This contains a transcription of the Oliver King of Alstead, NH biography from Biographical Review Volume XXIII: Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens of Cheshire and Hillsboro Counties, New Hampshire, Biographical Review Publishing Company, Boston, 1897.
Pages 30-31
OLIVER KING was a prominent resident of Alstead for a number of years. He was born in Langdon, August 3, 1807, son of William and Betsey (Darby) King. William was the first of the name to settle in this section of the county. He was a successful farmer, and he was generally esteemed. He attended the Universalist church, and was always ready to support it, both morally and financially. His ten children were: William, Hezekiah, Russel, Oliver, Joel, Harvey, Hiram, Samuel, Betsey, and George. William, the first child, married, had a family of twelve children, and carried on a farm in Alstead. Hezekiah, who was also a farmer, died in Newbury, Vt. Russel, likewise a farmer, lived in Haverhill, N. H., where he married, and reared a family. Joel died young. Harvey lived in Detroit, Mich., where he was a proprietor of the Brighton House, a well-known hotel. He was four times married. Hiram was a farmer of Acworth, this State, and had two children. Samuel, a carpenter, resided in Langdon, and was the father of four children. Betsey married a Mr. Evans; and George was a shoemaker of Brookline, Mass., and the father of two children.
Oliver King received the fundamentals of a practical education in the schools of his native town. After leaving school, he went to Boston, where he undertook contracts for driving wells. He then returned to New Hampshire, built a block, and then ran a general store at Charlestown for over twenty-five years. In company with Mr. Frank Hadley, he conducted a store in Bellows Falls, Vt., for eight years. In 1867 he came to Alstead and built a handsome house, and there resided until his death in 1874. He was active as a citizen, always ready to help along in any good cause, and ever mindful of the comfort and convenience of others. While at Charlestown he was the Postmaster, in which capacity, by his kindly and obliging manners, he won many friends. In Alstead he served as Town Treasurer for a number of years. He attended the Universalist church, and was a liberal contributor to its many charities.
Mr. King married Sophia Evans, a daughter of Eli and Sarah (Edson) Evans, of Rockingham, Vt. Her mother was born in Springfield, Vt. Mr. and Mrs. King had two children—Ellen S. and James F. James, born August 25, 1838, died September 21, 1849. Ellen S., born August 17, 1834, at South Charlestown, married James Milliken, Jr., of Charlestown, a farmer on an extensive scale and a prominent man in the town. Their three children are: Mary M., born May 11, 1855; George K., born September 4, 1857, who is a member of the Masonic society; and James F., born November 13, 1860, who was also a Mason as well as a Knight of Pythias. James F. Milliken was employed in a store in Colorado, where he died of consumption in February, 1897. He was buried under Masonic auspices. Mary M., only daughter of James Milliken, Jr., married James Hooper, of Charlestown, N. H., now a grain merchant in Chicago, doing a prosperous and extensive business. They have three children, namely: Rena A., born September 16, 1882; James M., born April 16, 1884; and Frances, born September 18, 1891. George K. Milliken is superintendent of telephones in Chicago. He married Lucy Wilson, of Charlestown, Mass., who was born August 10, 1859. Her paternal grandfather was a soldier in the Revolution.