16, 2F 0-16By 1782 these members of the family be eight years older and, therefore, they would fit into the pattern:
1M over 24, 2M 8-24; 1F over 24, 2F 8-24.The actual 1782 census for this family, however , lists
1M 22-49, 4M<16; 1F 22-49, 3F<16that is,
1M 22-49, 4M 0-16; 1F 22-49, 3F 0-16By comparing this sequence with the foregoing pattern we find the family consists of
1M 24-49, 2M 8-16, 2M 0-8; 1F 24-49, 2F 8-16, 1F 0-8
By 1790 the members of the family would be older by eight more years and, therefore, the new distribution would be
1M 32-57, 2M 16-24, 2M 8-16 2F 32-57, 2F 16-24, 1F 8-16Throughout this analysis thus far we assume no member of the family has died. The first federal census for Massachusetts as taken in 1790 shows for Henry King of Hancock:
2M>16, 3M <16; 6FThe actual distribution for members of the family at home now can be written:
1M 32-57, 1M 16-24, 2M 8-16, 1M 0-8; 1F 32-57, 2F 16-24, 1F 8-16, 2F 0-8.
Evidently, one of the oldest sons either died or left home. By 1794 the second of the oldest sons would have reached age 21 and left home as well. Also by this time one or two of the daughters would have reached a marriageable age. By adding ten to the foregoing distribution of numbers we obtain a new sequence that should apply for 1800; namely,
1M 42-67, 1M 26-34, 2M 18-26, 1M 10-18; 1F 42-67, 2F 26-34, 1F 18-26, 2F 10-18.However, the federal census data of 1800 for Henry King and family are:
1M ~ 45, lM 10-16, 4M ~ 10; IF 26-45, 1F < 10.Comparing these data with the foregoing sequence we obtain for family members at home,
1M 45-67, 1M 10-16, 4M 0-10; 1F either 42-45 or 26-34, 1F 0-10.Clearly, the mother has died and several children have died or left home; namely, one son 26-33, two sons 18-25, one daughter 26-33, one daughter 18-25, and two daughters 10-17. Furthermore, it is highly unlikely that the five children under ten years old were offspring of Martha, for by 1800 she would have been over 50 years old. As a matter of fact, we know that she was born on July 1, 1747. For the next step in this analysis we add 10 more years to the last distribution:
1M 55-77, 1M 20-25, 4M 10-19; 1F 36-43, 1F 10-19.This sequence now is compared with the 1810 Federal census data:
1M > 45; 1F > 45, 1F 10-16, 1F ~10.The new distribution is:
1M 55-77; 1F over 45, IF 10-16, 1F 0-9.The son 20-25 and the daughter(?) 36-43 have left home. The four males 10-19 may have been sons of this daughter and, therefore, left Henry's household with her. I am tempted to suggest that the female over 45 years old is Henry's second wife - perhaps Anne; but Mrs. Fyvie states that Henry married Anne in 1818! (This should be checked.) Is it possible that Anne was his third wife? Who is the female over 45 years old in 1810 if not a second wife (or a live in) who died (or left Henry's household) before 1818?
In this analysis we have demonstrated that Henry and Martha had at least ten children. Also. Martha appears to have died between 1795 and 1800 at an age betwen 48 and 53. Henry died in 1824. We can estimate his age from the fact that he was married in 1766 and young men usually did not marry until they were at least 21 years old. This would mean that Henry would have been at least 79 years old when he died.
Curiously, there was a young man named Henry King who settled, circa 1790, in the Town of Washington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. A 1791 deed records a purchase of land by him. Later he sold it and bought another piece; but by 1813 he had also sold it. This Henry King appears in the 1800 and 1810 censuses. Was he perhaps the oldest son of Henry and Martha? Where did he go after 1813?
In an Indenture executed on March 17, 1859, John King, son of Henry King, and his wife Jane transfer all their land and personal property over to their son Benedict of Northampton, New York, with the provision "to take my father John King amd Mother Jane King into my own house and provide them food and all nesiary (sp) clothing and all things necisary (sp) for people of their age and standing in society that may be for their comfort during their natural lives and at their deaths Give them a christian Bural (sp) and further after the death of both father and mother agree to pay to his Brother Henry King thirty dollars and to pay all Just demands ..." Here is the only direct reference found to date suggesting that John's father Henry had a son also named Henry. Was this Henry the oldest son of Henry and Martha King who left home shortly before 1790? Often the first son would be given the father's name.
Reference: page 207 of Rhode Island Vital Records, Vol. 7. East Greenwich and West Greenwich, "Marriages from Probate, Grave, and Death Records, 1680-1860", as compiled by Alden Gamaliel Beaman and Published by Compiler, Princeton, MA, 1980. December 21, 1987
