The following is a very sad and tragic story regarding Samuel W King, his wife, Mary Lou Birtsy Riddle, and their children, as told by Roy D. King of Rogersville, TN. Author E-mail: [email protected], (20 Jan. 2007), to his friend, Jim Hartung, genealogist for the Riddle and associated families.
Hi Jim,
Today was the first I knew of the Riddle link. It was sent to me by another King. There are several Riddles in my King family line and also that of my mother's Deyton family.
There is really not much about this family because it is such a tragic story. Mary Lou Bertsie Riddle King born 10-29-1882 died 7-14-1914 married Samuel W. King born 1880 and died 2-3-1914 on 1-24-1903 in Pensacola, Yancey, NC. Samuel was the son of Thomas Curtis King and Martha Louise Robinson. Louise was born in MO. Samuel and Bertie had the following children:
Porter T. born 6-5-1905 In Yancey County died 1926 in Houston, Harris, TX
Marguerite Thelma born 6-9-1907 in Yancey County
Mildred Elizabeth born 7-10-1910 Blairsville, Union, GA died 6-101927 in Dallas, Dallas,TX
Mabel Ruth born 10-9-1912 Blairsville,Union,GA died 2-6-1931 Dallas, Dallas,TX
Samuel was a Missionary Baptist. I don't know if it was in connection with this or not but the family moved to Blairsville, GA sometime between 1907 and 1910. It appears he and Bertie got TB while there. Again, I don't know if it had to do with his work as a minister or not but they moved to Big Spring, Howard, TX prior to 1913. At this time Samuel had already progressed to advanced stages of TB and Bertie was also in very poor health.
Bertie made application to place their children in Buckner Orphans Home in Dallas, a Baptist operated Orphanage, on 12-18-1913 because they were unable to care for them. The application was approved 1-15-1914 and the children entered the home 1-24-1914. Samuel died 10 days later and was buried in Mount Olive Cemetery in Big Spring, TX.
Shortly after the death of Samuel, Bertie moved back to Pensacola to be near her mother and died shortly after her return and as you know is buried near her parents.
Porter T., I don't know what the T stands for but after seeing your site I wonder if it may have been Tate, seemed healthy enough when he entered the orphanage. He reached the age of 18 and "graduated". A former inmate at Buckner, Elbert Ware, had started a business in Houston called Ware Electric Company and he only hired inmates from Buckner to work for him. Porter went to work for Mr Ware. Porter died from TB in Houston around Sept. or Oct 1926 I think based on a letter Margurite wrote dated 10-10-1926 asking the orphanage if it was true Porter had died. Vital Records for some reason does not have a record of his death. He is buried somewhere in Houston. I have been trying to locate the cemetery for more than five years. There was no date but Mr Ware wrote the Orphanage telling them " Porter died this morning" and gave the name of a minister to contact. The letter was not dated. He said that he and Porter's friends had bought him a nice casket and attended his funeral. He told them they had buried him in one of the "finest Cemeteries in Houston that was permanently cared for".
Mildred became very ill with TB and was placed in Woodlawn Hospital in Dallas. She was buried in the Buckner Home Cemetery. The cemetery was supposedly later moved and the city of Dallas built there. A person that had worked at the orphanage said the graves were not moved. Mildred was the only one with a death certificate on record.
Mabel was the same story as Mildred. She was also buried at the orphanage.
Margurite was the only member of the family to survive. Margurite left the orphanage sometime before 1926 and returned to Yancey County. Reading her letter I'm not sure if she reached 18 or just left because she said she wished she had stayed at the orphanage. She first lived with some of Samuel's people, not specified, and she thought things were bad so she went to live with someone in Bertie's family, again not specified. She told the orphanage her address was Pensacola, NC % Lim Coffee. I don't know if that was the husband of Bertie's sister Cora B or not. She later ended up in Kingsport,Sullivan, TN. I'm not sure why that came about but she was a nurse so I figure she went to Nursing school in Johnson City, TN then began work in Kingsport. She married James Carson Witt but I was never able to make contact with her. I don't know if she had children or not. Kingsport is only 39 miles from where I live so I contacted the only three Witts in the phone book but none of them knew her or James.
This is all the information I have on the family. Should this ring any bells or point you to further information, I would appreciate it if you would pass it on to me. I would love to find a photo of them. There was a lady in San Angelo,TX that contacted the orphanage wanting to locate Margurite to give her some photos. My last duty station was in San Angelo. Unfortunately I had not begun family research at that time and knew none of the above information. I have a sister out there but the house had been torn down and no one knew where the lady had gone by the time I heard about her inquiry.
