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EARLY KING FAMILIES
AND GEORGIA CHEROKEES


THE WIDOW SOPHIA KING FROM SOUTH CAROLINA

WILLIAM W. KING AND A BIGGER KING’S PLACE

ISAAC C. KING, LATTY ROAD SCHOOL TEACHER

MYRA ELLEN KING AND
WALTER MARTIN


THE HULSEY CONNECTIONS

THE PATTERSONS AND KIRKS OF MADISON COUNTY, GEORGIA

THE KING FAMILY TREE
A Rootsweb family tree starting with Sophia King
 

The Appearance of Sophia King,
The Widow From South Carolina

Sophia was born in South Carolina in or near 1790.  Because her maiden name is unknown, her parents and place of birth are still unidentified.  She married a man named King, but when and where is not known.  He was also born in South Carolina, but nothing more about him is certain.

One possibility is that the William King in Hall county in 1820 was her husband, and because he disappeared before 1830 he could have left Sophia a widow as we find her in 1830.  Nothing about the two families in 1820 and 1830 is inconsistent, and the use of the name William is predominant.  Use of the name James is also predominant, but no consistent James King can be found.  Sophia may have moved her family as a widow, but the question remains: on whose land was she living.

Myra Ellen King Martin told stories of Sophia and her husband being full blooded Cherokee from South Carolina, and Sophia’s husband being a chief.  Myra’s sister, Cora, told a different story, that the family’s Cherokee blood came from the wife’s side.  They just don’t recall her saying which wife: Ann Patterson, Tempe Hulsey or Sophia - or someone else.

These are very different stories about the same heritage, but remaining descendants who were told by each sister are adamant that these are the stories each sister told.  All remember the differing stories as being most consistent, but the facts in each case seem impossible to verify.  Hulseys and Pattersons were not Cherokee families, although some Hulseys are said to have some Cherokee blood

In 1830 Sophia and her family lived in the Glades District of Hall County between the Chattahoochee River to the north and the Oconee to the south.  Her neighbors included Charles Hulsey, Edward Pitman, Jacob Cagle, John Jennings, Jonathan Martin,  Willis Barton and John Inzer, Hall’s oldest Revolutionary War survivor.  Some had moved from Jackson County after 1820, and some from South Carolina.  Sophia’s husband, or maybe even Sophia, could have migrated with them.

Unless Sophia was a tenant in the early years, she may have lived on a headright obtained by her husband.  Her son William later included a headright in a deed for some of the family property he owned.  But how could or why would a full blooded Cherokee leader buy land, or be given land, outside the Nation?  Unless maybe he wasn’t.

Sophia and Arminda remained on King’s Place into the 1850s after William and Tempie married and he became head of household, and then she moved in with her daughter, Mary, and son-in-law, James J. Hulsey, after they moved north across the Chattahoochee.  After James died in 1864, the widow Mary headed the family, and Sophia and Arminda continued to live with her.  Sophia died during the 1870’s.  She and Arminda may be buried in unmarked graves in the Hulsey family cemetery. which is located off North Brown’s Bridge Road near Lake Lanier.

Four of the five children listed in the 1830 census with Sophia are identified.  Myra King Martin claimed Sophia’s children were full blood Cherokees:

1. Unidentified Son, born between 1815 and 1819
2. James F. King, born in 1822 in Georgia and disappeared before 1860.
3. Arminda Jane King, born in 1823 in Georgia and disappeared before 1910.
4. William W. King, born on 15 October 1824 in Georgia and died on 11 Mar 1903, buried in Bethlehem Baptist Church Cemetery
5. Mary A. King, born in 1925 in Georgia and died on 21 September 1894

Sophia could have had older children than those living with her is 1830, but none are positively identified.  Some believe Jesse King, who appeared in Cherokee County in 1840 could have been an older son listed living with Sophia in 1830.  He matched Sophia’s unidentified son and was born in 1815 in South Carolina.  He named his first three children William W., Mary and James, the same as Sophia’s youngest children.  Jesse was related to Green King, who in 1830 lived in Hall very near Sophia, and he is the right age to be an older son.  Some researchers believe Green and Jesse are related to John King of Jackson County, but this is not verified.

