Adolphus King 1894–1985 – Genealogical Records

Sources

Genealogy Event 1
Event Type: Birth
Event Date: 28 SEP 1894
Event Place: Broad Cove, T.B., NFLD
Record Source: KING - from Bruce.ftw

Genealogy Event 2
Event Type: Burial
Event Place: Jamaica, NY
Record Source: KING - from Bruce.ftw

Genealogy Event 3
Event Type: Naturalization
Event Date: 20 FEB 1940
Record Source: KING - from Bruce.ftw

Genealogy Event 4
Event Type: Residence
Event Date: 12 APR 1928
Record Source: KING - from Bruce.ftw

Genealogy Event 5
Event Type: Custom Event
Record Source: [KING - from Bruce.ftw] Gen 5 (1) some insights from a letter of 2 Feb 1977: "... 'the matematician of Mulleys Cove' was a derisive o r s arcasticremark or description for one of the poorest p upil s in the class atthat time by an esteemed teacher." "... Andrew Vatcher ... would qualify better as a warde n o f aprison. ... His use of the cane was cruel and woul d no t be toleratedtoday even in the most backward countri es." "The last 2 years I was there my cousin whom you met in To r onto wasour teacher and what a difference. That was Matt he w G. King whobecame principal of Centenary Hall and lat e r Registrar of the Boardof Education for all of Nfld. " (M atthew Gilbert King was hismother's brother's son. ) "Mat t brought new life and better educationto the schoo l. See ing we were then about 17 or 18 years of age wewer e husk y and during recess or after school we'd play footba ll and he got in the game with us. He expected you to wor k at y our deskafterward as you did kicking football and h e got i t." "When we went to school our exams which took place in Ju n e wasprepared in England and sent back there for correct io n. Resultswere given out late Aug or Sept." "... I went as a scaler for Harry J. Crowe at Juniper Bro o k justeast of Bishops Falls. Later for the Anglo Nfld d ev elopment co. onthe Harpoon River which leads into Red I ndi an Lake. From there thelogs and pulpwood was floate d dow n the Exploits River to Grand Fallsand Botswood." (2) Given that Reuben King and Alfreda King were sibling s , GeorgeGilbert King pointed out, in a letter of 24 Ju l 19 88, that AdolphusKing, Millicent King, and Mable Jan e (Mam e) King were _double_ firstcousins: in each pair, t he pare nts of each cousin were married Topeople Who Wer E Brothe R And Sister. Consider Adolphus and Mame, forexa mple. Ad olphus's father was Reuben, whose sister was Alfr eda,whos e daughter was Mame; but Mame's father (John Penn ey King) a ndAdolphus's mother (Mary Jane King) were broth er and sist er! (3) from Gertrude (Trudy) King Savage to BWK on 31 May 199 9 :Adolphus King lived with William Samuel King and Lily T u cker Kingfor a time, when he first came to the U.S.A. , a t Richmond Hill.Later, apparently, he boarded at Mrs . Swa n's. (Later: Thatprobably would have been when Ado lphu s was admitted to the U.S. in1928. But we now know f rom h is Declaration of Intentions that hewas in Boston a s earl y as 1920--three years before William Samuelarrive d in th e U.S.) (4) Based on William Samuel's obituary in a newspaper clip p ing, itappears that W.S. was in the U.S. in late 1922 o r i n 1923. SoAdolphus King arrived some time after that . O n the other hand, thismay not have been Adolphus' _fi rst _ visit to the U.S. There is astory that I believ e I (BWK ) recall him telling, which goessomething like th is. He w as in a "fleabag hotel" in Boston, andleft in th e middle o f the night for the railway station. He took the first tra in out of Boston, not caring where he went, an d ended upi n Hartford, where he came down with the flu . When he was recovering, he went into the street, becaus e there was som e kind ofparade. There he met some Newfou ndlanders, who s aid he should comewith them to Long Islan d, where there wa s plenty of work forcarpenters. Adolphus , as I recall, sai d he knew nothing aboutcarpentry, and t he other Newfies sa id that it didn't make anydifference . That is supposed t o have led to his first visit to Long Island. Now, if I re member that correctly, this flu epi demic wasin 1919, s o I need to see if Adolphus shows up i n the 1920 Census.