Caleb King (1743 - 1820)

Born 14 Dec 1743 in Southold, Suffolk County, New York

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Swayze) King — married 26 Jun 1774 in Morris County, New Jersey

Descendants

Died 8 Sep 1820 at age 76 in Kingston, Adams, Mississippi, United States

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Biography

The Jersey Settlers in Kingston, Mississippi - Caleb King:^[1]

• Among the settlers was Caleb King, who laid out the town of Kingston and named it for himself after the death of the older settlers; some historians say in 1784, though the tomb of Caleb King says 1793 as the date and most probably the correct one. He was the son of Constant King, a prominent man who also came to Mississippi, from Long Island, New York, where Caleb was born on December 14, 1743. He moved to New Jersey when he was nine years old. Caleb King was a surveyor by profession and came to the Jersey Settlement in that capacity to survey the newly acquired lands. Returning to New Jersey, he married Mary, daughter of Richard Swayze, and came back to Mississippi, where he lived until his death on September 19, 1820.

Birth

Caleb King, son of Constant and Phebe (Horton) King, was born on 14 Dec. 1743 probably at Southold, Suffolk County, New York.^[2][3]

Marriage

Caleb married Mary Swayze, daughter of Richard Swayze^[4] and Sarah Horton, 26 June 1774 in New Jersey.^[3]

Caleb and his wife likely moved to Mississippi after their marriage in 1774, departing Perth Amboy, New Jersey on 1 October 1774 with her father, her uncle Samuel and 12 to 15 associated families, arriving in Mississippi in January 1775,^[5]

Caleb King and Mary Swayze had the following children:

Descendants of the Jersey Settlers (page 21 under Mary Swayze)^[6]

1. Deborah born 6 May 1775
2. John born 20 January 1777, died at age 21
3. Catherine born about 1778, died at 6 months old
4. Caleb, twin of Catherine, born about 1778, died at 16 or 18 years of age
5. Three other children, names unknown, died in infancy

Descendants of the Jersey Settlers (page 15 under Caleb King)^[3]

1. Sarah born 2 Oct 1787
2. Eliza born 1791

Death

Caleb died 9 September 1820 in Adams County, MIssissippi,^[3] more likely in Kingston where he is buried in the cemetery on Hutchins Landing Road in Kingston,^[7] than in Natchez as found in one source.^[2]

Research Notes

An account of the emigration of the Swayze and King families from New Jersey to Mississippi Territory^[5]

• October 1, 1774, Richard and Samuel Swayze with their families, sons and sons-in-law, some 12 or 15 families, chartered a schooner, sailed from Perth Amboy, had a tedious voyage, touched at Havana de Cuba. Discharged the vessel at Pensacola, took or bought open boats, hired men to navigate them. They pursued the line of the sea coast to Pontchartrain and to the mouth of the Amite River; thence up that river and through the pass Manchae or Ibbewille into the Mississippi; thence up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Homochitto; up this river to the mandamus, where they arrived January 1, 1775.

Kingston and Natchez Mississippi:

Kingston was the earliest settlement in the time of Caleb King in an area the settlers accessed from the Homochitto River, which begins at the Mississippi to the west, well south of Natchez.

• The Jersey Settlers settled an area in British West Florida and established a Congregational Church in 1773 and a Methodist Church in 1800.^[8]

The first church in the settlement was a Congregationalist Church, organized around 1773 by Rev. Samuel Swayze who had been a Congregationalist minister in New Jersey. This church continued until his death some 12 years later. There was no meeting house, but the congregation met in homes, sometimes secretly for fear of the Spanish, who did not allow freedom of worship. Tradition states that Rev. Samuel hid his Bible in a hollow tree on the banks of a small stream still known as Sammy's Creek.

In 1800, the Kingston Methodist Church was organized by Rev. Tobias Gibson. The seven original members were Caleb King, Gabriel Swayze, Lydia Swayze, Prudence Cory, Deborah Luce, Prudence Varadoe and Eliza King. In 1803, Lorenzo Dow sold his watch to procure a spot of ground, 40 X 60 feet, located in Block II, Square II fronting on Claiborne Street, for a meeting house. This was the first ground in Mississippi deeded for a Protestant house of worship. The church on that lot was built of logs and served the community for about twenty years.

