John King died; he had disposed of his manufacturing interests to Robert Hodge.

The evidence

• “King in 1845, built the shop on the opposite corner and continued the business until 1851, when having built the hotel adjoining, he opened it under the name of JaneSville City Hotel. This he conducted until his death in July, 1852, disposing of his manufacturing interests to Robert Hodge. Uriah Story opened a shop in the old one vacated by King ; but he, also, sold out to Hodge.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/14-rock-county-ch08-janesville.md, PDF p. 559

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources