Santa Clara County
Biographies
GEORGE C. KING
A man of marked ability, enterprise and foresight, distinguished as one of the pioneers of the 1849, George C. King occupies a position of importance among the substantial and wealthy citizens of San Jose. Interested in mining for more than half a century, he has met with exceeding prosperity, and with discouraging reverses, winning and losing fortunes in different ventures. Beginning at the foot of the ladder of attainments, he has, however, finally surmounted all obstacles, and by earnest toil and persistency of purpose has risen to a position of influence and affluence. Since coming to the Pacific coast he has had many thrilling experiences and adventures, and has met with hairbreadth escapes from danger, his life history reading like a tale of romance. In 1850, while camping with a party on the sands of the Yuba, a huge grizzly bear made them a visit in the night and awakened one of the party, who shot at the beast but succeeded only in wounding it, but the other members attacked it with pick and knife and killed it. In 1852, while on his return from a trip to Ohio, the steamer Pioneer, on which he was a passenger, was wrecked at St. Simonds Bay. Though the danger for a time was great, no lives were lost, but the vessel was a total wreck.
A native of Ohio, he was born November 27, 1827, in Fremont, being the youngest of a family consisting of three boys and five girls, of whom four children, two boys and two girls survived. Jacob King, his father, was born at Harper’s Ferry, W. Va., but accompanied his parents to Ohio when a lad of mine years, and there spent the remainder of his life, dying when fifty-four years old. He was a farmer by occupation, but was also a hotel keeper in Fremont for a number of years. His wife, whose maiden name was Catherine Meyers, was born in Harrisburg, Pa., and died at the advanced age of four score and four years. She belonged to a family noted for its longevity, her father living to be ninety-six years old.
Having obtained his elementary education in the public schools of Fremont, Ohio, George C. King entered the Wesleyan College at Delaware, Ohio, where he was graduated from the classical department in 1847. Going then to Texas, Henry county, Ohio, he was engaged in the dry goods business for two years. In 1849, with a party of sixteen young men from Fremont, Ohio, he went to Cincinnati, where they all outfitted for California, buying thirty-four oxen, and sixteen horses and mules, While waiting in that city for a vessel, they found so many others waiting for the same opportunity, that this little band of sixteen chartered the steamer, Thomas Jefferson, paying $1,800 for its use, and besides getting their own transportation and that of their stock free to Missouri, cleared $1,000. May 8, 1849, the sixteen comrades left Independence, Mo., taking with them in addition to their stock two hunting dogs, with which they had great sport while on the way, and lost nothing excepting one yoke of oxen, which the Indians stole, and one dog that died. September 3, 1849, the party arrived at Grass Valley, where they remained thirty days, during which time two of the men looked after the cattle and horses while the other fourteen were employed in mining. Weighing up the gold obtained at the end of the month, it was found that each man was entitled to one ounce per day. Being told that they could not winter there, the sixteen took their entire outfit to Sacramento, where they sold out everything to good advantage, divided the proceeds, and dissolved the partnership, the party, of which General Steadman, of Civil war fame, was captain, scattering to different parts of the state.
After spending the winter in Hangtown, Mr. King went to the Yuba river in March, 1850, located claims, and with others, dammed the river twice, put in a race, and found smooth clean bedrock. Going from there to Nevada City, he bought an interest in a claim on Little Deer creek, where he met with success in his operations. In December, 1850, he went to Rich Bar, on Feather river, where he purchased two claims, from which he made good money. Purchasing the entire stock of thirty or forty small stores, paying forty cents a pound for the goods, he put all of the merchandise into a large log house, at Rich Bar, collecting a pretty good stock, none of which he expected to sell before the next spring. Very soon after he had opened his store, a Jew came along with a pack train of bacon, flour, etc., and he bought him out paying fifty cents a pound for the lot. Ten days later, another man came that way with a mule train of goods, and Mr. King purchased his goods, also, giving the same price as for the others. In February the miners came in in such numbers that he began selling at first for $1 per pound, afterward raising the price to $2.50 per pound, and still later, asking $5 per pound. He might easily have obtained $20 a pound for his merchandise, but he refused to ask more than $5. In the spring of 1851 Mr. King went to San Francisco to buy goods, and paid thirty cents freight. When he returned to Rich Bar, he could buy flour at twenty cents a pound, so he built two bakeries, one at Rich Bar and one at Smith’s Bar, and employed a baker, paying him $8 a day wages. In the meantime he bought a half interest in a mining claim, and six weeks later sold his share of the mine for $35,000 in cash.
