San
Bernardino County
Biographies
Lyman M. King is widely known as the
president of the Redlands Building-Loan Association, with offices at the corner
of Citrus avenue and Fifth street in Redlands.
He has also long figured prominently in public affairs of southern
California and made a splendid record as state senator from San Bernardino and
Inyo counties for eight years. In the
capacity of state director of finance he added seven million dollars to the
state treasury surplus.
Mr. King was born in Ayr, Iowa, July
17, 1872, his parents being Rev. Ensign H. and Fidelia C. (Wilson) King, native
of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively.
Rev. E.H. King, a graduate of Cornell Theological Seminary, was for many
years a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church and long a member of the
Des Moines (Iowa) Conference. He came to
California in 1874 and for a period of seven years preached the gospel at
various places in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
He made his home in Napa, California, where his death occurred in
1918. A veteran of the Civil war,
Reverend Kind served for three years and nine months as chaplain of the
Fifteenth Iowa Infantry and saw considerable fighting. It was in Osceola, Iowa, that he married Miss
Wilson and they became the parents of five children, four of whom survive, as
follows: Percy S., who is superior court
judge at Napa; Lyman M., of this review; George, a clergyman of Napa; and Mrs.
May Harris, also a resident of Napa, where the mother of these children
likewise makes her home.
In the acquirement of an education
Lyman M. King attended Napa College and the old University of the Pacific, now
known as the College of the Pacific, being a member of the class of 1890 in the
latter institution. On leaving college
he obtained employment as a printer with G. M. Francis on the Napa Register and
later was made a reporter. Subsequently
he became city editor of a newspaper in Pasadena, where he was associated with
Charles A. Gardner, and next was joint owner of the Pasadena Star with Mr.
Baumgartner. In 1898 he sold his
interest in the Star and came to Redlands, where he published the Redlands
Daily Facts in joint ownership with Paul. W. Moore, to whom he eventually
disposed of his interest in the paper.
At the latter date he assumed the presidency of the Redlands
Building-Loan Association as the successor of William Thomas Bill, who had been
its head for a quarter of a century. The
story of the Redlands Building-Loan Association may be found on another page of
this work.
In 1895 Mr. King married Marian
Grigsby, of Tennessee, daughter of Cecil L. and Lucy Grigsby. Mr. and Mrs. King are the parents of a son
and a daughter, the latter being Karolyn, the wife of James C. Lewis and the
mother of three children: Peter Maull,
Palrica and Mariannee. Lyman H. King,
Jr., married Alice Brownson, of Los Angeles.
A worthy exemplar of the teachings
and purposes of the Masonic fraternity, Mr. King is past master of Redlands
Lodge, F. and A.M., and also a member of the Chapter, R.A.M. He likewise belongs to the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks and is a past grand master of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows in the state of California.
His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Presbyterian
Church, of which he is an elder. During
the World war he served without pay with the Young Men’s Christian Association
in France and also represented the Red Cross in negotiations with the French
ministry of war.
The record of Mr. King in public
office is one of which he may well be proud.
During his eight years’ service as state senator from San Bernardino and
Inyo counties he was the author of the King tax bill which increased
corporation rates to an equality with those of citizens; author of the first
laws restricting shipment and sale of green and frost damaged citrus fruits;
created the great Game Refuge in San Bernardino mountains and made the road
through it a state highway. At the
primary election of August 30. 1932, he was a candidate for the republican
nomination for representative in congress from the nineteenth California
district, embracing the counties of San Bernardino, Orange and Riverside. He stood for President Hoover and his
policies; forest development and water conservation; safety of people’s
savings; establishment of National Home Loan Bank similar to Federal Reserve
Ban for trade and industry, and to Farm Loan Bank for agriculture; five-day week,
and shorter day if necessary, to provide employment for more workers; tariff on
oil, to restore domestic market for petroleum to America; greatly reduced cost
of government and lower taxes; draft of industry and capital, as well as
manhood, in event of war; crushing of racketeering and gangsterism; prompt and
severe punishment of kidnapers and murderers; eighteenth amendment.
Transcribed by
Mary Ellen Frazier.
Source:
California of the South Vol. V, by John Steven McGroarty,
Pages 749-751, Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2013 Mary Ellen Frazier.
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NUGGET'S SAN BERNARDINO BIOGRAPHIES