Geronimo Way King was born in Cusseta, Chattahoochee County, Georgia on the 18th of October, 1886 to Garry Wood King and Catherine Alice King. His unusual first name was suggested by his uncle on his mother’s side, Henry Clay “Penny” King. Geronimo Way was the 11th of Garry Wood and Catherine Alice’s children, so they may have been running out of name ideas. When Uncle Penny visited the new born child, the baby’s cries sounded like Indian war cries to Uncle Penny and he said “Sounds like we have another Geronimo!” The name stuck, though Geronimo Way frequently referred to himself as “G. W. King, Jr.”
He graduated from high school in Cusseta and continued on to the University of Georgia, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1908. He would carry this love of education throughout his life, and pass it on to his children.
On the 1st of October, 1918, he married Martha “Mattie” Virginia Foster, the daughter of Wilbur Fisk Foster and Ann Hasseltine Sapp. They would have three children: Virginia Way King (1920), Hal Foster King (1922), and Helen Hasseltine King (1925).
Geronimo was elected to the post of Chattahoochee County Superintendent of Schools in 1923, and would hold this position until 1936. He served in the State House of Representatives from 1949-1951, and served in the State Senate from 1951-1952. Upon his return to Cusseta, he served for eleven more years as County Superintendent of Schools, from 1953-1964. He was well known as an upright, honest man in the community, always ready with a helping hand for those in need.
Geronimo Way King, or “Gonnie” as he was affectionately known by his grandchildren, died on September 23, 1964. His wife Mattie survived him by almost twenty years, and both are buried in the King section of the Mount Olive Cemetery in Cusseta, Georgia. The epitaph on his ledger stone reads:
He was a King, a right, true King who dared do ought save wrong.
Parents: Garry Wood King, Catherine Alice King
Spouse: Martha Virginia Foster
Children: Virginia Way King, Hal Foster King, Helen Hasseltine King
Thanks to my cousin Arleen King Beasley for the story behind Geronimo Way King’s unusual first name.