1852: An Acadia Tragedy Unfolds (Part 12, Jun 10/25)

Henry King’s body found on 10 June

“All [sic] clung to the boat, and endeavoured to get upon it, when it turned completely round till it bottom upwards again: Rand and King were lost in this last movement.” (Distressing Calamity, Christian Messenger extra, 11 June 1852, 1) The story told by Charles Benjamin and recounted in the newspaper by Dr. Cramp helps us know that Mr. King did not hold onto the boat as it turned over for at least a second time. Archivist Wendy Robicheau discovered that young Henry King was deeply mourned by his family.

He was born in 1835, in Onslow, Nova Scotia. His body was found on 10 June 1852, but the exact location and time is unspecified in the newspapers. I did not find evidence of an inquest. Henry King is buried in a family plot at Burial Island Cemetery, Onslow. The stone is deteriorated and difficult to read.

Known by his middle name ‘Henry’ rather than his first name ‘William’, he is listed as presenting undergraduate essays at the College’s public exhibitions in 1851 and 1852. But given his young age of 16 years, it is more likely that King was attending Horton Academy and taking some classes at the College. The full text of his final essay, “The Royal Scholar of the Nineth Century”, is published in the Christian Messenger of 12 November 1852.

He was remembered as being intelligent beyond his years and “his attention to study was uniformly praiseworthy”. King planned to become a lawyer. (Christian Visitor, 6 August 1852). His family expressed deep sadness on losing Henry, while writing in the Christian Messenger on 2 July 1852 that they recognized God’s mercy in giving them Henry’s body while other families did not have a body to bury. His father, John, arrived in Wolfville on June 10 to bring his son’s body home to Onslow. This brief line appeared in the 18 June 1852 Christian Messenger, “Mr. King passed through Rawdon on Thursday with the body of his son…” The funeral was held on June 14.