RICHARD WARREN KING, third son of Thomas and Martha A. (Turnage) King, was born near what is now Farmville, September 11th, 1858. Receiving a common school education, he began clerking in a country store before he was grown. Later in other business he canvassed much of the eastern counties. In 1882 he was appointed deputy sheriff under Sheriff King, which position he held for the three terms of his uncle. In 1888 J. A. K. Tucker was elected sheriff and he was continued in office of deputy sheriff for the two terms of Sheriff Tucker. So acceptably and efficiently had he performed the duties of deputy for ten years that in 1892 he was nominated by the Democrats for the office of sheriff and elected at the following election. In 1894 the county commissioners refused to accept the bond of sheriff-elect, W. H. Harrington, and appointed him sheriff for the ensuing two years. Having served altogether fourteen years in the office he was not a candidate for renomination in 1896. In 1906 he was elected a county commissioner and under that administration, the steel bridges at Greenville and Grifton were built. He has always taken an active interest in politics and served on many other committees. He is a member of the Christian (Disciple) Church and a Mason.
September 28th, 1891, he married Mattie E., daughter of W. B. and Mattie E. (Edwards) Moye. They have seven children living.
Source: Henry T. King, Sketches of Pitt County [North Carolina]: A Brief History of the County, 1704-1910 (Raleigh: Edwards & Broughton Printing Co., 1911), p. 258.