- ROSWELL KING PLAQUE
- Located in the Roswell town square, Roswell, Ga.
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- (text)
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- ROSWELL KING
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| 1839 |
"HE WAS FOUNDER
OF THE VILLAGE WHICH BEARS HIS NAME. A MAN OF GREAT ENERGY, INDUSTRY
AND PERSEVERANCE: OF RIGID INTEGRITY, TRUTH AND JUSTICE. HE EARLY
EARNED AND LONG ENJOYED THE ESTEEM AND CONFIDENCE OF HIS FELLOW
MEN." |
1939 |
ROSWELL KING, SON OF
SARAH FITCH AND TIMOTHY KING, WAS BORN AT WINDSOR, CONNECTICUT,
ON MAY 3, 1765. HE MOVED TO DARIEN, GEORGIA, IN 1788 AND BECAME
A LEADER IN THE RELIGIOUS, CIVIC AND BUSINESS LIFE OF THE COMMUNITY.
IN THE EARLY 1820'S THE BANK OF DARIEN HAVING LARGE HOLDINGS
IN THE GOLD FIELDS OF NORTHERN GEORGIA AND NORTH CAROLINA SENT
ROSWELL KING INTO THESE FIELDS TO ATTEND TO ITS INTERESTS. IT
WAS ON THIS TRIP THAT HE CROSSED THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER NEAR
THE MOUTH OF VICKERY -- NOW BIG -- CREEK, AND THEN HE VISUALIZED
FOR THE FIRST TIME THE COLONY THAT WAS TO BEAR HIS NAME BEING
IMPRESSED BY THE WATER POWER VICKERY CREEK AFFORDED. THE HEALTHFUL
CLIMATE, THE ABUNDANCE OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE GENERAL BEAUTY
OF THE SECTION HE DECIDED TO MAKE IT HIS HOME.
A SHORT TIME LATER HE,
ACCOMPANIED BY HIS SON BARRINGTON, MADE ANOTHER TRIP FROM THE
LOW COUNTRY TO THIS UNSETTLED AREA OF THE CHEROKEE COUNTRY. BARRINGTON
KING WAS MORE ENTHUSIASTIC THAN HIS FATHER OVER THE POTENTIALITIES
OF THE SECTION DESTINED TO BE THE SITE OF ROSWELL. WITH THIS
ENCOURAGEMENT, ROSWELL KING CAME AGAIN, ABOUT 1830, TO THIS THE
LAND OF HIS DESIRE AND BY 1835 HE HAD ACQUIRED SUFFICIENT LANDS
FOR HIS NEEDS AND CONSTRUCTION WAS BEGUN ON A COTTON MILL. BY
MARCH 4, 1839, THE MILL WAS COMPLETED AND BECAME THE MAIN BUSINESS
INTEREST OF THE COMMUNITY.
A FEW WEEKS LATER BARRINGTON
KING, WITH HIS FAMILY, ARRIVED AND THE SON BEGAN TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITIES
FROM THE SHOULDERS OF THE FATHER. THE KINGS MISSED THEIR ACCUSTOMED
COMMUNITY LIFE AND TO ENLARGE THE COLONY OFFERED BUILDING SITES
TO FRIENDS AND RELATIVES ON CONDITION THAT THEY COME AND BUILD
PERMANENT HOMES. THE OFFER WAS ACCEPTED AND BY 1839 A COLONY
OF SIX FAMILIES EXISTED. THE COLONISTS THEN COMPLETED THE BUILDING
OF A PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, AN ACADEMY AND THEIR PERMANENT HOMES.
THESE BUILDINGS EXEMPLIFIED OF THE ACADEMY REMAIN TO THIS DAY.
THUS A VISION BECAME
A REALITY AND THE COMMUNITY FOUNDED WAS CALLED ROSWELL IN HONOR
OF THE MAN WHO FIRST ENVISAGED THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE SITE
AND WHO WAS THE MOST BELOVED CITIZEN OF THE COMMUNITY UNTIL HIS
DEATH, FEBRUARY 15, 1844.
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© Carl Vinson Institute of Government,
University of Georgia
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