There is an English will written by Elizabeth, wife of Richard Lee, an abstract of which is given in the General Registry for 1896, page 529, which mentions the wife of Thomas King, in New England, as Ann. This will was written after the death in 1642 of Thomas' first wife, Ann. (William R. Cutter, "Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Families of Middlesex County", p. 130,) Therefore, it is possible to assume that Thomas might have had a second wife, also named Ann, before his marriage to Bridget Davis in 1655. If so, this Ann was Ann Collins before her marriage.

Thomas King came to America and settled in Sudbury, MA about 1642. He was one of the petitioners organized by John Ruddock to establish a new community which later separated from Sudbury. The new settlement became "Whip Suffrage" and finaly "Marlborough" in honor of a town in Ruddock's old English County of Wiltshire. Thomas King was one of the selectmen elected in 1657 by the proprietors.

Thomas and his first wife, Ann King, had three children:

• Elizabeth, b. England, ca. 1635; m. Samuel Rice.
• Peter, b. England ca. 1636; died in Marlborough, MA 27 August 1704.
• Thomas, b. Sudbury, MA 4 Dec. 1642; d. probably in Sudbury, MA 1645.

Due to the untimely death of his mother only two weeks after his birth, the father of Samuel Rice, Jr. gave the baby to his wife's brother to have for his own. His adopted father, Peter King, gave the baby his own surname, and Samuel Rice, Jr. became known as Samuel King, alias Rice. Later generations dropped the "alias Rice," and went by the surname King.

Samuel and his wife Abigail (Clapp) King, alias Rice, had seven children, all born in Sudbury, MA, and all used "King, alias Rice" as their surname:

• Peter, b. ca. 1695; m. (1) Elizabeth Flagg; m. (2) Elizabeth Graves.
• Ezra, b. 22 May 1697; settled in Worcester, MA.
• Abigail, died in 1729 unmarried.
• Samuel, b. 24 March 1701.
• Thomas, b. 25 March 1703.
• Edward, b. 4 August 1705.
• Elizabeth, b. 29 April 1707.

Peter and his first wife, Elizabeth, lived in Worcester, MA. It was there that Peter and his family stopped using the "alias Rice" and became known only as the King family. After the death of his first wife, Peter moved his family back to Sudbury, where he lived the rest of his life.

Peter and his first wife Elizabeth (Flagg) King had two children, both born in Worcester, MA:

• Samuel, b. 8 Dec. 1720.
• Benjamin, b. 25 March 1722; m. Sarah Taylor.

Peter and his second wife Elizabeth (Graves) King had four children, all born in Sudbury, MA:

• Experience, m. John Ball of Concord, MA.
• Elizabeth, b. 22 June 1725.
• Abigail, b. 20 April 1728.
• Ebenezer, b. 26 Jan. 1729/30.

Benjamin, being but a few months old when his mother died, lived with his father and stepmother in Sudbury, MA, where he remained until his father's death in 1739. He then returned to Worcester, MA to live with his guardian, Benjamin Flagg, Jr., his mother's brother, appointed on 28 September 1739.

In a deed dated 30 June 1744, Benjamin signed over to his uncle, Benjamin Flagg, Jr., his interest in his Grandfather Benjamin Flagg's estate, his uncle having agreed to support for the rest of her life Benjamin's grandmother, Experience (Child) Flagg, widow of Benjamin Flagg, Sr.

Benjamin and his wife came to New Ipswich, NH as early as 1752. It is possible that Benjamin King, whose wife probably knew people in Concord, MA, was acquainted with Charles Barrett of Concord who was one of the pioneers of New Ipswich, NJ, and followed him there. It is of interest to note, also, that this Charles Barrett was leader of a group that founded Hope, ME, then called Barrettstown, to which Benjamin King's daughter, Sarah, and her husband, William Hewett, moved soon after marriage.

Benjamin King bought a farm near Saw Mill Brook in New Ipswich, NH, which he sold to Abijah Smith in 1764 when it is believed that he moved to Mason, NH.

Benjamin is credited to New Ipswich in a record of New Hampshire men in Massachusetts regiments. He enlisted 13 May 1775 and served in Capt. Ezra Towne's company, Col. James Reed's regiment, where he is listed as a resident of Mason, NH, giving "his age as 53, his height 5'-6", complexion dark, eyes blue, occupation farming, birthplace Worcester." One account says that he was in the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. Also he is listed as serving as a private in Capt. James Gray's company, Col. Thomas Marshall's regiment, giving his residence as New Ipswich, NH.

It is believed that Benjamin never returned from the war and died either in battle or as a prisoner of war. His death is recorded as 2 Nov. 1777 in New Ipswich, NH, and is recorded as Nov. 1777 in Mason, NH. His widow Sarah moved to Winthrop, ME, to be near her sister, Lydia Chandler. One account said that they made the trip on horseback and that she became the nurse and "doctress" of the neighborhood for miles around.

I consulted 3 different sources for the list of the children of Benjamin and Sarah and got three different versions: Hewett, "William Hewett and his Descendants," p. 13; Cutter, "Historic Homes of Families of Middlesex County," p. 131; and "History of New Ipswich, NH," p. 504. The following list is my conclusion, although I may be wrong on some dates as Samuel is often listed as "youngest child."

Benjamin and his wife Sarah (Taylor) King had ten children:

• Elizabeth, b. in Townsend, MA 2 April 1746; d. in Townsend, MA 25 Dec. 1752.
• Samuel, b. in Townsend, MA 30 March 1748; d. in Townsend, MA 12 May 1748.
• Benjamin, Jr., b. in Townsend, MA 12 May 1749; d. July 1802; settled in Whitfield, ME.
• daughter, name unknown, b. in New Ipswich, NH, ca. 1752; d. in Dec. 1752.
• Sarah, b. in New Ipswich, NH 7 April 1754; m. William Hewett.
• Elizabeth (again), b. in New Ipswich, NH, 4 Sept. 1757; m. Amos Dakin of Mason, NH.
• Silence, b. in New Ipswich, NH 10 May 1759; m. Peter Hopkins of Winthrop, ME.
• Mary, b. in New Ipswich, NH, 18 Dec. 1760.
• Samuel (again), b. either in New Ipswich, NH or Mason, NH 1 March 1763; d. June 1816; m. Susanna Brainerd of Winthrop, ME.
• Ebenezer, b. in Mason, NH 22 Feb. 1768; m. Mehitable Robbins of Winthrop, ME; moved to Monmouth, ME in 1804.