Nevada
County
Biographies
PETER KING
Peter King, the manager of the Union
Lumber Company of Grass Valley has been actively identified with the growth and
prosperity of Nevada County, especially along the line of its lumber interests,
for a number of years. His business
ability is such as to aid in qualifying him for the control of extensive
interests, and his enterprise and determination have been stepping-stones on
which he has risen to the responsible place which he now occupies in commercial
circles.
A native of Maine, Mr. King was born
in Whitefield, Lincoln County, on the 12th of August 1854, his
parents being Enoch and Eleanor (Baily) King, both of
whom were natives of the Pine Tree state.
His ancestors on both the paternal and maternal sides resided in America
prior to the Revolutionary War, and the grandfathers of our subject were
patriot soldiers in that memorable struggle which brought independence to the
nation. Enoch King was a lumberman by
occupation, and for many years engaged in the operation of a
sawmill and the sale of lumber in Maine.
He died in 1870. In the family
were eight children, including a pair of twins, one of whom is our subject.
Peter King is indebted to the public
school system for the educational privileges which he received in literary
lines. He afterward entered the Dirigo Business College, of Augusta, Maine, where he gained
a theoretical knowledge of the principles and practices of business life. His early boyhood days were spent upon a farm
and he assisted in the labors of field and meadow. Subsequently he secured a clerkship in a
mercantile establishment, and was thus employed for six years. In 1877 he came to California, locating in
Grass Valley, where for twelve years he was employed by the Mohawk Lumber
Company, and after the expiration of that period he spent one winter in San
Francisco. He then removed to
Georgetown, El Dorado County, and later he had two years’ experience in the boot
and shoe trade in Eureka, Humboldt County.
On selling out that business he returned to Grass Valley, where he
entered into partnership as a member of the firm of King & Wolford,
proprietors and operators of a sawmill.
This business connection was formed in 1893, and the firm purchased and operated
the planing mill of George Murphy. Later
the company was incorporated under the firm name of the Union Lumber Company,
of which Mr. King has since been manager, the directors being George W. Towle,
Sam, Wolford, Mrs. Emma Kitts, William Coyne, Grant McMullen and Peter King,
who also holds the office of manager and secretary. Messrs. King & Wolford also own other
mill property located about sixteen miles from the city, and having a capacity
of fifteen thousand feet of lumber daily.
The business done by the Union Lumber Company has reached extensive
proportions, and under the capable management of Mr. King the enterprise has
proved a very profitable one. He is a
man of great energy, of resolute purpose and marked executive ability, and
these qualities have enabled him to secure an excellent trade.
On the 17th of November,
1890, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. King and Miss Catherine Mulkohey, a native of California, and they now have two
children, Sunrin D. and Carl. In politics Mr. King is a Republican, but has
never sought or desired public office, preferring to devote his time and
energies to his business interests.
Socially he affiliates with the Masonic order, having taken the degrees
of the blue lodge and chapter. He
deserves credit for his success in life, for it has been achieved entirely
through his well-directed efforts, and at all times his reliability in business
transactions has commended him to the confidence and regard of those with whom he
has been brought into contact.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 370-371. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Nevada County Biographies