Frank R. King (1859-1939)

Frank R. King (1859-1939). Founder, Tennessee Valley Historical Society. Frank R. King was born in Leighton on October 30, 1859, the son of Hartwell Richard and Mary Henderson (Smith) King. He grew up on a farm and attended common schools in Leighton and Trinity. King attended the University of Alabama from 1875 to 1876. Returning to Leighton, he became a clerk in his brother William’s mercantile business. He succeeded his brother in the firm in 1880 and it was later known as F. R. King and Company., King's professional career helped foster his personal interest in preserving the history of northwest Alabama. In 1902, he posted an advertisement in the Leighton News asking that objects of historical significance be brought to his store, where he would label and display them alongside his own growing collection. In 1904, he organized the first reunion of former students, and professors of LaGrange College. Established by the Methodist Church in 1830, it was the first state-chartered college in Alabama and a forerunner to what is today known as the University of North Alabama, located in Florence. King also commissioned Captain A.A. McGregor, a former LaGrange professor, to write a history of the institution. For many years, he lobbied for federal recognition of the original site of LaGrange College, submitting a formal request to designate it a National Park in 1935., In 1923, King sent letters to like-minded residents of Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, and Lawrence counties seeking to form a regional historical association. The Tennessee Valley Historical Society was founded at the Chamber of Commerce Building in Sheffield on November 15, 1923, with 37 charter members. King served as the groups first president. He held the position for the remainder of his life., During his tenure, King continued to collect widely and sought to ensure the preservation of much of the region's early history. In 1923, he secured the City of Tuscumbia's donation of fragments from a cannon used in the War of 18 12 to the Alabama Department of Archives and History. The following year, his efforts led to a survey of Native American mounds in Colbert County by archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution. The mounds were endangered by the rising waters of the Tennessee River as a result of construction of Wilson Dam. King also oversaw the Tennessee Valley Historical Society's historical marker program from its inception in 1927 until 1938. Frank R. King died on December 23, 1939. He is buried in the King Cemetery in Leighton.