James F. King:  During the 1830s, James may have traveled to South Carolina where he could have married his wife, Harriett, and where his first son, William W. King, was  born, according to census records.  He returned to Hall County during the 1840s, and worked as a tenant farmer on or near the King family property at the time of the 1850 census.  On 28 May 1852 James purchased 50 acres in Lot 2 in Hall County’s Land Lot District 10 from Elijah Hulsey (Book G, pg. 497).  The property is on the far west boundary of the county, but on 15 May 1859 James purchased from Young Vickers 250 acres in Lot 96 in Land Lot District 12 (Book I, pg. 116).  This property is just north of King’s Place on the opposite side of the Chattahoochee River, seemingly adjacent to James J. Hulsey’s property.  In 1860 Harriett is head of household and James appears to be missing or dead.

The children of James and Harriett King include:
1. William W. King (1843);
2. Elizabeth (1844);
3. James (1849);
4. Jane (1851).

Arminda Jane King: Arminda never married and she stayed with her mother until Sophia’s death.  Arminda continued to live with her widowed sister, Mary, until her death, and she is recorded as working at carding and spinning as an occupation.  Weaving and arts like basket making were common trades among Cherokee woman.  She is not found in the 1900 census, and is probably buried with her mother in the Hulsey cemetery or elsewhere in Hall.

William W. King:  See the next page.

Mary A. King:  Mary wed James Jasper Hulsey in 1840, and gave birth to seven children.  James was the youngest son of Adler Hulsey, and lived on King’s Place for a time (1850 census), before moving north of the Chattahoochee across from King’s Place.  In 1850 Sophia and Arminda continued to live with William and his new teenage wife, Tempie, but by 1860 they were living with James and Mary.  Then James died in 1864.  His will is dated 20 June 1864 and leaves everything to his wife Mary King Hulsey (it was probated 5 Dec. 1864, pages 209-210, and was witnessed by Samuel Chalmers, Jacob Cagle, Burel Hulsey and Hiram Cape).  Sophia and Arminda continued to live with the widow Mary until their deaths.  Sophia died before 1870, and Mary died 21 September 1894.  Arminda is not found in 1900 and was probably no longer be living.  In the old Hulsey Cemetery off North Browning Bridge Road, James and Mary Hulsey and two daughters, Martha Hulsey Coffee and Mary Hulsey, are buried among the 14 visible graves (7 adults and 7 children).

The children of James and Mary Hulsey include:
1. Thaney (born 21 October 1841, married 16 February 1859 to Thomas R. Shockley)
2. Adler (born 27 November 1847, married in 1865 to Roxie A.)
3. Emily (born 11 November 1849, married 15 June 1865 to Rutherford Ash Gowder)
4. Marion (born 15 Jan 1852, married 15 February 1877 to Margarete Martin, and died in 1943 - buried in Timber Ridge Cemetery)
5. Martha (born 4 February 1854, married Edgar Coffee in 1867, and buried in the Hulsey Cemetery)
6. Mary Delith (born 14 April 1861, and probably died as a child and buried in the Hulsey Cemetery)
7. William (born 21 April 1862, he married on 26 October 1884 to Francis C. Lawson)

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King-Place-Property-small

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King’s Place was located off Cagle Road on the Chattahoochee River (which became Lake Lanier). The King home place was located to the right, while James and Mary King Hulsey lived across the river.  The Hulsey Cemetery is located here.

HallLandLotMap-small1

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Hall County Land Lot Districts are defined by the method in which property was dispersed and when.  The oldest settled area was south of the ridge line and the land was first given as headrights.  Then land between the ridge line and the Chattahoochee were ceded and divided into lots.  At last all land north of the river was ceded by the Cherokee and was divided into lots as well.  Hall ended up with six Land Lot Districts and one Headright District.

HallMilitiaDistricts-small

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All counties created before the Revolutionary War were divided into militia districts to organize citizen protection.  They were first named for the Captain in charge of the district, but later obtained permanent names and GMD numbers.  The GMD stood for Georgia Militia District.

JJ and Mary King Hulsey Headstones

James Jasper Hulsey and wife Mary King Hulsey are buried across the river from Ling’s Place on the Hulsey property, now the Don Carter Georgia State Park.  The are seven adult and seven child graves, most  unmarked.  It is probably that Sophia and Arminda King are buried here.

Martha Coffee and Mary Hulsey Headstones

James and Mary King Hulsey had seven children.  Two girls, Martha and Mary, were buried in the old Hulsey Cemetery off N. Brown’s Bridge Road with their parents.

Marion-Hulsey-Grave

James and Mary King Hulsey’s son, Marion, and his wife Margaret Martin, were buried at Timber Ridge Baptist Church.