Peter King

Today's family will feature one of my pseudo-roadblocks in my husband's family. I think I know each spouse and their parents' names, but I have no proof of them. To help sort this family out a little bit, I will try to only focus on the information I can back up with sources. Peter King was born about 1808 in North Carolina.

The 1840 census shows Peter living in West Pee Dee River, Montgomery County, North Carolina.

Clipping from 1840 census

In the household are:

• Male, under age 5
• Female, under age 5
• Female, age 5-10
• Male, age 20-30 (assume this to be Peter)
• Female, 20-30 (assume this to be Peter's wife)

The 1850 census shows Peter living in Montgomery County, North Carolina. A wife is not present in the household, but the following children are:

• Ann E. King, born about 1834 (assume this to be the female 5-10 in the 1840 census)
• Allen King, born about 1837 (assume this to be the male under 5 in the 1840 census)
• Dany King, born about 1840 (assume this to be the female under 5 in the 1840 census)
• Emely King, born about 1845
• Cummings King, born about 1847
• Peter King, born about 1849
• William King, born about 1849

I do not know if all of the children listed in this household are the natural children of Peter, but I assume they are. Some researchers suggest multiple spouses for Peter. I can only prove what I find in records, but more on that in a bit.

The 1860 census shows him living in Diffies, Montgomery County, North Carolina. Once again, his wife is not present, so I assume she probably died before the 1850 census. All of the same children are living in the house except for Ann, whom I assume has married by this point. Emely (listed as a female in 1850) is now Emsly (listed as male). So, since there are no new children in the household, it is possible that all of the children are, in fact, Peter's own.

Clipping from 1860 census

There is also a 41-year-old woman living with them in the 1860 census named Sally Manor. I do not know anything about her, but I hope to do some digging at some point to find out her relationship to the family. Perhaps she was there as a nanny (unlikely because they were farmers and didn't seem to be very wealthy), or perhaps she was a family member who was just visiting for a while.

The 1870 census shows another new person in the family. This time, it is 30-year-old woman listed in the place a spouse would appear. Her name is difficult to read, but I think it reads something like Ancis T. King. If this is right, then I believe this woman to be Ancez Coal.

Clipping from 1870 census

I have found a marriage certificate for Peter King and Ancez Coal dated 10 February 1866. This would fit with the lady in the 1870 census.

Marriage Licensus for Peter King and Ancez Coal

In addition to Peter's youngest boys, Peter and William (who are either twins or "Irish twins" since they always appear to be the same age or one year apart), there are also some new children in the house now. They are:

• Lucy King, born about 1858
• Martitia King, born about 1861
• George King, born about 1867
• Ella King, born about 1866
• (illegible girl's name - maybe Lebsa), born about 1869

If these (last few) are the children of Peter and Ancez, this means Peter would have been about 61 when the last child was born!

The first two children in the household appear to have been born before Peter and Ancez were married. Children out of wedlock was not unheard of in these days, but the 1880 census could shed some more light on the situation.

I believe Peter to have died between the 1870 and 1880 census. I have found what appears to be his widow living in Randleman Mills, Randolph County, North Carolina in 1880. Notice the name differences:

Clipping from 1880 census

Ancez is now listed as "Sarah," the illegible girl's name appears as "Liddia V." and is listed older than George, Ella is now "Mary E." and appears younger than mentioned in the previous census, and finally, Lucy J. and Nancy "Martitia" appear with the last name Cole.

This leads me to believe that Ancez/Sarah was married before she married Peter. (I was able to find a marriage record for Willis Cole and Ancetis Craven dated 23 January 1857 in Randolph County, North Carolina. The 1860 census shows the couple with daughter Jane living in Asheboro, Randolph County, North Carolina, but Ancetis/Ancez/Sarah shows up as Margaret this time!)

So, all of this still does not show Peter's previous spouse(s) name(s) or the names of his parents. I have my speculations and my leads based on other family researchers' efforts, but I haven't found any proof to substantiate any of the claims made yet. Until then, this is what I know.

Sources:

• 1840 West Pee Dee River, Montgomery County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1850 Montgomery County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Asheboro, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1860 Diffies, Montgomery County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1870 Little River, Montgomery County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• 1880 Randleman Mills, Randolph County, North Carolina U.S. Federal Census (accessed on Ancestry)
• Marriage License, Peter King and Ancez Coal (accessed on Ancestry)
• Marriage License, Willis Cole and Ancetis Craven (accessed on Ancestry)