Hopefully this will fill a few holes in your data base.
Roy
++++++++++++
Note by LB: I received two more emails, with updated info, from Roy. The second one only concerns Porter T King and will be listed in his bio.
Hi LaVerne, (Email dated 7/9/2010)
It took me 8 years to track down the grave of Samuel and I tracked down Porter's grave November 2008. I don't recall if I told Jim how fortunate it was I found Samuel when I did. I went to the Mount Olive Cemetery and ask an attendant if he could show me the grave. He got his papers and said it should be here but I don't think there is a stone. I have always been fascinated by rocks and caught the sun glimmer on a piece of rock about a 1/2 inch big. I walked over and began scraping with my toe and it was the headstone for Samuel. A year longer in finding his grave and the stone would have been buried forever. I have death certificates for all the family but Mabel and Marguerite. TX Vital Records for some odd reason does not have a certificate for Mabel and by the time I located Marguerite our governor had stopped anyone getting records except a spouse or sibling. A very stupid law since you can go to the Social Security Death Index and get the information they say they are protecting.
It is ok to use the information and e-mail info.
Roy
++++++++++++
(Note by LB: The Certificates for Mable and Marguerite have now been located.)
Many thanks to Roy D. King of Rogerville, TN for supplying this information and authorizing it's use.
Hi Jim,
Today was the first I knew of the Riddle link. It was sent to me by another King. There are several Riddles in my King family line and also that of my mother's Deyton family.
There is really not much about this family because it is such a tragic story. Mary Lou Bertsie Riddle King born 10-29-1882 died 7-14-1914 married Samuel W. King born 1880 and died 2-3-1914 on 1-24-1903 in Pensacola, Yancey, NC. Samuel was the son of Thomas Curtis King and Martha Louise Robinson. Louise was born in MO. Samuel and Bertie had the following children:
Porter T. born 6-5-1905 In Yancey County died 1926 in Houston, Harris, TX
Marguerite Thelma born 6-9-1907 in Yancey County
Mildred Elizabeth born 7-10-1910 Blairsville, Union, GA died 6-101927 in Dallas, Dallas,TX
Mabel Ruth born 10-9-1912 Blairsville,Union,GA died 2-6-1931 Dallas, Dallas,TX
Samuel was a Missionary Baptist. I don't know if it was in connection with this or not but the family moved to Blairsville, GA sometime between 1907 and 1910. It appears he and Bertie got TB while there. Again, I don't know if it had to do with his work as a minister or not but they moved to Big Spring, Howard, TX prior to 1913. At this time Samuel had already progressed to advanced stages of TB and Bertie was also in very poor health.
Bertie made application to place their children in Buckner Orphans Home in Dallas, a Baptist operated Orphanage, on 12-18-1913 because they were unable to care for them. The application was approved 1-15-1914 and the children entered the home 1-24-1914. Samuel died 10 days later and was buried in Mount Olive Cemetery in Big Spring, TX.
Shortly after the death of Samuel, Bertie moved back to Pensacola to be near her mother and died shortly after her return and as you know is buried near her parents.
Porter T., I don't know what the T stands for but after seeing your site I wonder if it may have been Tate, seemed healthy enough when he entered the orphanage. He reached the age of 18 and "graduated". A former inmate at Buckner, Elbert Ware, had started a business in Houston called Ware Electric Company and he only hired inmates from Buckner to work for him. Porter went to work for Mr Ware. Porter died from TB in Houston around Sept. or Oct 1926 I think based on a letter Margurite wrote dated 10-10-1926 asking the orphanage if it was true Porter had died. Vital Records for some reason does not have a record of his death. He is buried somewhere in Houston. I have been trying to locate the cemetery for more than five years. There was no date but Mr Ware wrote the Orphanage telling them " Porter died this morning" and gave the name of a minister to contact. The letter was not dated. He said that he and Porter's friends had bought him a nice casket and attended his funeral. He told them they had buried him in one of the "finest Cemeteries in Houston that was permanently cared for".
Mildred became very ill with TB and was placed in Woodlawn Hospital in Dallas. She was buried in the Buckner Home Cemetery. The cemetery was supposedly later moved and the city of Dallas built there. A person that had worked at the orphanage said the graves were not moved. Mildred was the only one with a death certificate on record.
Mabel was the same story as Mildred. She was also buried at the orphanage.