In the fall of 1851, leaving his bakeries as they were, Mr. King returned to San Francisco with $65,000 in gold. The following February, he went back to Ohio by way of Nicaragua, and in September, 1852, returned to California by the same route; and later went to Truckee and Humboldt to buy horses, which he sold at a good profit. Locating in Grass Valley in December, 1852, he was there engaged in the grocery business for nearly eight years, making much money. Going to Virginia City in 1859, he became part owner of the Chollar mine and the Justice, on the Comstock, investing about $160,000, all of which he lost. In 1865, accompanied by his family, he visited Ohio, remaining a year in his native state. Returning to Grass Valley in 1866, he embarked in business as a dealer in boots and shoes, and was very successful. In 1870 he bought a quartz mine, but it proved a failure, and he lost heavily. Locating then on the descent, near Needles, Mr. King was successfully engaged in prospecting and mining until 1880, when he went to San Francisco, where, organizing a company of ten, he chartered the schooner, W. C. March, and started for Alaska. Going inland on the Fish river, the party located a silver and lead mine, the silver running $160 per ton. Leaving seven of the men there, the remainder of the party, three in number, went to the Kuskoquim bay, from there pushing inland on a whaling boat on the Kuskoquim river for six hundred miles to examine a mine, and found a big float of cinnabar. Two remained for six days prospecting for cinnabar. They then returned to Good News Bay to meet the W. C. March on her return September 5. The vessel failing to arrive, they remained there till October 6, when they started overland six hundred miles to Comolcoska, an old Russian trading point, where a Swede, Seprey, had an Indian trading post. They arrived there January 2. In the Spring, May 25, 1881, when the ice broke, Mr. King returned with the trader to Good News Bay, where he met the steamer Dora, on which he proceeded to St. Michaels, and from there returned in 1881, to his family in San Francisco, who had not hear from him for thirteen months. Mr. King sold his interest in the silvery property for $1,000. On a later expedition seventeen men loaded the schooner Alaska with eight tons of ore, and started for home, but nothing has since been heard from any member of the party.
The ensuing five years Mr. King was engaged in business in Oakland. In 1886 he went to Unga Island, Alaska, where he located a gold mine, known as the Apollo, and gave a one-half interest to the Alaska Commercial Trading Company to develop, put in machinery, and operated the property, in which he still holds a one-sixth interest. The company has put in a sixty stamp mill, and $250,000 worth of machinery, and has taken out about $3,000,000. In 1903 the company struck a flow of fresh water about six hundred feet below sea level, and have been fighting it ever since, and by means of large pumps have nearly conquered it. The island, thirty miles by twenty miles in its dimensions, is very rich in mineral ore. In 1893 Mr. King took up his residence in San Jose, buying a large tract of land at the corner of Union and Naglee streets, where he has built a fine residence, and set out orchards. He also has mining property in Calaveras county, Cal., and is interested in oil wells in Kern, Santa Barbara, Colusa and Yolo counties.
In Grass Valley, Cal., September 16, 1859, Mr. King married Sulphine Henderson, who was born in Clark county, Illinois, a daughter of Milton M. Henderson, who came across the plains the first time in 1852, and four years later brought his family to California. Of the five children born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. King three grew to years of maturity: Mrs. Josie L. Smith, of San Jose; A. P. King, a mining man, lives at home; and Addie L., who died at the age of twenty-six years. In politics Mr. King is independent, voting with the courage of his convictions for the best men and measures, but he has never been an aspirant for official honors.
Transcribed by Joyce Rugeroni.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1358-1360. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Joyce Rugeroni.