One of the greatest fears of a slave owner was Black literacy. An uneducated slave was thought to be nonthreatening and “necessary to their security.” 

Reading and writing posed a threat to the system of slavery, and strict laws were enforced against it. Simply put: educating an enslaved person was a crime. John Godwin, however, ignored this law, giving his slaves, including Horace King (1807–1885), a great degree of freedom.
King was born in South Carolina. He was taught to read early and thought to have been literate when purchased by Godwin around 1830. Soon after, Godwin, a builder, relocated from Alabama to a suburb of Columbus, Ga. There, he was awarded the contract to build the first public bridge connecting the two states.
It is said that King planned the project and supervised the enslaved people tasked to erect the span. It was then that Godwin realized King’s talents and natural genius as a builder. He made the decision to take King on as his protégé. Soon after, he sent King to Oberlin College (Ohio), the first college to admit African-American students.
After graduation, King returned to work with Godwin. The two collaborated on the construction of courthouses and bridges throughout Georgia and Alabama. In 1841, they rebuilt their Columbus City Bridge which had been destroyed in a flood.
King also served as superintendent and architect of major bridges at Wetumpka, Ala., and Columbus, Miss. Godwin did not supervise those projects.
Godwin experienced financial difficulties in the late 1830s, forcing him to transfer ownership of King to his wife and her uncle. In 1846, King was freed. It is said that Godwin came to these decisions because he needed to “protect this valuable asset (King) from his creditors.” 

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King could possibly have bought his freedom, but the relationship between the two men continued.
In the mid-1850s, King erected Moore’s Bridge, which stretched over the Chattahoochee River between Newnan and Carrollton. In lieu of cash, he accepted stock in the enterprise as payment. King’s wife and their five children are believed to have moved to this site. There they tended the bridge and farmed until 1864, when the Union cavalry burned the span.
The Civil War (1861–65) brought an economic boom to Columbus. King, at that time, worked for the Confederacy, supplying timber. He also took on the project of erecting a major building for the Confederate navy.
During Reconstruction (1863–77), King became a Republican politician. He served two terms as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, although his presence was minimal. His focus was on rebuilding wagon and railroad bridges, grist and textile mills, cotton warehouses, and public buildings. He did not seek a third term.
In 1872, King and his family moved to LaGrange, Ga., where he continued to design and construct bridges, stores, houses, and college buildings. He had become the most respected bridge builder in west Georgia, Alabama, and northeast Mississippi from the 1830s until the 1880s. King died in 1885.

Christy Price

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