Mrs. Elizabeth King, p. 689

    MRS. ELIZABETH KING. William King, a son of Thomas, was born in Ireland and
came with his father to America. He was married in this country to Margaret, a
daughter of James McNall, a native of Ireland, and the following children were
born to their union: James, born February 27, 1809; Thomas, born October 2,
1810; Eleanor, born August 25, 1812; William, born January 30, 1815; John, born
December 6, 1817; Joseph, born January 26, 1820; Andrew, born June 16, 1822;
Hugh, born December 15, 1824; Wells, born April 13, 1828, and Margaret J., born
October 25, 1830; all of whom are now deceased except Andrew and Margaret J.,
and their children are scattered through different parts of the country.

    William King was born January 30, 1815, in Washington county, Penn., and
when eleven years of age came with the family to his present home in Robinson
township. Though enjoying but limited educational advantages, Mr. King
possessed much intelligence and business capacity. In 1840 he was united in
marriage with Elizabeth Hooper. To them five children were born, namely:
Margaret, Jane (Mrs. Robert Geary), Martha E. (deceased), William J. and Anna
Zetta, all of whom are living on the home farm with their widowed mother. The
father was a stanch member of the Democratic party, and in religious faith was
a member and liberal supporter of the Robinson United Presbyterian Church. He
died September 6, 1884, leaving to his family a double inheritance, an
untarnished name being the first and most important. By careful management he
had accumulated a good property, leaving 269 acres of excellent land, underlaid
with a six-foot vein of the best coal, which greatly increases the value of the
property, now considered one of the best estates in Robinson township.

    Hugh King, a brother of William, died while on the ship "Claremont," during
her passage from New Orleans to Philadelphia. He was traveling for his health
at that time. The following statement was sent home by the captain of the ship:
"Hugh King died January 5, 1847, on board the bark 'Claremont,' on her passage
from New Orleans to Philadelphia, in Latitude 25 degrees 42 minutes North,
Longitude 84 degrees 12 minutes West. He was a native of Robinson township,
Washington Co., Penn. Capt. Edward Lamond, commander." The following lines by
Anna L. Lear were written on the death of Hugh King:

        Low in the deep we laid him down!
        Sweet is his sleep, and bright the crown
        The sea shall weave around his head,
        While pearl and amber deck his bed.

        High in the sky the evening star,
        With pitying eye looked from afar-
        The tender moon, through the still night,
        Shed o'er the scene her lambent light.

        His requiem the soft wind wailed
        As far from him our fleet ship sailed,
        While he, no more to wake or weep,
        Unheeding lay, low in the deep.

        No marbled grace o'er him shall rise,
        No human trace tells where he lies.
        Yet He, whose hand holds all the waves,
        Forgets no lonely ocean graves. 

    MRS. ELIZABETH KING, a resident of Robinson township, is a daughter of
William Hooper, who is a son of Philip Hooper, who was of German descent and a
tanner by trade. Philip Hooper came to Allegheny county, Penn., when the
forests were teeming with wild beasts and nomadic Indians, naturally jealous of
the white man's encroachments on their soil. Mr. Hooper sunk vats for his
tannery under the branches of sugar trees, as he could not afford to build a
shed for them. He was married to Jane Hill, who bore him seven children:
Philip, Alexander, Samuel, John, William, Elizabeth and Nancy. William Hooper
was born on the home place in Allegheny county, becoming familiar from boyhood
with the hardships and dangers incident to frontier life. He selected as his
life companion Miss Jane Wright, who father, James Wright, was born in Ireland,
and emigrating to this country, settled in Allegheny county, Penn. The Indians
were often heard moving along the creek just below his cabin door, while the
listener would wait breathlessly until the sound of their footsteps was lost in
the distance, or if coming nearer still, then the terrified family would flee
to a neighboring fort for refuge. To William and Jane (Wright) Hooper thirteen
children were born, of whom the following lived to maturity: James, Philip,
John, William, Elizabeth, Samuel, Jane and Archibald, of whom Elizabeth is the
only one yet surviving. She was born November 5, 1815, on the old Hooper
homestead in Allegheny county, Penn., where she grew to womanhood, assisting
with the household duties. On December 28, 1840, she gave her hand in marriage
to William King, a son of William, whose father, Thomas King, settled near
Washington, this county, at an early day.

    Text taken from page 689 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative
Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers &
Co., 1893).

    Transcribed February 1998 by Kathy Lininger of Celina, OH as part of the
Beers Project.  Published February 1998 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb
pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.