Margurite was the only member of the family to survive. Margurite left the orphanage sometime before 1926 and returned to Yancey County. Reading her letter I'm not sure if she reached 18 or just left because she said she wished she had stayed at the orphanage. She first lived with some of Samuel's people, not specified, and she thought things were bad so she went to live with someone in Bertie's family, again not specified. She told the orphanage her address was Pensacola, NC % Lim Coffee. I don't know if that was the husband of Bertie's sister Cora B or not. She later ended up in Kingsport,Sullivan, TN. I'm not sure why that came about but she was a nurse so I figure she went to Nursing school in Johnson City, TN then began work in Kingsport. She married James Carson Witt but I was never able to make contact with her. I don't know if she had children or not. Kingsport is only 39 miles from where I live so I contacted the only three Witts in the phone book but none of them knew her or James.
This is all the information I have on the family. Should this ring any bells or point you to further information, I would appreciate it if you would pass it on to me. I would love to find a photo of them. There was a lady in San Angelo,TX that contacted the orphanage wanting to locate Margurite to give her some photos. My last duty station was in San Angelo. Unfortunately I had not begun family research at that time and knew none of the above information. I have a sister out there but the house had been torn down and no one knew where the lady had gone by the time I heard about her inquiry.
Hopefully this will fill a few holes in your data base.
Roy
++++++++++++
Note by LB: I received two more emails, with updated info, from Roy. The second one only concerns Porter T King and will be listed in his bio.
Hi LaVerne, (Email dated 7/9/2010)
It took me 8 years to track down the grave of Samuel and I tracked down Porter's grave November 2008. I don't recall if I told Jim how fortunate it was I found Samuel when I did. I went to the Mount Olive Cemetery and ask an attendant if he could show me the grave. He got his papers and said it should be here but I don't think there is a stone. I have always been fascinated by rocks and caught the sun glimmer on a piece of rock about a 1/2 inch big. I walked over and began scraping with my toe and it was the headstone for Samuel. A year longer in finding his grave and the stone would have been buried forever. I have death certificates for all the family but Mabel and Marguerite. TX Vital Records for some odd reason does not have a certificate for Mabel and by the time I located Marguerite our governor had stopped anyone getting records except a spouse or sibling. A very stupid law since you can go to the Social Security Death Index and get the information they say they are protecting.
It is ok to use the information and e-mail info.
Roy
++++++++++++
(Note by LB: The Certificates for Mable and Marguerite have now been located.)
Many thanks to Roy D. King of Rogerville, TN for supplying this information and authorizing it's use.
The following is a very sad and tragic story regarding Samuel W King, his wife, Mary Lou Birtsy Riddle, and their children, as told by Roy D. King of Rogersville, TN. Author E-mail: [email protected], (20 Jan. 2007), to his friend, Jim Hartung, genealogist for the Riddle and associated families.
Hi Jim,
Today was the first I knew of the Riddle link. It was sent to me by another King. There are several Riddles in my King family line and also that of my mother's Deyton family.
There is really not much about this family because it is such a tragic story. Mary Lou Bertsie Riddle King born 10-29-1882 died 7-14-1914 married Samuel W. King born 1880 and died 2-3-1914 on 1-24-1903 in Pensacola, Yancey, NC. Samuel was the son of Thomas Curtis King and Martha Louise Robinson. Louise was born in MO. Samuel and Bertie had the following children:
Porter T. born 6-5-1905 In Yancey County died 1926 in Houston, Harris, TX
Marguerite Thelma born 6-9-1907 in Yancey County
Mildred Elizabeth born 7-10-1910 Blairsville, Union, GA died 6-101927 in Dallas, Dallas,TX
Mabel Ruth born 10-9-1912 Blairsville,Union,GA died 2-6-1931 Dallas, Dallas,TX
Samuel was a Missionary Baptist. I don't know if it was in connection with this or not but the family moved to Blairsville, GA sometime between 1907 and 1910. It appears he and Bertie got TB while there. Again, I don't know if it had to do with his work as a minister or not but they moved to Big Spring, Howard, TX prior to 1913. At this time Samuel had already progressed to advanced stages of TB and Bertie was also in very poor health.
Bertie made application to place their children in Buckner Orphans Home in Dallas, a Baptist operated Orphanage, on 12-18-1913 because they were unable to care for them. The application was approved 1-15-1914 and the children entered the home 1-24-1914. Samuel died 10 days later and was buried in Mount Olive Cemetery in Big Spring, TX.
Shortly after the death of Samuel, Bertie moved back to Pensacola to be near her mother and died shortly after her return and as you know is buried near her parents.
