7 minute read
Marquis King’s Bestseller
A work of Oxford history
by Charles Francis
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Marquis King published a book in 1903. The word ‘published’ is used here in the sense of self-published. The book is, in part, a history of the town where King was born and grew up, Oxford. Just one hundred and twenty-five copies of the book were printed in 1903. Today that book may be regarded as a significant piece of Maine historical research and as a bestseller.
Just how significant is King’s book? And why might it be considered a bestseller if just a hundred and twenty-five copies were printed back in 1903?
Marquis King’s book as first published was intended for a select group of readers. King was a member of several historical societies. The work was intended for them. In other words, the book was aimed at a limited and sophisticated readership. It would seem that while King wanted his work recognized, he wanted the recognition with the critical few who are supposed to know that his intent was not to ‘throw caviar to the crowd,’ as some writers of the period were seen as doing.
The book may be called a bestseller because King’s work is in print and available even today. You can get it from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or most any major bookseller. You can order the book through a bookstore. You can find it in a fair number of Maine libraries. In short, the book has gone through numerous editions.
Marquis King’s book is Annals of Oxford Maine From its Incorporation, February 1829 to 1850. Annals is a work of local history. It is also a treatise on the families who first settled what is now Oxford and the communities in close relationship to Oxford. Treatise means in part a methodical investigation of a subject. Marquis King’s Annals includes an in-depth investigation of the genealogy of Oxford’s first families. This is why Annals is a bestseller. Annals continues to be in demand not for its history but for its genealogy.
What’s going on in there?
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Annals is not the only work by Marquis King that is still available. The Maine Legislature published one of his works, Changes in name by special acts of the Legislature of Maine, 18201895. It’s available in paperback. Baptisms and Admission from the Records of First Church in Falmouth, Now Portland, Maine is yet another work in a similar vein. King is not the credited author of the latter work though he undoubtedly did most of the research. The author is the Maine Genealogical Society. King was the driving force behind the Society. Note: This is not the same Maine Genealogical Society as exists today.
A sense of Marquis King should be developing in the reader’s mind given the above-cited works... there are more by the way. Marquis King researched family history. He delved into the genealogical records of specific areas of Maine. He did research in Oxford because he was born there. He did research in Augusta because he held elective office there. He did research in Portland because he lived there. In particular, he researched First Parish Church records because that was the church he attended.
Marquis King’s research was meticulous. It was as near to being perfect as such work can be. This is why his books are in demand today. The fact that his books are in demand speaks to the interest people have in family history and genealogy. In particular, it speaks to the interest in the Maine genealogical record.
Marquis King’s name should be better known today. It should be known for something other than his genealogical research. King was a photographer, a very good one. The interest developed while King was in his late teens. The Maine Historical Society has published examples of his photographic work. The photographs capture a vitality of a Maine that now can only be imagined.
Marquis King was born in Oxford in 1835 to Samuel and Eliza (Shaw) King. Seven years before he was born, the Marquis de Lafayette made his grand tour of the United States. The tour was an extraordinary event. It spoke to America’s roots. The tour was a memorable event. It was memorialized all across America. There is a Fayetteville in North Carolina and one in Alabama and one in Arkansas. There is Fayette, Maine. And Samuel and Eliza King had their newborn son christened Marquis Fayette King.
One can only imagine what it was like for a youngster to grow up with the name Marquis Fayette. There were plenty of Revolutionary War veterans around in those days. There were veterans of the War of 1812 around too. All had fought the Redcoats and all had seen Lafayette when he came to Maine. How many times did young Marquis King hear stories about Lafayette? It (cont. on page 16)
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(cont. from page 15) has to be a great many. King grew up with a sense and appreciation of the past. The past was real to him, something to be held on to and treasured. King held on to the past by writing his books, by preserving family history and genealogy.
Marquis King grew up in a family with military and pioneer traditions. His father was a militia colonel and an early developer of Craigie’s Mills. Colonel King was a Hebron selectman. When Oxford was created out of Hebron, the Colonel was a selectman there too. Marquis King’s grandparents on both sides were early settlers of Paris. King included an in-depth presentation of his family history in Annals. He did the same for other Oxford and Hebron families. That’s why those seeking their family history seek out King’s Annals today.
Marquis King deeply loved Oxford. The very first paragraph of Annals speaks to this love. The description is of Shepardsfield, the first name given to the area. It reads in part as follows: “This territory, being so nearly equidistant from the equator and the pole, is not subject to long-continued or exces-
sive heat or cold, and as the wind seldom comes from any one point for more than three or four days successively, the various climatic changes attendant upon the wind, follow one another in rapid and agreeable succession.” This could very well be a description of a promised land or a Garden of Eden. One can but wish to have lived there and then.
Perhaps one must have roots in Oxford to appreciate the gift Marquis Fayette King bequeathed to future generations. With a work like Annals, one connection leads to another. If one is descended from one old New England family, he or she is descended from many. The connections go on an on. It is said that we are all fiftieth cousins. Maybe Marquis Fayette King had a sense of this. It could explain why he devoted so much time and effort to making Annals the almost perfect work it is.
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