Thomas Jefferson King

Judge Thomas J. King, county and probate judge of Sevier County, and one of the progressive farmers and stock-raisers of the county, was born in Cass (now Bartow) County, Ga., November 30, 1845, and is the seventh of nine children, the result of the union of John H. and Belinda C. (Perkerson) King.

The father was born in South Carolina, January 20, 1800, and moved from there to Georgia, where he made his home until 1858. He then moved to Sevier County and purchased a small farm near the present site of Lockesburg. There his death occurred in the fall of 1865. He was a mechanic by occupation. For a number of years he held the office of justice of the peace, and other local positions of trust. Socially he was a member of the Masonic fraternity. His father, William King, was a farmer and died in Georgia. The mother of Judge King was a member of the Methodist Church for many years, and died in 1878.

Judge King's brother, William John, died in Sebastian County during the war while serving as a private in the Confederate army. The Judge was reared near where Lockesburg now stands, assisted on the farm, and received his education in the common schools. When eighteen years of age he joined Company G, Twelfth Arkansas Cavalry, but dismounted in Arkansas. He took part in several skirmishes. He disbanded at Marshall, Tex., at the close of the war, and returned to his home, where he engaged in tilling the soil.

He was married in 1868 to Miss Mary J. Moser, a native of Mississippi, born in 1848, and the daughter of Anderson and Jane M. Moser, natives of Alabama and South Carolina, and born in 1826 and 1829, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Moser were married in Mississippi in 1858 removed to Smith County, Tex., and in 1865 to Sevier County, where they remained until 1868. From there they moved to Hempstead County, and the same year to Pulaski County, where they still make their home. Both are members of the Baptist Church. The father was a farmer, and served as justice of the peace in Pulaski County for some time.

To Judge and Mrs. King were born eight children, three sons and two daughters now living. Judge King has been living near Lockesburg; but for the past three years he has resided in that town, where he has a good home. He is also the owner of 224 acres in different tracts. He served six years as justice of the peace, and then, in 1886, was elected county judge, and re-elected in 1888. He is a man of sound judgement, broad intelligence and liberal, progressive ideas. A Democrat in politics, his vote was cast for H. Seymour, in 1868. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity, Bellville Lodge No. 35, at Lockesburg, since twenty-one years of age, and has held nearly all the offices in the same. He is now W. M. in the Blue Lodge and high priest of Paraclifta Chapter No. 18, also belonging to the Council. He and Mrs. King are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
(Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas - Goodspeed Publishing Company - Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis - 1890)* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Nov 16 2023, 16:19:54 UTC