Karl King

The King family moved to Canton, Ohio, when he was eleven, the age he used newspaper carrier income to purchase his first musical instrument – a cornet.

His only music instruction included assistance from local musicians when he played brass instruments in the Canton Marine Band.

In an interview in the last year of his life, King stated that his proudest moment was conducting the Barnum and Bailey band in Madison Square Garden.

King hoped to join John Philip Sousa at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station during World War I.

With no openings on his staff at the time, Sousa suggested King apply to the army as bandmaster at Camp Grant.

After a year in Canton where he directed the Grand Army Band (1919) King settled down in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

This was in 1920 (age 29) and for the next fifty-one years he conducted the Fort Dodge Municipal Band, which featured future American Bandmasters Association president Joseph Hermann on clarinet.

Karl King died on March 31, 1971, of acute diverticulitis at age 80 in a Fort Dodge, Iowa hospital.

King the composer published more than 300 works: galops, waltzes, overtures, serenades, rags, and 188 marches and screamers.

"Barnum and Bailey's Favorite" (1913) remains his best-known composition, but other pieces that retain their popularity among fans of band music include: King's final published march was "The Home Town Boy March" (1962) dedicated to Meredith Willson.

A disastrous fire on January 12, 1971, destroyed the Knights of Columbus Hall where the Fort Dodge Band held rehearsals and stored instruments and uniforms.

The hall also held most of Karl King's original manuscripts, including special arrangements.