King, George S. Matson

Passed: 1902-01-18

Age: 65

Source:

Death Notice: 1902-01-19

Obituary Date:

Information: George S. Matson King was born near Ripley, Jackson county, West Virginia, April the 21st, 1836.  He was the second born in the family of Samuel R. and Mary C. King (nee) Riley, in whose veins flowed the blood of the hardy pioneers who contended with the savages, felled the forests and built their humble cabin homes early in the last century among the hills and valleys of Virginia, west of the Alleghany mountains.  In one of these homes where God was served, the church honored and trusted and the holy incense of family devotions ascended night and morning to the Lord of Hosts, he first saw the light of day and spent the years of his early life.  To these influences are largely attributable the sturdy moral and religious character into which he grew.  The life of the ordinary boy of that time and section was possessed of very meager social and educational advantages, but was subjected to hardy toil and rigid discipline, which, however, conduced to habits of industry and self-reliance as well as sound bodies, strong muscles, active brains and good morals.  Matson's educational advantages, in common with his fellows, was limited, but by improving his opportunity of attending subscription schools of the neighborhood, whose terms were short and far between; by studious habits in the home and by using his spare moments in the fields and forest he became practically master of the few text books taught, and later taught for a number of years in his own and adjoining communitites.      Early in the sixties he held the office of Justice of the Peace for several terms in Ripley district.  On the resignation of the Sheriff of the county, he was appointed and took charge of the office on January 1, 1864.  At the expiration of his appointment, he was elected Sheriff in one of the hardest fought and most exciting campaigns the county ever witnessed.  The business was conducted with ability and success, but being uncongenial, he resigned in November, 1868.  During this period he began on Burt Run to lay the foundation of what developed into one of the best hill stock farms in the county.  Having previously, April 29, 1860, married Caroline O. Staats, he here built a pleasant home and with his devoted wife reared a family of seven children.  Here for more than a quarter of a century he prospered in his business, and here after a most stubborn resistance with dread disease, in which he displayed the courage of a Spartan and the patience of a Saint, he passed quietly to his eternal reward.      In politices he was a Republican and his early text books were the ""Federalist"" and ""Elliott on Slavery"".  He did not aspire for office or political preferment, nor did he seek to be a leader of men, though well endowed with ability for either, but to live quietly and peaceable in his own home overseeing the business pertaining to his estate was one of the chief passions of his life.  In religion he was a Methodist, and the Bible and the Methodist Episcopal Discipline were his text books.  In politics he was not offensively partizan, neither was he a sectarian bigot in religion, but with a diffidence that characterized him in all the walks of life, he would, when pressed anywhere and everywhere, manifest the courage of his convictions.  His judgement was sound, his perceptions clear and quick, and, posessing all undomitable will, gave him such vantage that he would have forged to the front in whatever business or vocation he might have chosen in life.        His funeral services were conducted at his home by his pastor, Rev. W. P. Guinn, assisted by the writer, on Jan. 19, at 1 p.m., 1902, after which his mortal remains were interred in the presence of a large concourse of people in the King cemetery.     E.D.W. King, Ripley, W. Va.