George W. King, the leading medical practitioner of Marysville, Montana descended from one of the pioneer families of Vermont, his ancestors having settled in that state previous to the Revolutionary War. George W. King was born in Malone, New York, on October 20, 1852. After spending his youth in Bellmont, New York, King entered Cornell University in Ithaca with sophomore standing in the fall of 1874, attending for just one year. He transferred into medical school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor as a junior in September 1875, graduating in 1877.
At the time of the 1880 federal census, King lived with his brother, David Woodbury King, in Mona, Ford County, Illinois, where he worked as a physician and David as an architect. He married Armilla Jane Griffen, July 25, 1881 in Kempton, Ford County, Illinois (although some records state Cook County). Usually called "Millie" by family members, she was born January 10, 1860 in Whiteside County, Illinois and died February 7, 1941. George King was employed as a doctor and surgeon in Helena, Montana and later in Portland, Oregon.
In 1892, he filed a patent with the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C. for a "Fracture Apparatus." In his application, he wrote, "In the treatment of fractures there is always difficulty, even with the aid of an assistant, in maintaining the limb in proper position and much extra pain is occasioned by frequent moving of the injured limb during the application of splints or bandages. My invention is designed to obviate this difficulty by providing a portable apparatus by means of which the operator, without the aid of an assistant, can apply and maintain proper extension and counter-extension of, and support for, the broken limb, and, at the same time have free access to every part of it for the convenient application of the splints or bandages."
(Citation: (Note: there is a discrepancy regarding King's date of birth) The above information is combined from biographies by Lewis Publishing, 1894 as well as Deborah Lynn Guber, Associate Professor Department of Political Science,The University of Vermont.)
There are no restrictions on access. This collection is open to the public.
George W. King, M.D. created and/or collected the materials in the collection. The materials were transferred to the Pacific Northwest Archives of the University of Oregon Medical School. In June of 2005, the collection was accessioned into HC&A by Karen Peterson, OHSU HC&A archivist.
OHSU Historical Collections & Archives (HC&A) is the owner of the original materials and digitized images in our collections, however, the collection may contain materials for which copyright is not held. Patrons are responsible for determining the appropriate use or reuse of materials. Consult with HC&A to determine if we can provide permission for use.
George W. King scrapbook collection, Collection Number 2005-008, Oregon Health & Science University, Historical Collections & Archives
The collection consists of a folder of miscellaneous reprints and newspaper articles written by or about Dr. George W. King and a scrapbook of photographs and other assorted materials.
Some images from this collection have been digitized and are available in the