Rev. Felix Z. King Sketch

Rev. Felix Zollicoffer King(my 1st Cousin 3 times removed) was no doubt the namesake of  Felix Zollicoffer, the Civil War Confederate Brigadier General & US Congressman of Maury County, Tennessee.  I found a sketch about him in the Nashville Banner's Church Chimes section from 7th of April 1894 edition(p. 12 col 1).  This article can be found online at Newspapers.com.   I am transcribing a portion of it here.  The last part of the sketch is difficult to read due to a piece of tape on the image.

I'm interested not only because of the King /Upshaw connection(our closest connection--we also connect thru  my Ogilvie / Harris 5th Great Grandparents) but there is mention of Samuel King but the way it's written it appears to say that Samuel King is a maternal connection for him.  My King line is one that needs research as it is little more than speciation back beyond John King & Nancy Brandon.  I've never seen or found any documentation beyond that point although admittedly I've been focused on other lines which weren't back to the time period.  There should be records in KY where John King reportedly moved the family from to Bedford County area.  There should also be some in Elbert Co GA as well as NC(presumably in Buncombe Co if family story is correct).  I often wonder if the connection of my Kings to my Cook(e)s started way before the marriage of my Great Grandparents Wm Green Cook and Jane Bell King.  Maybe the key to my Cook line connection lies in the also finding out the Kings.  If only the surnames weren't such common names.  We do have YDNA testers from both of those lines.

Sketch and Portrait of Rev Felix Z King

Rev Felix Zollicoffer King, the popular past of the Second Edgefield Cumberland Presbyterian Church, was born in Bedford County, Tenn. January 22 1862.  His parents were devout Christians and members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, his father being an elder in that church during a period of Thirty-eight  years.  His grandfather, Rev John S. King was a Cumberland Presbyterian preacher and Rev. Samuel King, one of the founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian, a maternal relative.  Mr. King's mother was closely related to Meredith P Gentry, named in the early history of Tennessee.  Mr. King was reared on a farm, where he labored until he was 20 years of age.  Owing to the poverty of his parents his early education was greatly neglected.

Except Two months in his eleventh year he was not in school at all, until he was 17 years of age and then only three months each for two years.  A notable fact which indicated something of what would have been his attainments had he received early advantages is that during those tow months spend in a county school, when he was 10 years old, he not only mastered the intricacies of the English alphabet, but he performed the herculean task of spelling entirely thru the Webster's, blue-back spell of precious memory, so that he could spell every word in the book by heart.

At the age of 19 he entered the Unionville High School, Bedford County, where he spent two of the happiest and most profitable years of his life.  converted at the age of 18, he joined the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at the age of 18.  In the interim he remembered a heroic struggle with infidelity, a struggle which ultimately resulted in firmly fixing his faith upon the gospel of Christ.

Mr. King is accustomed to say that his early impressions that he would become a preacher were received a the age of 4 years, during a revival which was being held near his home by Rev John P Hastings.  he joined Elk Presbytery as a candidate for the ministry at the age of 19, and was ordained in 1886.  The first three years of his life as a preacher were devoted to almost constant preaching of the gospel, and for his services during that period he received the munificent sum of $15.00.  After spending a year following this in successful evangelistic work with Rev. T M Hendrix and Rev. N D Crawford he became pastor of three country churches in Bedford and Rutherford Counties, all of which were organized by Samuel King, whose old home still stands at Three Forks, one of these churches.  He entered Cumberland University in 1889, spending two years in special study of English and the sciences.  He found himself inclined to give special attention to philosophy.  He graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1893.

During his first years in school at Lebanon he preached on an average three Sunday a month, thereby securing all the money necessary to support himself and his family during that period.  Mr. King was married to Miss Jennie S Floyd, of Flat Creek, Tenn. December 5, 1886, and is the father of two promising songs.

For some months previous to his graduation he supplied the Second Edgefield Cumberland Presbyterian Church, taking formal charge as pastor in June, 1893.  He has been very successful in all his work, especially in revival work.  His success as a pastor has been scarcely less.

The Second Edgefield church, under his ministry for the last eighteen months, has been doubled in membership and multiplied to all the element of congregational strength.  An effort is being made to build a handsome house of worship in the near future for the congregation.  Mr. King has the universal love and confidence of this people.

A few incidents in his life will indicate his character as determined man of integrity.  For example, although he does not remember when in his childhood he began the use of tobacco and although he had become a slave to the habit, on September 10, 1889, he deliberately quit the use of the weed and has never touched it since.  

(sketch continues but is hard to read)

Source:  "Church Chimes:  Sketch and Portrait of Rev Felix Z King," Nashville Banner, 7 April 1894, p. 12, col. 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 25 Nov 2021).