When Cotton Was King

This picture of cotton in the Marietta Square is almost as well known among Cobb natives as the Old Court House.

Speaking of King there was a farmer named Mr, King who lived on what is West Oak Drive now. West Oak Drive runs parallel with Canton Highway, north of Marietta.

An older subdivision behind the area, near the West Oak Office Park has a road named King Road. That makes sense. It was a road named after the person that owned the land at one time. But I think the builder got carried away with the name – also in the subdivision if Prince Drive… which takes away from the meaning. But that doesn’t have anything to do with this story anyway.

I was told the below story as factual. Who knows?

Mr. King had a good cotton crop. But he knew all the other farmers in Marietta had a good cotton crop also.

Cotton is a commodity like any other commodity. The higher price can be demanded when the commodity is scarce.

Mr. King had some money saved. He decided to hold his cotton for a while until cotton was scarce again.

He held on. He and his family lived on his savings.

Then just as cotton was becoming scarce and he was going to carry his to the market his barns caught fire and destroyed all his cotton.

They found Mr. King hanging in a tree in the woods behind his house. He committed suicide.

Greed destroys and sometimes backfires.