King genealogy research has led back to 1350 in the township of Dodebroke, Devonshire, England with John King who married Agnes Mortimer.  Captain John King, Francis King and Michael King all came to America from England in the late 1600s.  Michael King's descendants migrated to the Lexington area of Kentucky in the late 17001700s.
Joseph King (1835 Virginia - ) married Mary Polly Bethell married in Virginia in 1788; their son, George King (1789 Delaware - Texas)  became a prosperous merchant in Kentucky.  George and Jane Blackburn's only son, James N. King (1820 Kentucky - ) and George and James Masterson were associates in Kentucky; their children would later marry.  George migrated to Texas after the death of his wife, in 1846 and purchased three parcels of land south of Collinsville, Grayson County on January 18, 1858 from R.A. Lawler (Vol. J, pg.429 Grayson Co., Texas Deed Records), which became known as the King farm.  After purchasing this land, George King died sometime during the Civil War while his son, James N. King was serving in the Confederate Army.  The King Ranch was located south of Collinsville off of today's Hwy 377 on Hogtown Road in the Welch community.


James N. King married Mary Masterson on October 23, 1842 in Grant Co., Kentucky.  Their children, all born in Grant Co., Kentucky, were:
John M. King, born 1843
William "Will" King, born 1844
Thomas W. King, born 1856
Napoleon Bonaparte King, born 1847

Children born in Jonesboro, Kentucky
Benjamin King, born 1848
David King, born 1849
Nancy J. "Nannie" King, born 1851, married John Ray
Mary C. "Kate" King, born 1852, married Sam Williford

Children born in Louisville, Kentucky
Henry King, born 1853
Presilla King, born 1854, married George Blackshier
Julius "Brister" King, born 1855

Children born in Collinsville, Grayson Co., Texas
Virginia King, born 1859
Alice King, born 1861

James R. King, born 1864

James R. King married Julie Evelyn Coleman on July 15, 1883 in Collinsville.
James died on September 8, 1908; the family story is that one winter day James had to dig a new outhouse and while doing so, caught a cold, which turned into pneumonia and then tuberculosis, which eventually took his life.
Julie lived 30 years longer and both are buried in the King Cemetery.  Also buried in the cemetery is Eliza J. Coleman, mother of Julie.  After Mary Masterson King divorced James N. King, he married Eliza J. King, mother-in-law of his youngest son.
The farm house that James R. and Julie E. King lived in was two-story with a fireplace on the north end.  The wood was shipped from Arkansas and stood for 60 to 70 years before it was left to fall apart.  Also on the farm was a large tin barn to house the cattle.  Around 2000 the only traces of the old home place remained, remnants of what was a 100+ farming system.

James N. King, Mary and 13 children were living in Sherman, Grayson Co., Texas in July 1860.  James N. King's birthright was the inheritance of his father, George's, farm in the Welch community.  James also purchased a tract of land from from W.H. Neeley, agent for J. Naler (Vol. 26, pg. 40 Grayson Co., Texas Deed Records).  The farm James inherited from his father and the tract purchased from W.H. Neeley comprised the land owned by James N. King at the time of his death in February 1891.
In November 1870 James N. King, farmer, was living with his wife and 10 of his children in the McComb community, located about 8 miles southeast of Whitesboro,  Grayson County.

On June 2, 1880 Julius and wife Pollie A. Ingram and son, John W., age 4, and daughter, Julia, age 1, were living in the Collinsville area.  Next door to him was his older brother, Henry, his wife Melinda and son, Lewis, and mother-in-law, L. Bullard.  

Henry King, died after his father; his surviving children were:
Eula King, sometimes referred to as Ulia King
Maggie King
Charles King 
Lewis King, sometimes referred to as Louie King

By June 1900 Melinda was deceased and John was still living in Precinct #5 with  his two daughters and three sons, the youngest being Gordon, age 2 years.  In 1910 Julius "Jule" King had remarried and was living with his  wife, Clemmie, and their four children in Tillman Co., Oklahoma.


