Albert W. King rides the Loop-the-Loop in 1904

When Albert W. King, Defiance citizen and Civil War veteran, attended the National G.A.R. Encampment in August, 1904, he took the time to visit Coney Island.  It was an eye-opening experience for Albert and his friend, John Altshuch, especially when they came face to face with a roller coaster called the Loop-the-Loop.

Albert wrote in his journal:



"Our next trip was over the Brooklyn Bridge out to Coney Island, after getting refreshments, our little guide suggested we cross the street and take a ride in a car.  We went to the office, bought ticket for admittance and boarded a car - four of us - and started on the ground.

We noticed Oscar, our guide, was greatly pleased when I drew the strap from over my shoulder which the manager had placed there for my safety, and the guide says, 'Mr. King, you are all right!  I see you have got the grit!'

By this time the car was ascending a high trestlework, perhaps 80 to 100 feet high, the car making a short curve and we could see what was at the bottom.  

It was now too late to get my shoulders under the strap, and we went flying down the track into a 30 foot loop at lightning speed; and the sensation was one I shall never forget.  

The car ran perhaps 300 feet in a circuit and finally stopped at the place where we boarded her.  We stepped from the car as soon as the manager unfastened John Altschuh, Oscar, and the other man.

When Altschuh got on his feet, he exclaimed, 'My Got! Vot vas dat?  My bloot all stands still!'  Then all cheered and laughed.

The manager says, 'Man, didn't you know that you was going to loop the loop when you boarded the car?'

'No," says John, 'What is the loop the loop?'

'Well you surely know now,' says the manager.

'Vell,' says John, 'I never want to loop the loop again!'

I says, 'Nor do I want any more of it.'

We started for the entrance to leave the place where some people entered, amongst them a young lady who heard John say he wouldn't loop again for a thousand dollars.  She at once bantered him to get into a car with her and run the loop.  She put out all inducements for him to make one trip with her, even so much as to promise to be his wife.  But John said, 'No more loop-the-loop for me!  Wife or no wife!'

  
To read more about this roller coaster, check out
Wikipedia.

Albert W. King - G.A.R., Bishop Post - PART 2

An immigrant from Germany, Albert King was extremely patriotic to his new country, the United States.  Not only did he serve his country bravely in the Civil War, enduring an imprisonment in Andersonville and the explosion of the steamboat, Sultana, but he came home after the war and busied himself in civic endeavors in Defiance.  King married and he and his wife had seven children. The grocery business was his livelihood for many, many years.

He lived a long, productive life, passing on in February, 1929.  His obituary, which appeared in the Crescent-News on February 13, 1929, provided a detailed description of his life.




   

"SULTANA VICTIM DIES AT AGE 86

 Retired Merchant, Ill Week, Succumbs After Flu Relapse.

Killey Now Sole Surviving Charter Member of Bishop Post

Albert W. King, 86, charter member of Bishop Post, G.A.R., and survivor of the Sultana disaster, died of pneumonia Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. at his home, 411 Auglaize street, on the 120th birthday anniversary of his commander-in-chief, Abraham Lincoln, under whom he fought during the Civil War to save the Union and free the slaves.

Mr. King's death leaves George W. Killey as the only surviving charter member of Bishop Post.

Mr. King, a retired merchant, had been sick a week.  His fatal illness began with influenza.  He recovered sufficiently to dress last Friday but had a relapse and pneumonia developed.

The funeral will be held Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the home with Rev. Theodore Strauss, pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran church, of which Mr. King was a member, officiating.  Burial will be made in Riverside cemetery.  Members of Bishop Post will attend the last rites of their faithful comrade.  Cars will be sent for the veterans.

Mr. King had a colorful career.  Born in Wittenberg, Germany, on March 6, 1842, he came to America on a sail boat when seven years old and settled in Defiance with his parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. John O. King.

SAVES WOMAN

As a young man he entered business,then enlisted as a private in company D, 100 O.V.I., was taken prisoner and kept in the famous Andersonville prison of the south.  After the surrender of Robert E. Lee, Mr. King was released.  

He went to Vicksburg where with 2,300 passengers, he took the steamer Sultana for home.  After a 48 hour run up the Mississippi river, the ship was destroyed by an explosion of the boilers.  Only 365 persons survived the disaster.