Porter T., I don't know what the T stands for but after seeing your site I wonder if it may have been Tate, seemed healthy enough when he entered the orphanage. He reached the age of 18 and "graduated". A former inmate at Buckner, Elbert Ware, had started a business in Houston called Ware Electric Company and he only hired inmates from Buckner to work for him. Porter went to work for Mr Ware. Porter died from TB in Houston around Sept. or Oct 1926 I think based on a letter Margurite wrote dated 10-10-1926 asking the orphanage if it was true Porter had died. Vital Records for some reason does not have a record of his death. He is buried somewhere in Houston. I have been trying to locate the cemetery for more than five years. There was no date but Mr Ware wrote the Orphanage telling them " Porter died this morning" and gave the name of a minister to contact. The letter was not dated. He said that he and Porter's friends had bought him a nice casket and attended his funeral. He told them they had buried him in one of the "finest Cemeteries in Houston that was permanently cared for".
Mildred became very ill with TB and was placed in Woodlawn Hospital in Dallas. She was buried in the Buckner Home Cemetery. The cemetery was supposedly later moved and the city of Dallas built there. A person that had worked at the orphanage said the graves were not moved. Mildred was the only one with a death certificate on record.
Mabel was the same story as Mildred. She was also buried at the orphanage.
Margurite was the only member of the family to survive. Margurite left the orphanage sometime before 1926 and returned to Yancey County. Reading her letter I'm not sure if she reached 18 or just left because she said she wished she had stayed at the orphanage. She first lived with some of Samuel's people, not specified, and she thought things were bad so she went to live with someone in Bertie's family, again not specified. She told the orphanage her address was Pensacola, NC % Lim Coffee. I don't know if that was the husband of Bertie's sister Cora B or not. She later ended up in Kingsport,Sullivan, TN. I'm not sure why that came about but she was a nurse so I figure she went to Nursing school in Johnson City, TN then began work in Kingsport. She married James Carson Witt but I was never able to make contact with her. I don't know if she had children or not. Kingsport is only 39 miles from where I live so I contacted the only three Witts in the phone book but none of them knew her or James.
This is all the information I have on the family. Should this ring any bells or point you to further information, I would appreciate it if you would pass it on to me. I would love to find a photo of them. There was a lady in San Angelo,TX that contacted the orphanage wanting to locate Margurite to give her some photos. My last duty station was in San Angelo. Unfortunately I had not begun family research at that time and knew none of the above information. I have a sister out there but the house had been torn down and no one knew where the lady had gone by the time I heard about her inquiry.
Hopefully this will fill a few holes in your data base.
Roy
++++++++++++
Note by LB: I received two more emails, with updated info, from Roy. The second one only concerns Porter T King and will be listed in his bio.
Hi LaVerne, (Email dated 7/9/2010)
It took me 8 years to track down the grave of Samuel and I tracked down Porter's grave November 2008. I don't recall if I told Jim how fortunate it was I found Samuel when I did. I went to the Mount Olive Cemetery and ask an attendant if he could show me the grave. He got his papers and said it should be here but I don't think there is a stone. I have always been fascinated by rocks and caught the sun glimmer on a piece of rock about a 1/2 inch big. I walked over and began scraping with my toe and it was the headstone for Samuel. A year longer in finding his grave and the stone would have been buried forever. I have death certificates for all the family but Mabel and Marguerite. TX Vital Records for some odd reason does not have a certificate for Mabel and by the time I located Marguerite our governor had stopped anyone getting records except a spouse or sibling. A very stupid law since you can go to the Social Security Death Index and get the information they say they are protecting.
It is ok to use the information and e-mail info.
Roy
++++++++++++
(Note by LB: The Certificates for Mable and Marguerite have now been located.)
Many thanks to Roy D. King of Rogerville, TN for supplying this information and authorizing it's use.
Hi Jim,
Today was the first I knew of the Riddle link. It was sent to me by another King. There are several Riddles in my King family line and also that of my mother's Deyton family.
There is really not much about this family because it is such a tragic story. Mary Lou Bertsie Riddle King born 10-29-1882 died 7-14-1914 married Samuel W. King born 1880 and died 2-3-1914 on 1-24-1903 in Pensacola, Yancey, NC. Samuel was the son of Thomas Curtis King and Martha Louise Robinson. Louise was born in MO. Samuel and Bertie had the following children:
Porter T. born 6-5-1905 In Yancey County died 1926 in Houston, Harris, TX
Marguerite Thelma born 6-9-1907 in Yancey County
Mildred Elizabeth born 7-10-1910 Blairsville, Union, GA died 6-101927 in Dallas, Dallas,TX
Mabel Ruth born 10-9-1912 Blairsville,Union,GA died 2-6-1931 Dallas, Dallas,TX
Samuel was a Missionary Baptist. I don't know if it was in connection with this or not but the family moved to Blairsville, GA sometime between 1907 and 1910. It appears he and Bertie got TB while there. Again, I don't know if it had to do with his work as a minister or not but they moved to Big Spring, Howard, TX prior to 1913. At this time Samuel had already progressed to advanced stages of TB and Bertie was also in very poor health.