• Kingston United Methodist Church today is located on Hutchins Landing Road, where is also located "The Descendants of the Jersey Settlers - The Kingston Cemetery" to the west.^[9]

Natchez was a district, to the northwest of Kingston, that was inhabited by the Natchez Indians and visited by French colonists who lived nearby.

• Following the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War), in 1763 Fort Rosalie and the surrounding town, renamed (Natchez) for the defeated tribe, came under British rule. The British Crown bestowed land grants in this territory to officers who had served with distinction in the war. These officers came mostly from the colonies of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. They established plantations and brought their upper class style of living to the area.^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ Descendants of the Jersey Settlers, Kingston, Adams County, Mississippi - Henry Blackburn Eaton and Daniel S. Farrar - pp. 7-8 "The Mandamus" p. 8: Caleb King pdf document and Viewer at FamilySearch
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} The New England Historical and Genealogical Register Vol XI, 1857 - Genealogy of a Branch of the King Family, pp. 357-359 p. 357: Caleb, son of Constant King, born 14 Dec. 1743, died in Natchez, Miss. Archive.org
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Descendants of the Jersey Settlers, Kingston, Adams County, Mississippi - Henry Blackburn Eaton and Daniel S. Farrar
   • p. 15: Caleb King, the sixth child of Constant and Phoebe as aforewritten, was married to Mary Swayze, daughter of Richard Swayze, on the 26th day of June, A. D. 1774, in New Jersey.
   • p. 15: Caleb King, said Constant’s son, was born December 25, 1743, in the Province, as supposed, of New Jersey, and died at the house of Thomas Eaton, his son-in-law, in Adams County, State of Mississippi, on the 9th day of September, 1820.
   • p. 20: Caleb probably married Mary Swayze (daughter of Richard) and removed to Mississippi in 1772.
   • p. 30: Caleb King, son of Constant King and Phoebe Horton, sixth child. Caleb King married Mary Swayze, daughter of Richard Swayze, on the 26th day of June, 1774, in the state of New Jersey. Mary Swayze, wife of Caleb, was born January 11th, 1750.
   • p. 55: Caleb, born on Long Island, December 14, 1743, and died in Kingston, Mississippi, September 9, 1820. He is buried in the family burying ground in Kingston. Caleb King helped survey the Ogden mandamus grant in Natchez, Miss., in 1772, and then returned to the east to marry Mary Swayse. They removed to Mississippi about 1775.
   • p. 56: Caleb King, Born: On Long Island, Dec. 14, A. D. 1743. Died: Sept. 9, A. D. 1820. When at the age of seven years his parents removed to New Jersey, from whence he emigrated to Natchez District in making the survey known as "Ogden’s Mandamus,” after which he returned to New Jersey to marry Mary Swayze, June 26, A. D. 1774. In 1775 he returned to Natchez District and settled Kingston, in said grant A. D. 1793.
   • pdf document and Viewer at FamilySearch
4. ↑ Genealogy of the Swasey Family which includes The Descendants of the Swezey Families of Southold, Long Island, New York and The Descendants of the Swayze Families of Roxbury, now Chester, New Jersey - Benjamin Franklin Swasey, Cleveland, Ohio 1910 - p. 116: Mary, daughter of Richard Swayze, m. in N.Y. Caleb, son of Constant King HathiTrust.org
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Descendants of the Jersey Settlers, Kingston, Adams County, Mississippi - Henry Blackburn Eaton and Daniel S. Farrar p. 27: An account of the emigration of the Swayze and King families from New Jersey to Mississippi Territory pdf document and Viewer at FamilySearch
6. ↑ Descendants of the Jersey Settlers, Kingston, Adams County, Mississippi - Henry Blackburn Eaton and Daniel S. Farrar page 21 http://www.djs.org/HenryBlackburnEaton.pdf
7. ↑ Find a Grave Memorial ID 77880955 Caleb King 1743-1820 FindaGraveMemorial
8. ↑ Kingston Church History KingstonChurchHistory
9. ↑ Kingston United Methodist Church Map
10. ↑ History of Natchez, Mississippi Wikipedia.org

• The Early Germans of New Jersey: Their History, Churches, and Genealogies - Theodore Frelinghuysen Chambers, Dover Printing Company, 1895. Page 430 Archive.org Note: Lineage of the King family is incorrect on page 430. William King - not John King - was the father of Samuel King. The wives of each are also inaccurate. Constant King is accurate as the son of John King, and the grandson of Samuel.