The explosion occurred at night, some miles north of Memphis.  In a few minutes the entire ship was in flames.  As Mr. King leaped overboard, he saved a woman, Mrs. W. C. Perry, Cincinnati, with whom he swam to Chicken Coop Island on the Arkansas side of the flood swollen river.

STARTED BUSINESS WHEN 16

In 1885, the survivors of the disaster formed an organization and annual reunions have been held in Toledo.  Mr. King was corresponding secretary.

He also was adjutant of Bishop Post here, and had been installed for a new term on Jan. 5, 1929.

Mr. King located in Defiance on June 11, 1849.  When 16 years old, he began his business pursuits as a clerk in the dry goods store of Leopold Wattenberg.  After four years, he went to Napoleon, where he clerked in the store of Imber and Richards.

He returned to Defiance in a year and opened a grocery store for himself in a building that stood where the foundry of the Defiance Machine Works is now located.

It was on July 17, 1862 that Mr. King joined the Union forces and he was discharged a corporal on May 20, 1865.  He served with distinction until Nov. 30, 1864, when he was captured.  He had fought in all battles and engagements of his regiment from Fort Mitchell, Ky. to Atlanta, Ga.  His capture occurred at the battle of Franklin, Tenn.  He was taken with 2,000 prisoners to Andersonville, Ga., and also was held for a time at the prison at Meridian, Miss.

Mr. King went to work in the store here of Flickinger and Blair after he was discharged from service.  After several years, he went into the service of A. A. Ayers, but later found employment with Flickinger and Blair.

In 1868, he took charge of a store in Antwerp.  In 1869, he came back and went into the grocery business again for himself.  He retired from that business in 18__ and worked for Brice and Walter Hilton, clothiers.  When their stock was sold to A.F. Harley, he worked for the latter until 1896.  In that year, he went into business again for himself under the firm name of A.W. King and Son.  Business prospered and when 70 years old, Mr. King retired.

He was married to Miss Emma L. Krall of Defiance on June 7, 1868.  Mrs. King died 12 years ago, Feb. 10.

Mr. King is survived by seven children: Mrs. J. A. Backus, Defiance; Henry C. King,Fayette; E. G. King, Defiance; Mrs. Anna Nellis, Lakewood; John C. King,Toledo; Miss Ora King, Defiance; and Mrs. Herbert Carman, Defiance, and one sister, Mrs. Hulda Otterbaugh, Bowling Green."         

 Albert W. King was buried in Riverside Cemetery, Defiance.  In 2015, a special monument and plaque were dedicated in his honor by the Veterans Committee of the Defiance County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society.

www.findagrave

(This is part of a series on Civil War veterans of Defiance County who were part of the G.A.R., Bishop Post, that headquartered in the city.  Formed in 1879, the post was named after a local man, Captain William Bishop, Company D, 100th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army who died as a result of wounds received in battle.  The veterans' photos are part of a composite photo of members that has survived.  If you have other information or corrections to add to the soldiers' stories, please add to the comments!)

Albert W. King - G.A.R., Bishop Post - PART 1

Corporal Albert W. King was honored last year with a special monument in Riverside Cemetery, a recognition of his Civil War service, especially his survival of the famous explosion of the Sultana.  

King enlisted in Company D, 100th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry on July 17, 1862.  Prior to his enlistment, he worked as a clerk in a store and lived with the Leopold Waltenberg family in Defiance, according to the 1860 census.

His service for the Union was an adventure as he endured many famous battles and an imprisonment at Andersonville in Georgia.  Traveling north on the Mississippi River after his release, he found himself on the Sultana, packed in among other soldiers, all fighting to survive when the ship exploded.

On April 27, 1917, he gave an account of his experiences to a reunion of Sultana survivors.  This account came from the notes he wrote in his journal (the spelling is his) to use as he spoke to the group:

"My Dear Colonel, Ladies and Friends:

There's some few comrades present here this evening who were taken prisoners at the battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864, where I was captured. 

You remember very distinctly how we suffered for want of clothes and rations on our way south that winter.  After traveling for months on foot, on railroads and boats, we were finally landed in Andersonville prison.  Our stay in Andersonville was not long due to the surrender of General Lee and his army at Appomatox, where we were released and guarded to our lines at Black River near Vicksburg where we received rations from our U.S. Government.  For some, there were weeks in paroll camp with Confederate General Howard Henderson and his staff to see that we should be exchanged or parolled before we took up arms in defense of the U.S.