( He doesn't. Nevertheless, he was i n Boston as early as 192 0. Seehis Declaration of Intenti ons, in his file.) (Later addition, as a result of a phone conversation wit h G GK on 21Nov 1999: GGK said that Adolphus was home i n 1917 , and he had theimpression that Adolphus was "doin g well" . He brought home anEdison phonograph--cabinet-st yle. Th is was about the best made, atthe time. As the co nversatio n evolved, I pointed out that theHalifax explosi on was o n 6 Dec 1917, and we know that Adolphus wasin Hal ifax at t hat time. So GGK acknowledged that it may have b een1918 t hat Adolphus was home, though summer 1917 remain s a possibility.) (5) Here's another story, told to me (BWK) by George Gilbe r t King ina 5 Sep 1999 telephone call. William Samuel Ki n g was a sergeant inField Artillary, the Canadian Expedit io nery Force during the "GreatWar". In 1919, there was s om e kind of patriotic concert held inBroad Cove, and Will ia m Samuel and Adolphus King planned some or allof this e ven t. Adolphus had a phonograph that he had purchased; GG Ksai d that he had one in 1917, which I presume he finance d thro ughhis labors in Halifax. Adolphus played the musi c he had , whichhappened to be Irish music. But the audie nce was n ot pleased,preferring Scottish music instead. ( Here's a b it more on this, as aresult of the phone conver sation of 2 1 Nov 1999: There was a womannamed Molly Man n in Norther n Ireland who somehow became a friend ofMar y Jane King, an d a correspondence developed. As a result , GGKsaid that A dolphus took a liking to these people, an d that's why heha d access to, and liked, the Irish musi c played that day. G GKsaid it was the men of the Orangem an's association who d id not likethe Irish music.) (6) Recall that William Samuel King's wedding announceme n t includedthe following description of his WW1 experienc es : "For over threeyears he was a member of the Canadia n Ex peditionary Force, takingpart as signaller and gunner , a t Vimy Ridge, at Hill 70, where hewas badly gassed, an d a t Passchendael, where he was shell-shocked.On recover y af ter hospital treatment he volunteered for the Northern Russ ia Expedition, but the medical authorities ruled oth erwise. "In a telephone call of 12 Sep 1999, GGK said tha t Adolph us King"straightened out" his brother after the w ar. I as ked GGK what thatmeant. He said that AK "staye d with" WSK , got him to stop smoking,etc. GGK also sai d that Mary Ja ne King gave AK credit for helpingWSK to st raighten out af ter the war. (7) Adolphus' 1 Dec 1936 application for a Social Securi t y account(see file) reveals (a) that he lived at 143 E . Me lrose Street,Valley Stream at the time, and (b) tha t his e mployer was SamuelHall, 555 E. 52nd St., Brooklyn . (He wo rked in Brooklyn for manyyears, I believe. He t old me lon g ago that, during the depression,he boarded u p houses i n Brooklyn for the Dime Savings Bank.) (Later: His Declar ation of Intention, dated 13 Dec 1935, show s that helive d at 11 Stark Place, Lynbrook, at that time . So, in short , helived in Lynbrook in 1935, in Valley S tream in 1936, a nd in RichmondHill after 1938 (when W.S . King died). (8) Adolphus' Certificate of Arrival shows that he was adm i tted tothe U.S. "for permanent residence" on 12 April 19 28 . He arrived inNew York City on the S.S. Rosalind . I rec all him telling a storythat he was insulted by so me immigr ation officer, which made himangry. Then Willia m Samuel a rrived in his big Buick to pick upDolph, whic h embarrasse d the immigration officer. (9) Although he was admitted for permanent residence o n 1 2 April1928, Adolphus did not file a Declaration of In tent ion to become aU.S. citizen until 13 Dec 1935--afte r his f irst child was born (andtwo days before the secon d was bor n!). In short, like his brotherWilliam Samuel , the Declar ation was filed only when he (appear tohave ) decided tha t his children should be brought up in the U. S.,not in New foundland. (10) His Petition for Naturalization was filed in Brookl y n on 2 Oct1939. His witnesses were Edith Grogan and Geo rg e Rowsell. One ofthem--probably Edith--affirms that sh e h as known Adolphus "sinceSeptember 1, 1934 and that .. . th e petitioner has resided ...continuously ... since .. . a t Richmond Hill ... since June 30, 1938...". Since Wi llia m Samuel died on 28 Feb 1938, in the next fourmonth s Lil y Marion Tucker King apparently decided to return t oNewfou ndland, and sold her Richmond Hill house to her br other-in-law Adolphus. I recall that he agreed to pay he r about twi ce whatit was worth, to give her a reasonabl y steady sourc e of income. (11) Adolphus took the Oath of Allegiance on 20 February 1 9 40, andbecame a U.S. citizen at that time. (12) GGK told me that Adolphus and Gertie went to Bosto n o n theirhoneymoon. And Alice Mary King Gommo told me ( i n a 4 Jan 2000 phonecall) that Adolphus & Gertie were cl os e to Ken Reynolds & Ethel King(Adolphus' cousin), who l ive d in or near Boston. And one of myearliest memories i s o f being in Boston and finding a toy gun undersome outs id e steps. Perhaps at Ken & Ethel's place??? So things begin to fall in place... U.S. District Court, Brooklyn; Petition 269060 Certificate Of Arrival; Admitted To U.S. For Permanent Res i dence Maple Grove Cemetery, Jamaica, NY

Genealogy Event 6
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 27 JUN 1985
Event Place: New Milford, CT
Record Source: KING - from Bruce.ftw