Bertie made application to place their children in Buckner Orphans Home in Dallas, a Baptist operated Orphanage, on 12-18-1913 because they were unable to care for them. The application was approved 1-15-1914 and the children entered the home 1-24-1914. Samuel died 10 days later and was buried in Mount Olive Cemetery in Big Spring, TX.
Shortly after the death of Samuel, Bertie moved back to Pensacola to be near her mother and died shortly after her return and as you know is buried near her parents.
Porter T., I don't know what the T stands for but after seeing your site I wonder if it may have been Tate, seemed healthy enough when he entered the orphanage. He reached the age of 18 and "graduated". A former inmate at Buckner, Elbert Ware, had started a business in Houston called Ware Electric Company and he only hired inmates from Buckner to work for him. Porter went to work for Mr Ware. Porter died from TB in Houston around Sept. or Oct 1926 I think based on a letter Margurite wrote dated 10-10-1926 asking the orphanage if it was true Porter had died. Vital Records for some reason does not have a record of his death. He is buried somewhere in Houston. I have been trying to locate the cemetery for more than five years. There was no date but Mr Ware wrote the Orphanage telling them " Porter died this morning" and gave the name of a minister to contact. The letter was not dated. He said that he and Porter's friends had bought him a nice casket and attended his funeral. He told them they had buried him in one of the "finest Cemeteries in Houston that was permanently cared for".
Mildred became very ill with TB and was placed in Woodlawn Hospital in Dallas. She was buried in the Buckner Home Cemetery. The cemetery was supposedly later moved and the city of Dallas built there. A person that had worked at the orphanage said the graves were not moved. Mildred was the only one with a death certificate on record.
Mabel was the same story as Mildred. She was also buried at the orphanage.
Margurite was the only member of the family to survive. Margurite left the orphanage sometime before 1926 and returned to Yancey County. Reading her letter I'm not sure if she reached 18 or just left because she said she wished she had stayed at the orphanage. She first lived with some of Samuel's people, not specified, and she thought things were bad so she went to live with someone in Bertie's family, again not specified. She told the orphanage her address was Pensacola, NC % Lim Coffee. I don't know if that was the husband of Bertie's sister Cora B or not. She later ended up in Kingsport,Sullivan, TN. I'm not sure why that came about but she was a nurse so I figure she went to Nursing school in Johnson City, TN then began work in Kingsport. She married James Carson Witt but I was never able to make contact with her. I don't know if she had children or not. Kingsport is only 39 miles from where I live so I contacted the only three Witts in the phone book but none of them knew her or James.
This is all the information I have on the family. Should this ring any bells or point you to further information, I would appreciate it if you would pass it on to me. I would love to find a photo of them. There was a lady in San Angelo,TX that contacted the orphanage wanting to locate Margurite to give her some photos. My last duty station was in San Angelo. Unfortunately I had not begun family research at that time and knew none of the above information. I have a sister out there but the house had been torn down and no one knew where the lady had gone by the time I heard about her inquiry.
Hopefully this will fill a few holes in your data base.
Roy
++++++++++++
Note by LB: I received two more emails, with updated info, from Roy. The second one only concerns Porter T King and will be listed in his bio.
Hi LaVerne, (Email dated 7/9/2010)
It took me 8 years to track down the grave of Samuel and I tracked down Porter's grave November 2008. I don't recall if I told Jim how fortunate it was I found Samuel when I did. I went to the Mount Olive Cemetery and ask an attendant if he could show me the grave. He got his papers and said it should be here but I don't think there is a stone. I have always been fascinated by rocks and caught the sun glimmer on a piece of rock about a 1/2 inch big. I walked over and began scraping with my toe and it was the headstone for Samuel. A year longer in finding his grave and the stone would have been buried forever. I have death certificates for all the family but Mabel and Marguerite. TX Vital Records for some odd reason does not have a certificate for Mabel and by the time I located Marguerite our governor had stopped anyone getting records except a spouse or sibling. A very stupid law since you can go to the Social Security Death Index and get the information they say they are protecting.
It is ok to use the information and e-mail info.
Roy
++++++++++++
(Note by LB: The Certificates for Mable and Marguerite have now been located.)
Many thanks to Roy D. King of Rogerville, TN for supplying this information and authorizing it's use.
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