Category: Ancestors

The Murder of Joseph J King (1867-1935)

Joseph J “J. J.” King was born in Chattahoochee County, Georgia to William Nathan King and Georgia Ann Dennard in May of 1867. He was a lifelong bachelor but stayed close to his extended family members. His nephew Frank Jones even lived with him for a while.

J. J. co-owned a grocery store with his brother-in-law Benjamin Franklin Barge until Barge retired in September of 1896. J. J.’s brother William Henry King then helped him run the store.

Americus Times-Recorder September 18, 1896

In September of 1909, tragedy struck the King brothers’ store. A fire of unknown origin sent the store and the entirety of their stock up in flames. The store was a complete loss as they had no insurance. A young man sleeping in the store was also badly burned before he could escape and later succumbed to his injuries.

Americus Times-Recorder September 30, 1909

J. J. rebuilt the store and continued to run it until tragedy struck again in 1935, this time in a much darker manner. On the night of January 3, 1935, J. J. was murdered at his place of business. His death certificate listed the cause of death as “murdered by being struck on head with a hickory stick” and cites “violent blows on head with hickory stick” as the manner and nature of injury.

The Butler Herald of January 10, 1935 reports that Columbus detectives had been brought in to help track down the “party or parties” responsible for his murder, and further reports that they tried to cover up their crime by burning the body.

Butler Herald January 10, 1935

By February 14, the guilty parties had been apprehended and tried for the crime. It came out in the trial that J. J. King had attempted to collect debt owed to him by Willie S. Grimes, and had been slain in revenge. Grimes, D. Brown, Kid Wilbourn, and possibly one other assailant had attacked J. J. King in his own store and beaten him to death.

The Butler Herald of February 21, 1935 reports that all three men had been found guilty and sentenced to execution by electric chair, to occur on the 6th and 7th of March. One additional suspect had been arrested but not yet indicted.

Butler Herald February 21, 1935

Joseph J. King (May 1867 – 3 January 1935) was buried next to many other members of his family in the Weston Methodist Church Cemetery, Weston, Webster County, Georgia.

Geronimo Way King (1886-1964)

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.