Married in Morrison, Illinois, in the year 1870

Oliver King Family  

Oliver King came to Plymouth County, Iowa, in 1870 from Illinois to homestead in Liberty Township.  His wife, Olive Ann Heaton King, came in late spring.  Oliver was a Civil War veteran and knew how to grave the hardships of a homesteader.  The first was a grasshopper plague that destroyed all the crops, then came the prairie fires, last but not least two blizzards in the Winter of 1872, when many lives were lost.

Four children were born on this homestead.  With no school near by, the family moved across the road north to Johnson Township into a well-built home, more land, and a school.  Seven children were born in this home. Two of which passed away at an early age.  The school which the children attended was called the Adaville School.

On Sunday night, November 13, 1921, while the family was attending church, fire destroyed this home, which was one of the oldest landmarks in the county. At the time of the fire, Warren J. King (one of the sons of Oliver & Olive) and his family were living in the house.  A new home was built later that same year.

Oliver and Olive Ann retired in their later years, leaving their sons to farm in their place.

Oliver passed away on April 21, 1932, and Olive Ann on April 3, 1933.  They were laid to rest in the Pleasant Valley Cemetery at Adaville.

~Source: Merrill Centennial 1872-1972, pp. 91-92.

AUNTIE KING REMEMBERED

[Auntie King was Mrs. Olive Ann King.]

By Rena Perry
To all of us in the countryside she was Auntie King, but to Mrs. Charles Brodie, she was Mother.

She introduced us to nursery rhymes, stories and songs and always had a heap of information about anything we asked.

While sitting or lying on the ground at her feet, she helped us find the big and little dippers.  She taught us Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and told us when seeing a falling star to think of a good friend and you would always think of that person when seeing a falling star, which proved to be true.

While waiting for one of the young boys to come home from a visit with one of the neighbors, his mother was relieved when she had us put our head down to the road and listen for the sounds of the horse’s hooves.  Raising our heads, we would see him coming up over the hill in the bright moonlight.