James King Jr. & Julia King had the following children:
Lee King, born May 1884, Collinsville
Emi King, born October 1885, Collinsville
Maud C. King, born February 1887, Collinsville; married William E. Eckert; who died 1934 and left no surviving children
T. King, born October 31, 1888 and died November 1, 1898
Dixie Bonnie King, born  March 1889, Collinsville; married J.G. Pigg
Grover Cleveland King, born August 1891, Collinsville
Adlai Stevens King, born June 1893, Collinsville
Joseph "Joe" Bailey King, born January 1895, Collinsville
Ivah  Della King, born September 1897, Collinsville
S. King, born March 1900; died April 1900


Grover Cleveland King married Mary Elendor Williams on Christmas Day 1911.  Grover had several jobs, including painter and oilman doing "wildcat" work in the oil field; these jobs took him away from home for long periods of time.  Their children were:
Edward Milton King, born November 1913, Collinsville
James Thomas "Uncle Pooch" King, born March 1914, Collinsville
Sidney Robert King, born November 1915, Collinsville
Gladys Louise King, born January 1918, Collinsville
Billie Jack King, born December 1919
Dorothy Jean King, born November 1923

Prior to his death, James N. King conveyed a tract of land to his son, Napoleon Bonaparte "N.B." King, who accepted the tract of land as his full claim of his father's estate.
James King, Jr. purchased the two tracts of land belonging to his father at the time of his death from four of his surviving siblings, acquitting one-half undivided interest in the land.  The other one-half interest in the King farm belonged to the parties other than James King, Jr. mentioned in a Judgment entered October 18, 1893 in the partition suit styled James King, et al vs. Julius Brister "J.B." King.  Furthermore the land described in the Judgment of 1893 was sold under the orders of the District Court by special commissioner to sell the land and James King, Jr. bought the land at the sale, thereby resting in him the title of the land described in the Judgment.


Julia King and her children made a "friendly" division of the real estate owned by James King, Jr. at the time of his death; 279.4 acres from Lee King, et al to Julia King, widow, dated November 26, 1919 (Vol. 271, pg.328 Grayson Co., Texas Deed Records) became the property of his mother, Julia E. King.  This land was leased for oil and gas at various times but no oil nor gas had been found or drilled on the land.  
Family story is that daughters, Ivah and Dixie fought over parcels of land that had been divided by Julia, abiding by her husband's wish to give his children parcels of his land.  The women was so anxious to obtain the money for the land that they hired an man to appraise the land.  Being told that the land was of little value and wanting to get the money it was worth, they sold the land as fast as they could find a buyer.  Coincidentally the man who had told them the land wasn't worth much purchased the land and struck oil on the land one week after the sale.
Julia E. King died at her home in Grayson County on August 1, 1938 and left no will.  Her son, Emi, was appointed Administrator of her estate.

A suit filed in Grayson County District Court styled Ivah King, et al vs.Emi King; a judgment rendered March 29, 1940 stated that the interest of each party in the suit was correct and the disposition of the land was satisfactory to all.  It was stated that the 279.4 acres of land had been "under fence" for more than 50 years and that the owners of the land had continued to have peaceable ownership of the land, cultivating the land and paying the taxes


Billie Jack King, youngest son of Grover Cleveland King, didn't know his first name until later in life; "Jack" may have had a connection to his great-grandmother, Eliza J. Coleman King, whose maiden name was "Jack."  Not being of a mind to do farm work, Jack joined the Army prior to World War II; he was discharged in the winter of 1941 only to rejoin two months later. Since all of the Texas Army units were full, he became a member of Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Division, known as The Thunderbirds, serving until the end of conflict in 1945; his position was  in a POW camp in Germany.  After serving in the Army, Jack and his wife, Marjorie Mary Shaughnessy, moved to California in search of work, where his siblings were already living

Maud King Eckert died in 1930 and is buried in Collinsville Cemetery.  Edward King, oldest son of Grover Cleveland King, took care of his uncle, William Eckert, during his old age.  Due to his extreme kindness, William Eckert gave Edward his wife's portion of the King farm, which became the last of the King farm owned by the Kings in the Collinsville area, which was finally sold between 2010 and 2015.