Our volunteer Sandy made an exciting discovery in the archives today as she processed some of the John Minto family papers.  On the inside of the front cover of one scrapbook (1994.087.0002) is pasted the morbidly titled obituary: “Dropped Dead.”  The obituary describes the life and death of Thomas C. King, an early African American resident of Salem.

Dropped Dead.

Thomas C. King who for years worked on the Wallace farm, dropped dead this morning at the home of John Schindler.  He has been suffering from valvular heart trouble for a number of years.

The funeral will be held tomorrow afternoon, at 2:30, at the Presbyterian church, and the burial will be had in the City View Cemetery.

“Tom King” will be remembered as the colored man who for so many years held a responsible position on the big Wallace farm.  He was intelligent and thoroughly upright, and a valuable hand wherever placed.  He has prospered in the past few years, and has been looking after wok and business of his own.  He has a timber tract in Tillamook county, having only just recently returned from there.  His friends think that possibly the unusual exertion of his trip may have been responsible for the attack which caused his untimely death.  All who know Tom remember him with pleasure, and his death will cause feeling of regret among his many friends.

A quick search on the Oregon Digital Newspaper Project, provided a citation.  The clipping was originally published in the Capital Journal on page five of the March 5, 1904 edition.

A little more searching lead to a Polk County Observer obituary that apparently was quoting the Oregon Statesman.  “Tom King Dead.” in the March 11, 1904 edition, page 1 gives a few more details about King’s life:

Thomas C. King, aged about 50 years, the faithful colored man well known to all old Salemites, and who was for so long employed by the family of the late R.S. Wallace, died at the Schindler place in Polk county, two or three miles below Salem, on Friday, March 4.  Tom had been at his land claim near Beaver, Tillamook county, and had returned only the day before.  His death was very sudden, due to heart failure.  Deceased came to Oregon from Tennessee to work for the Wallace family about fifteen years ago.  — Salem Statesman.

The Oregonian also picked up his obituary.  The March 6, 1904 edition on page 7 reads:

Thomas C. King.

Salem, OR., March 5 – (Special) – Thomas C. King, a colored man, well known here as the coachman for the Wallace family, died today of heart disease.

Estate notification

Announcement in the Polk County Observer, July 7, 1922, page 4. Accessed via the Oregon Digital Newspaper Project. July 7, 1922

With his land holdings, King was wealthy enough to have an estate, which was administered by R.S.Wallace’s son, Paul B. Wallace, as evidenced through the many notifications placed in the Polk County Observer that go on for years.  The latest notification I could find was in 1907 (column 1 “Court House Notes).

The obituary in and of itself was interesting, but even more exciting was finding his portrait among those taken by Salem’s Cronise Studio.  The photo is published in the Oregon Northwest Black Pioneer’s book Perseverance, page 223.