William King, the youngest in the family of 7 children, was born near the village of Newton-Limavady, Ireland in 1812. When the boy was 13 his family moved to a larger farm on the banks of Loch Foyle, “where a stream of pure water empties in Loch Folye just opposite Mouelle where the Atlantic steamers land their passengers for (London)Derry. There being no common school near I remained at home during two years, and wrought on the farm, learned to drive and ride horses and acquired some knowledge of farming and read a good deal of history and biography. It was a favourite amusement, in a summer evening to take a horse and go down to the river when the tide was in and take a swim in the salt water, during the two summers, I was at home I became quite adept in riding and swimming.
I believe that all knowledge is useful even of the common affairs of life and when the opportunity appears of acquiring knowledge it should be embraced. I find in my own experience the knowledge I had acquired of riding and managing a horse of great use to me…in (southern USA) the roads are bad for carriages and almost every one, both ladies and gentlemen ride. At Buxton (north of Lake Erie), when attending the matters of the settlement I had to go on horseback.”
What is one childhood experience that has been useful to you in adulthood?
The Emma Field Novels 
I’m almost never bored and I attribute that to some good coaching from my mom when I was a kid. If the neighbour kids were all busy and I didn’t want to play with my younger brothers and sister, or help with chores, she’d tell me to “make my own fun”. Most of the time I’d find myself wandering the farm.
The summer I was 13, we went to my grandparents’ cottage at Thousand Island Park, on the St. Lawrence. I had no one my own age to play with, but during the July 4th games on the green, my mother urged me to go up to some teenage girls I didn’t know and introduce myself. My need for companionship overcame my shyness, so I took up my courage and said hello to them. Today one of those girls is still a good friend, though we live many miles apart. It is never easy to approach strangers, but that experience showed me that connecting with others can make life much more interesting.