Biography:

Dr. Sidney Arthur King was born in Kingsville, Ontario on the 23rd of January, 1844.  Dr. King was the youngest of 4 children born to James King and the former Sarah Perry.  His father was the founder of Kingsville and worked as a Customs Collector.  Dr. King’s siblings were; James Workman King, Helena Ada King and Alfred King.

Dr. King graduated M.D. from Victoria College in Coburg in 1867 and commenced the practice of medicine in Kingsville. Dr. King was known to travel into Chatham-Kent to attend to patients in Raleigh Twp and Romney Twp.

Dr. King married Esther Wigle in Kingsville on the 11th of June 1872.  Mrs. King was born in 1850 in Gosfield Twp, (Essex County), Ontario.  She was the 4th of 8 children born to Solomon Wigle and the former Ann Iler.  Her father represented Essex County in the Ontario legislature from 1867 until 1871.  Mr. Wigle also served as Reeve for Gosfield Twp and he served as a Warden for Essex County.  Mrs. King grew up on a farm and her siblings were; Lewis Wigle, Gordon Wigle, Alfred Wigle, Elihu Wigle (who died of a fever at the age of 17), Angus Wigle, Ernest Solomon Wigle and Ella Wigle (who died of tuberculosis at the age of 16).  Mrs. King’s mother died on the 16th of September, 1876 at the age of 50.  Her father married Maria (Funk) Schwenk in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the 11th of June, 1878. They did not have any children.  In the latter part of his life, Mr. and Mrs. Wigle moved into Kingsville.  He was the Gosfield Township Treasurer until his death in 1898.

Dr. and Mrs. King had 5 children all born in Kingsville; Arthur Hamilton King was born on the 11th of April 1873, George Clarence King was born on the 24th of December 1874, Anna Laura King was born on the 26th of October 1876, Florence Elise King was born on the 23rd of July, 1878 (and died of enteritis at the age of 13 months) and Charles Stanley King was born on the 3rd of June, 1880.

In 1873, Dr. King started the Kingsville Reporter newspaper.  He continued to be involved with the newspaper until 1893.  Dr. King served 8 years as the Reeve of Kingsville.

Mrs. King died in Kingsville on the 29th of August, 1881 at the age of 31.  She was buried at the Church of the Epiphany Anglican Cemetery in Kingsville.

Dr. King practiced medicine until 1893.  He left the practice of medicine to focus on his many business pursuits.   He was the Vice President and Manager of the United Gas Company.  Dr. King was also the President of the Lake Erie and Detroit River Railroad Co.  Hiram Walker established the railway in 1888.  In the beginning the railway facilitated the shipping of cattle and grain for Mr. Walker’s enterprises, including a distillery that was built in Walkerville, Ontario (now part of Windsor).  The Lake Erie and Detroit River Railroad Company continued to expand its services east into Chatham-Kent and eventually on to St Thomas.  Dr. King and Mr. Walker were also directors of the Lake Erie Navigation Company.

Dr. King died in Kingsville on the 8th of July, 1907.  At the time of his death, Dr. King resided on Mill Street West in Kingsville.  According to the death notice published in the Detroit Free Press on the 9th of July, 1907, Dr. King was one of the richest men in Essex and was reported to be worth a quarter of a million dollars.  He was buried at the Epiphany Anglican Cemetery in Kingsville next to his wife.

*Mrs. King’s brother, Lt. Col. Ernest Solomon Wigle served with the Canadian Armed Services during WWI, as did his son, Clinton Ernest Wigle.  

**Dr. King’s son Lt. Col. Arthur Hamilton King served with the Canadian Mounted Rifles during the Boar War in Africa.  His son Major George Clarence King served with the Canadian Armed Forces in England and France during WWI.

***The Kingsville Reporter was in continuous circulation until May 4th, 2020 when the owner of the newspaper, Postmedia Network closed it due to the financial hardships caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.