Finally, we got transportation north on the Steam Boat Sultana, a large river boat with a usual passenger list and a heavy guard of Yankee soldiers from New Orleans.  Perhaps nearly two thousand of us parolled prisoners were placed on board, crowding the boat in an indiserible manner, on every deck, on the wheel houses, and the wood racks over the boilers.

After steaming up against the heavy current, as the river was very high and in many places flooded the country for miles inland, we reached Memphis the second or third evening where a large quantity of sugar and other groceries were unloaded up to about midnight.  When the steam left Memphis for coal barges above the city to take on a supply of coal, I and five members of my company fell asleep about this time and inside of one hour, the explosion of the boilers occurred, we being on the boiler deck near the stern of the boat.  We were stunned, smothered with steam and ashes and tumbled over and over, and many men, cord wood and coats were thrown onto us, and over us, shattering the house work beyond us.  And when we came to our senses, we made frantic efforts to get out on the stern deck.

Soon thereafter, a large body of fire shot up, the igniting of gas which the explosion produced, which showed us the center of the boat, shattered and torn out.  The blase was only of short duration and the boat in utter darkness, but not long when the next blase started.  It soon devoured the cabins.  Many men, women, and children had been blown overboard in the explosion and were calling for help.  The crowd on the boat were now rushing overboard to get away from fire and heat.  Many, who were crippled in the force of the explosion, begged to be thrown overboard, but received little attention.  Five of us had slept together and were not very badly injured and were trying hard to break out a section of the house work, but did not succeed.  And soon the heat became so intense that we could not remain on the steam deck, and it was now every man for himself.

I jumped upon the stern railing and watched the crowd in the water, waiting to see an opening to make the jump without striking anyone.  And when I did make the plunge, I came in contact with drowning men, and when I came to the supposed surface, I struck the bottom of the boat.  But I soon succeeded in getting out, but many were still on the water and got a hold on me, but I fought hard for freedom, and saw a chance to pass under the stern of the boat without being nabbed.  When a lady jumped down upon me and getting a hold on my shirt and nearly strangled me, I soon broke away from her and swimming but a short distance where a board came up in front of me, which I grabbed for support and returned to help the lady who was loudly calling for assistance.  When another board popped up in front of me, I placed one on top of the other and went back to her and placed the boards under her arms.  She informed me that she had on a life preserver which slipped down when she jumped from the cabin window to water while clinging to a rope.

I was causious to keep her in front of me, working hard toward the Arkansas side.  Often she would ask me if I thought we would be saved.  To this, I could give her no incouraging answer as everything around us was now in darkness, and many going in the same direction were calling loudly for help.  The boat had burned down and was floating a long distance below us when I discovered that we were drifting in amongst brush up on an island over which the water was rushing many feet deep.  We were soon seated on a log amongst the drift wood and by us holding onto a cottonwood sapling , we could keep our heads above water.  It was one of the Hen & Chicken Islands.

Sometime after daylight, we were picked up by men in a large rowboat, attracted to us by Commander L. G. Morgan who called to them for to pick us up, which they did, and were taken to a cabbin on the island and placed before a hot fire in a fireplace in company with many others, where we soon thawed out.  Later in the day, we were taken aboard a small steamer with many others and transported to Memphis.  On landing, we were given wool underclothes by the citizens, I presume merchants of Memphis. As I refused to go to the hospital, I was taken along with others to the Soldiers Home some distance out from the city. 

The lady was taken charge of by some doctors.  While we were in front of a good fire in the cabbin on the island in the presence of one of my company comrades, the lady took from her finger a very nice ring and presented it to me, saying that she was the wife of an engineer who operated on Red River, that his name was W. C. Perry whom she had just visited and was on her way home to Cincinnati and had lost all her valuables in the disaster.

Twenty years later, I went to Cincinnati to locate these Perrys, but did not succeed.  Afterwards, I tried to find them by using the newspaper, but without learning anything as to their whereabouts."

 TO BE CONTINUED...

(This is part of a series on Civil War veterans of Defiance County who were part of the G.A.R., Bishop Post, that headquartered in the city.  Formed in 1879, the post was named after a local man, Captain William Bishop, Company D, 100th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army who died as a result of wounds received in battle.  The veterans' photos are part of a composite photo of members that has survived.  If you have other information or corrections to add to the soldiers' stories, please add to the comments!)