Charles Henry King

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Charles Henry King
Born	March 12, 1853(1853-03-12) Perry Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Died	February 27, 1930 (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Burial place	Forest Lawn Cemetery
Occupation	Banker and Freight Operator
Known for	Founding of cities in Nebraska and Wyoming/Grandfather of Gerald Ford
Spouse	Martha Alicia Porter
Children	Gertrude M. King (married Robert H. Knittle)[1] Charles B. King Leslie Lynch King, Sr. Savilla King (married Edward Pettis) Marietta H. King (married Giles Vernon Kellogg)

Charles Henry King (March 12, 1853 - February 27, 1930) was a businessman and banker who was instrumental in the establishment of several cities in Wyoming and Nebraska. President Gerald Ford was born in his home in Omaha, Nebraska and Charles was to pay Ford's child support in lieu of Ford's biological father until 1929.

King was born in Perry Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania the son of Lynch King and Rebecca Shepherd. He married Martha Alicia Porter. They had five children: two sons and three daughters. Among the boys was Leslie Lynch King, who was born in Chadron, Nebraska.^[2]

Contents 1 Wyoming and Nebraska Pioneer 2 Gerald Ford 3 Historic buildings 4 References

[edit] Wyoming and Nebraska Pioneer

Charles Henry (C.H.) and Martha Alicia Porter King made their fortune in the 1880s establishing stores, banks and freighting operations in locations that they expected to be destinations on the westward push of the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad (which would become the Chicago and Northwestern). Their company was C.H. King and Company.

In the process he was instrumental in the development of Chadron, Nebraska as well as the Wyoming communities of Fetterman City, Douglas and Casper.^[3] His wealth was estimated to have been up to $20 million.^[4]

On June 10, 1889 he added the word "bankers" to the name. In 1896 he sold the bank which through a series of transfers including being the First National Bank of Casper before its present status as part of the First Interstate BancSystem based in Wyoming and Montana.

He was to concentrate on a freighting business between the rail line terminus in Casper and the mineral rich Wind River region and as such was to be instrumental in establishing more Wyoming communities of Shoshoni, Riverton, and Arapahoe.

[edit] Gerald Ford

While in Chadron his son Leslie Lynch King, Sr. was born. In 1908 he moved to Omaha where he built built a three-story, 14-room Victorian mansion in central Omaha at 3202 Woolworth. He operated the Omaha Wool and Storage Co. there.^[5] The mansion was noted for its ornate ballroom, in which Charles entertained many guests.^[4]

His son Leslie married Dorothy Ayer Gardener on September 7, 1912 and they had plans to moved into a cottage. However after she became pregnant, Leslie and Dorothy moved into the King's home to await the birth (July 14, 1913) of the future President who was named Leslie Lynch King, Jr.

Leslie was accused of beating Dorothy and sixteen days after the birth she fled to the home of her sister in Oak Park, Illinois (she could not as a single mother immediately go to the small town of Harvard, Illinois where her parents lived). Her parents shortly moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Leslie and Dorothy King were formally divorced on December 19, 1913 and Charles and his wife retired from business and moved to California also in 1913.^[6]

When his son would not pay child support, Charles picked up the tab and continued until 1929 shortly before his death.^[7]

During this time the future President was referred to as "Junie" (short for Junior) with no mention of the Leslie King Lynch name. She married paint salesman and Republican politician Gerald Rudolff Ford in 1917 when the future President was four. The president was to be enrolled in the Grand Rapids school system as "Gerald Ford, Jr." (although the name was not legal changed until much later and Gerald Rudolff never adopted the future President).

Gerald Ford said that he was never aware of who his biological father was until just before he turned 15 in 1928.

Sometime around when both Charles King and his wife died in 1930, Leslie visited Grand Rapids looking for a "King Junior" in the school system. When he couldn't find him he asked about "Junior Ford" and found Ford at the Grand Rapids South High School.^[8]

Leslie offered to take him to Wyoming which Ford declined.

Dorothy, after discovering that King had received $50,000 inheritance from Charles, got a Nebraska court to rule that some of the money should be applied to child support. However since King was living in Wyoming he was outside the court's jurisdiction.

Ford legally changed his name to "Gerald Rudolph Ford" in 1935.

In 1936 Ford would spend the summer as a ranger at Yellowstone National Park ^[9]. During the summer job he visited his natural father in nearby Riverton.^[10]

Charles King and his wife died within five months of each other in California. They are buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California where Leslie is also buried.

[edit] Historic buildings

The site of his mansion in Omaha is now the Gerald Ford Birthplace and Gardens historic site.

His bank building in Shoshoni, Wyoming (now occupied by Yellowstone Drug) is on the National Register of Historic Places.^[11]

[edit] References