The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1909-12-16
HONORABLE RECORD
Sketch of Hon. Clark King,
Wellknown Citizen of
Montpelier
SOME "REMINISCENCES
Has Held the OFFICES Of High Sheriff
and State SenatOr-Tells OF the Big
Flood OF 1852.

Flood OF 1862.
Hon. Clark King, one of the
best known of the older res
idents of Montpelier, was born
in what is now known as
East Montpelier on October 8, 1880.
East Montpelier was not cut off from
the township of Montpelier until
about 1854. His father was DR.. Ma
thaniel c. King, who came from Ro-
chester, Mass, having been born in
1889, being the son of Jonathan and
Mary Clark King.
DR.. King had a long and interest
ing career He taught school in his
youth, but deciding to make the med
ical profession his life work, he stud
led for a while under DR.. Foster, of
Rochester, and then attended lee
lures at the medical school at Dart
mouth College. In 1912 DR.. King
came to Vermont taking up his prac-
tice in North Montpelier, but in 1914
he forsook his own private interests
to follow his countrys flag, and
served as surgeon in the second war
against Great Britain. After his mar
riage to Miss Fannie Davis, the
daughter of Nathaniel Davis, a prom
inent citizen of Montpelier, he gave
up the practice of medicine and en-
gagged in mercantile trade with his
full in this, becoming one of the
wealthy men of Vermont. All through
his life he showed himself to be pa
! triotic and public spirited. He rep
resented his town in the Legislature
of 1S49-50, and served for a long
time as Justice of the Peace.
Five children were born to DR..
and Mrs. King, of whom Clark King
is the youngest. DR.. King died on
Dec. l, 1882, and was the Oldest man
in town at the time, being SO years
of age Mrs. King was born in 1894,
died in 1S47.
! Clark King received his early edu-
cation at the academy in South Wood
stock. After this in his early life
! he became farmer in East Montpe-
lier, holding nearly all the town Of
fees. In 1867 he was elected High
Sheriff of Washington county. Mr..
King tells of the incident as follows
II came to Montpelier one day in
August, and put up my team opposite
the court house at what was then
the Burnham Hotel. After dinner |
was getting my team to go home-I
didn't know there was a convention
being held in the court house for |
had not taken any interest in county
politics-when one of the prominent
men of Montpelier came out of the
court house and called, Say Mr..
King, did you know they were going
to elect you High Sheriff today -
Why no. l replied, 4 didn't know
there was convention He persu-
AIDED me to come into the court
house, and inside l found some of the
East Montpelier committee men. |
was Immediately put on this COM
mittee. | sat down by Janus Cros-
sett, of Duxbury. When the cleo
ton of High Sheriff came up I was
nominated, and there appeared to be
very little opposition. Neither Cros-
sett nor l knew who the other was,
and when he turned to me and asked
me what kind of a man the nominee
Clark King, was, and if l knew him &.
| told him that | was very well &C
quainted with Mr.. King. Well what
sort of man is hep inquired Cros-
sett. | said Il call him a pretty scaly
kind of man. He got up and talked
with an East Montpelier man who
evidently told him who | was, for in
short while he came back and said
You're funny Teller and voted for
me. There had been one or two dep
uties after the office but the vote
was nearly unanimous. l was sworn
in the next December and / was not
very well posted when | came to
Montpelier. / employed Luther New
comb. the Counyt Clerk, to post me
in all matters pertaining to my du-
ties which he did very nicely.
1.-TWO or three peculiar incidents
occurred while | was High Sheriff
The first that happened concerned a
man and his wife in Calais who had
trouble and finally separated, the
wife being awarded the custody OF
the child. The husband, however
refused to give him up, and the judge
gave orders to the sheriff's depart
ment that the child must be brought
to the woman who had moved to
Montpelier. l sent two of my depu-
ties, one after the other, but they
were each met at the door with a
gun. Things looked so precarious
to both of them that they came back
without the child. Finally, | Nas
sent for, and deputy came up one
afternoon, explained how they had
failed, and wanted me to go with him
Instead of going the way the others
Went-uD thrOuph pakin-wa tool, -,