Joseph Warren King
The late Joseph Warren King, who in his day and for many years was one of the dominant figures in the business life of this section of Ohio and proprietor of the great powder mills which have so long been a distinctive feature of industrialism hereabout, was a native of Connecticut, born at Suffield. that state, August 31, 1814, son of John Bowker and Hannah (Newton) King, both of old Colonial stock, the Kings having had representation on this side as early as 1672, the first of the name in New England having settled at Ipswich, Massachusetts, in that year. James King, son of this emigrant, settled in Suffield, Connecticut, in 1678. He had a son, Joseph, whose son, also Joseph King, served as a soldier of the patriot army during the Revolutionary War. John Bowker King was a son of this Revolutionary soldier. His wife, Hannah Newton, who was of "Mayflower" descent, was a daughter of John Newton, who also was a Revolutionary soldier. John Bowker King, who died on May 30, 1853, is mentioned in contemporary notes as "a man of good business ability, a substantial farmer and an upright man."
Reared on the home farm in Connecticut, Joseph W. King received a measure of schooling that was regarded as liberal in those days and as a young man made a satisfactory arrangement with his father whereby he was permitted to seek his fame and his fortune in fields farther to the west and with such an end in view came to Ohio and located at Westfield (now Leroy), in Medina county, his first business venture on his own account being as a book agent. In 1838 Mr. King returned to Connecticut to claim the hand of the young woman who there awaited him and straightway after their marriage he and his bride started for their Western home, going by canal and lake to Cleveland and thence down to Westfield, where they began their domestic life in a small house in which they set up what was said to have been the first cook-stove seen in that part of the country. In Westfield Mr. King opened a general store and presently moved to Lima, where he opened a store and where he also engaged in the pork-packing business under the firm name of King & Day. While at Lima Mr. King became interested in the subject of the manufacture of powder, presently, about the year 1850, moving to Xenia, where, in partnership with Alvin Austin, he engaged in the manufacture of powder, establishing mills for that purpose about five miles north of the city, the business being carried on under the firm name of Austin, King & Company. Mr. King after a while purchased Mr. Austin's interest in the concern and incorporated the business under the name of the Miami Powder Company, of which for more than twenty years he was president. In 1878 Mr. King disposed of his interest in the Miami Powder Company and established another powder-mill in Warren county, locating the same at Kings Station, now known as Kings Mills, on the Little Miami; incorporating the business under the name of King's Great Western Powder Company, of which concern he was elected president and continued an active factor in the same until his death, which occurred on July 8, 1885, since which time his interests in the concern have been represented by his daughters. In addition to his powder-mill interests Mr. King had other interests. He was one of the organizers of the Citizen's National Bank of Xenia and from the time of its organization until his death was president of the same, as well as president of the Merchants and Manufacturers Bank of Columbus; had connections with the pork-packing industry at Lima, with iron and paper manufactories and with various other concerns.
In 1838 Joseph W. King was married at his old home at Suffield, Connecticut. His widow survived him for nearly eleven years, continuing to make her home in the house on East Main street which he had erected at Xenia not long after taking up his residence there, her death occurring there on March 3, 1896. She was born, Betsy Kendall, at Suffield, a daughter of Capt. Simon and Elizabeth (Kent) Kendall, the latter of whom was a lineal descendant of Gov. William Bradford, one of the "Mayflower" emigrants and governor of Plymouth Colony, and of Major John Mason, who won fame during the Pequot War in 1637 and who was to Connecticut Colony what Miles Standish was to the Plymouth Plantation. To Joseph W. and Betsy (Kendall) King were born five daughters, namely: Helen, now deceased, who was the wife of the Reverend Doctor Morehead, of Xenia; Mary, wife of G. M. Peters, of Cincinnati ; Elouisa. wife of C. C. Nichols, a banker, of Wilmington, Ohio, and Isadora and Emma, who continue to reside at the old home in Xenia. Joseph W. King and his wife were members of the Baptist church and Mr. King was for many years superintendent of the Sunday school of the same. Miss Emma King was one of the chief promoters of the movement which led to the organization of Catherine Greene chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution at Xenia and was elected first regent of the same. Miss Isadora King is a member of the Greene County Library Board.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918