As powerful and successful men, Roswell King and his sons lived out some of the complexities of their times. Roswell King, Sr. had conflicts with Major Pierce Butler when he managed his island plantations in Georgia because Butler took a more moderate approach to the treatment of slaves than did King. Butler was one of the wealthiest men in the South when King worked for him. After the father left in 1820, Butler hired his son Roswell King, Jr. as plantation manager.