Mattie and Nelson King

Both were my 3rd great-grandparents and had their beginnings in the state of Louisiana. Nelson was born in the year 1837 and lived to be 78 years old, dying in 1915. Mattie’s year of birth and year of death are not known. Born into slavery, both were blessed to have survived the circumstances of that complex situation.

Following the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves were to be freed; however, some were still enslaved for many and varied reasons (slowness of news to travel, slowness of owners to provide the news, etc.). Mattie was still not free. She was forced to flee from her owner’s plantation after refusing to take a whipping and fighting back. She knew she had to flee or stay there and die. Her only option was to steal away into the night, leaving behind her small baby, Louis. Her escape, thankfully, was successful.

Nelson King was a very hardworking, headstrong, outspoken, and intelligent individual. Most of the Kings were, and still are, representative of this description.

Nelson and Mattie were married in the late 1800s. To this union, fourteen children were born. One of the children born was my 2nd great-grandfather, Pink Pleasant King.

To learn more about Nelson and Mattie King’s legacy, view the King Family History.