JOSEPH HARRINGTON KING, the efficient
and popular cashier of the American National Bank of Hartford, is one of
the well and favorably known bankers of New England.
Mr. King was born July 28, 1855, in
East Hartford, Conn., son of George Walter and Julia (Burnham) King, and
grandson of Walter King, who was born Sept.11, 1780, in Glasgow, Scotland,
and died in 1863 in New York City. In early manhood he entered the British
army, serving as aide under Sir John Moore. After leaving the army he went
to Lancashire, England, and from there came, in 1818, to the United States.
In 1807 he married (first) Mrs. Ann (Hesketh) McCandish, a young widow
with one son, whom he legally adopted, giving him his own name, John McCandish
King. To the union came children as follows: James, born Jan. 7, 1808;
Isabella, July 3. 1810; Mary Ann, Aug. 29, 1812; Sarah, Oct. 3, 1814; George
W., Feb. 16, 1817; and Jane, Aug. 23, 1819. The mother died soon after
the birth of the youngest child. Mr. King, after having been in this country
for a time, returned to England, and in 1822 again came to the United States.
His second wife, a daughter of Rev. Mr. Robinson, died within a year of
marriage. After living in New York City a short time Mr. King removed to
Paterson, N. J., where at the home of a friend, Alexander Allan, he met
Miss Elizabeth Morse, whom he married (third) Jan. 25, 1825, and who bore
him the following children: Mary J. born Nov. 11, 1825; Elizabeth W., Sept.
2, 1827; Julia S., Oct. 16, 1829; Anne, Dec. 23, 1831 ; Anna Allan, Sept.
2, 1833; Menzier Morse, Oct. 6, 1836; and Menzier Anna Morse. Jan. 9, 1840.
The mother made her residence with her daughters in New York City, and
later in Brooklyn, where she died in 1884, at the age of eighty-nine.
George W. King, the father of our subject,
was born Feb. 16, 1817, in Lancashire, England, and was brought to this
country by his father, who for a time lived at Paterson. N. J., then in
New York City. George W. learned the jeweler's trade with the firm, of
Wilmot, Moffit & Curtis, manufacturing jewelers on John street, New
York City, and during a period of business depression visited Paterson,
N. J., made a trip into Virginia, and later came to East Hartford, Conn.,
where he worked with the firm of Messrs. W. & O. Pitkin, silversmiths.
He finally established himself in business upon State street, in Hartford,
continuing his residence in East Hartford, where he had already married.
In 1859 he purchased a residence on Governor street, where he died in 1881,
at the age of sixty-four, and where his wife passed away in 1893, at the
age of seventy-three. Their children were: Mary Jane, born July 4, 1843;
James Walter, March 21, 1845; Alice C. Burnham, Nov. 22,1847; Emma Louisa,
Jan. 17, 1850; George Burnham, Jan. 9, 1853; Joseph Harrington (the subject
of this sketch), July 28, 1855; Annie Kate, March 3, 1858; and Edward Everett,
Sept. 5, 1862.
Joseph H. King passed his early school days
in East Hartford, and later attended the public schools of Hartford, graduating
from the Hartford Public High School in 1873. He entered the American National
Bank as clerk, and by his steady devotion to the business he had chosen
for his life work, his ready grasp of ideas, and quick mastery of the intricate
details of banking, was rapidly promoted through the various grades to
the general book-keeper's desk, from which, in 1883, upon the resignation
of John G. Root as cashier, he was chosen to that office—the then youngest
officer of any bank in the city. Genial in manner, careful and conservative
in his dealings with all, he has, during his twenty-eight years' banking
experience, witnessed the growth of the American National Bank from a comparatively
small institution to that of one of the largest banks in the Capitol City.
He is a most competent officer, and an obliging gentleman.
On Oct. 8, 1878, Mr. King was married to Mary
E., daughter of Walter A. Loomis, of East Hartford, and to them have been
born three children: Edwin Loomis, now with the Travelers Insurance Co.
of Hartford, born Aug. 18. 1880; George Walter, born Feb. 8, 1886; and
Lester Hazen, born March 11, 1887. After his marriage Mr. King resided
in Hartford until, in 1895, he built a handsome Colonial residence upon
Arnoldale Road, just south of Vanderbilt Hill, one of the most attractive
and sightly places in that most delightful suburb of Hartford.
Commemorative
Biographical Record
of
Hartford County,
Connecticut
Illustrated
Chicago
J. H. Beers & Co.
1901
pgs 6 - 7
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