The history of the agricultural development of Wayne county and of the business progress and advancement of Humeston contains the record of the life of no more worthy, upright and honorable man than Benjamin KING, extensive landowner, former farmer, president of the Humeston State Bank, and for many years one of the most powerful forces in the upbuilding of this section of the state. Through a childhood hampered by poverty and limited educational advantages, through early years of earnest labor against discouragement and hard conditions he has made his way upward to prosperity, working always with courage and steadfast determination until success and happiness have BENJAMIN KING crowned his old age. He was born in New York, December 29, 1831, and is a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (HANMORE) KING, natives of New York, who lived and died in that state.

Benjamin KING of this review grew to manhood in the Empire state and for two years attended the common schools. This is all the school training he ever received but it has been supplemented by travel, by deep thinking, wide reading and varied experiences and today Benjamin KING is considered one of the best informed men in this part of Iowa. Influenced by his determination to conquer all obstacles and hew out for himself an honorable destiny, he left New York in 1868 and pushed westward to Chariton, Iowa, the terminus of the railroad at that time. He and his family settled on a farm in Richman township, one mile east of Humeston, and with characteristic energy and determination Mr. KING began his agricultural career. Pioneer conditions prevailed throughout the entire section, settlements were sparse, Mr. KING's nearest neighbor being one mile away, and discomforts were innumerable. However, these were faced with resolute courage and were little by little overcome. Mr. KING's first farm consisted of eighty acres but he has bought and disposed of several tracts of land since that time and was the owner of one of the finest agricultural properties in Wayne county. However, he has disposed of all of his farming land in order to give more time to his extensive business affairs.

Mr. KING's career indicates clearly what may be accomplished when determination, ability and unfaltering industry are strong characteristics of the individual. Throughout the course of his active and well spent life he has by diligence, application and the labor of his hands amassed a comfortable fortune which has been honorably acquired and never unworthily used. He has moved into a beautiful home in Humeston and is to a great extent concentrating his attention upon the affairs of the Humeston State Bank, which he opened on the 9th of February, 1893, and which now has a capital stock of sixty thousand dollars. Mr. KING has been acting as its president since the organization of the institution and under his able management it has grown to be one of the strong, reliable and conservative banks of the city.

In New York, on the 13th of April, 1859, Mr. KING was united in marriage to Miss Julia Elizabeth DEYO. who was born in Coldwater, Michigan, April 3, 1839, a daughter of Abram and Phoebe DEYO, natives of New York. The father died in Nebraska in 1886 and the mother passed away in her native state on the 31st of August, 1906. In their family were four children: Mrs. Rowena HASBROUCK, of New York; Mrs. KING, of this sketch; Martha H., who passed away in 1909; and Mrs. Adelia HASBROUCK, also deceased.

Mr. and Mrs. KING became the parents of two daughters, both of whom were born in Poughkeepsie. New York; Mrs. Cora P. FLETCHER, whose birth occurred on the 7th of February, 1860, and who died at Tingley, Iowa, December 19, 1908; and Phebe Deyo, born September 8, 1862, who for the past fourteen years has been a ssistant cashier of the Humeston State Bank. Both daughters received an excellent public-school education and Phebe is a graduate of the Iowa Business College at Des Moines. Mrs. KING is a member of the Congregational church.

Mr. KING gives his allegiance to the republican party and has at all times been eminently progressive in his citizenship. He has served in various important local offices, having been assessor of Richman township, mayor of Humeston, a member of the town council and city treasurer, discharging his official duties in a straightforward, progressive and conscientious manner. Fraternally he is affiliated with Fidelity Lodge, No. 228, F. & A. M., of Humeston and Chappaqua Lodge, I. O. 0. F., of which he is a charter member. Mr. KING deserves great credit for what he has accomplished, having worked his way steadily upward by determined and straightforward effort. He is today one of the most highly respected pioneer citizens of southern Iowa and the progress of his career can be readily traced through his youth of steadfast work, his active, energetic and successful middle age to the evening of his life, which is full of years and honor.

SOURCE: Past and Present of Lucas and Wayne Counties Vol. II., 3rd Series Pp. 332-333. S.J. Clarke Publ. Co. Chicago. 1912.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, June of 2009