Helen (Lewis) King was born in Helena, Arkansas, on November 20, 1874, the daughter of Stephen D. and Helen Johnson Lewis. Her mother died when she was an infant and she was sent to the home of her grandmother Lewis in Paris, Kentucky, where she remained until she was nine years old, then returned to Helena where she was placed in a convent and remained there until she was thirteen years of age.
After leaving the convent she joined the First Baptist Church in Helena at the age of fourteen and later went to live with an uncle in Brooklyn, New York, and completed her musical education in New York City. Her uncle with whom she lived in Brooklyn was a wealthy man and, having no children, he offered to make her sole heir if she would make her home with him. Leaving her uncle’s home she went to Washington D. C. and lived a short time with a cousin, Tom L. Johnson, who was at that time a member of Congress from Ohio. After visiting for a time in Washington she returned to Rogers, Arkansas, to which her father had moved and on her eighteen birthday, November 20, 1892 was married to H. Y. King of Rogers and lived there for nineteen years.
Mr. and Mrs. King then moved to Bentonville for sixteen years where she operated the Bentonville Ice & Cold Storage Company. Many who thought women at that time had no business capacity should have seen Mrs. King's management skills. The building had the capacity to store 16,000 barrels. In another room stood great blocks of ice weighing from one hundred to two hundred pounds. The ice plant which was connected to the cold storage had a capacity of storing 20 tons and a daily output of 15 tons, they furnishing ice to Armour’s refrigerator cars and shipped ice north and south.
During their time in Bentonville, the Kings bought the James Rice house at 304 S. E. 3rd St. The house was paid for by Mrs. King with money left to her by her father. She was a very prominent socialite who loved to give parties at her house and in the garden. Mr. King owned and operated a cold storage plant, a bottling plant, and the first electric plant in Rogers. Mrs. King died unexpectedly on August 5, 1927. She is buried in the mausoleum in the Bentonville Cemetery.
After leaving the convent she joined the First Baptist Church in Helena at the age of fourteen and later went to live with an uncle in Brooklyn, New York, and completed her musical education in New York City. Her uncle with whom she lived in Brooklyn was a wealthy man and, having no children, he offered to make her sole heir if she would make her home with him. Leaving her uncle’s home she went to Washington D. C. and lived a short time with a cousin, Tom L. Johnson, who was at that time a member of Congress from Ohio. After visiting for a time in Washington she returned to Rogers, Arkansas, to which her father had moved and on her eighteen birthday, November 20, 1892 was married to H. Y. King of Rogers and lived there for nineteen years.
Mr. and Mrs. King then moved to Bentonville for sixteen years where she operated the Bentonville Ice & Cold Storage Company. Many who thought women at that time had no business capacity should have seen Mrs. King's management skills. The building had the capacity to store 16,000 barrels. In another room stood great blocks of ice weighing from one hundred to two hundred pounds. The ice plant which was connected to the cold storage had a capacity of storing 20 tons and a daily output of 15 tons, they furnishing ice to Armour’s refrigerator cars and shipped ice north and south.
During their time in Bentonville, the Kings bought the James Rice house at 304 S. E. 3rd St. The house was paid for by Mrs. King with money left to her by her father. She was a very prominent socialite who loved to give parties at her house and in the garden. Mr. King owned and operated a cold storage plant, a bottling plant, and the first electric plant in Rogers. Mrs. King died unexpectedly on August 5, 1927. She is buried in the mausoleum in the Bentonville Cemetery.