Josephine King: Colonel Sanders First Wife
Young Harland Sanders (a man of few means), met and then quickly married his first wife, Josephine King (a young lady from a relatively wealthy family), in the year 1909. Over the next 39 years they would have, and raise, 3 children together, however, their marriage was rarely a happy one. And in the end, they only remained together "for the sake of the children"...
You see, Harland was an angry and somewhat bitter young man. His Father had passed away when he was only five years of age, and his subsequent step-father - whom his Mother only married to keep poverty at bay - use to beat him and push him around. It was from this difficult childhood, that he developed a real sense of justice and pride. When his step-father's beatings became too much for him, he reacted by running away (with his mother's blessing, mind you). He took control of the situation at hand, rather than succumbing to it...
Now, this attitude worked well for his sense of self-esteem and self-worth (under difficult circumstances), but many a time, it failed him as well; as he was quick to temper once he saw an injustice around him, sometimes reacting violently. His first fist-fight was when he was twelve (because an older boy he'd lent money to,
refused to return it); it was a fight which he won quite convincingly. After that, he was quick to help both himself and others if a boss, for example, was treating his workers unfairly. Naturally, the bosses resented the young "upstart" because of this. And it was for this reason, and due to these factors alone, that in the first ten years of his marriage with Josephine, he lost many jobs.
Not long after the birth of their second child, Harland Junior, and whilst Harland was away working on the railroad, Josephine left him. Harland had been religiously writing letters home for months, and the first he knew of her leaving, was when the letters began returning with "Not at this address" sprawled across them. He returned home extremely worried, to find that his home was empty, and not just of his family, but all his furniture was gone as well! As it turned out, bitterly disappointed with their life till now, Josephine had sold up everything, and run home to her parents, most likely to simply feel the "comforts of home" once again.
Harland managed to soothe her fears in the short term, and she returned to him soon after. But, as Colonel Sanders has said, they were never the same again after that. And for the most part, they only stayed together out of an obligation to their beloved children.
Josephine worked hard with Harland all their married life. Indeed, she was with him through all the early years of near-poverty, through the roaring 20's when Harland thought he'd do well as a lawyer and then as a steamboat operator. Then as he lost job after job, and he moved into the Service Station Industry, she was there when the Great Depression hit and Harland was forced to exchange fuel for chickens, and sheep (as local farmers literally had NO money to pay for it!). She was there when he started his Service Station in Corbin, Kentucky, and she helped him in the kitchen when he first started selling his home-cooked meals to passersby... She was there, when their son passed away in 1932 at only 20 years of age, and she was there when Harland finally bought his first set of pressure cookers in 1939. Whilst she wasn't the family "chief food-taster" (that honor went to their daughter Margaret), she trialed and tasted many a meal of fried chicken, whilst the Colonel sought out that "perfect" combination of herbs and spices which would complement the flavor of his chicken...
Eventually, after the children grew up and there was no real reason left for them to remain together, they mutually agreed to a divorce. The year was 1948.
Later on that year, Colonel Sanders married the woman he truly loved, Claudia Ledington (who had been working in his restaurant since 1932, initially as a waitress). She too, had worked hard in support of Harland Sanders, and indeed, it was Claudia who was destined to become the wife that all the world would recognise...
As a final note, and so that we understand that there was no animosity between these three people; after Colonel Sanders became famous for his wonderful fried chicken recipe in the 1950's, he brought BOTH women along to a Presidential inauguration that he'd been invited too! One on each arm!
What a guy! 
1909: Josephine King's Family. "Josie", Colonel Sanders first wife, is standing tall, third from the right.
1931: Harland Sanders' Service Station in Corbin, Kentucky (left side of the road). Within 2 years he and his wife Josephine, would move directly across the road to the other building (on the right) and open up their very first restaurant.
1933: Harland Sanders in his restaurant kitchen. Standing next to him is his wife, Josephine (Note: You have probably seen this photo many times before, but the woman on Sanders' right is never named. KFC Corp. NEVER mentions Colonel Sanders' first wife by name. There seems to be an unspoken Corporate "rule" that she effectively "doesn't exist".)
1930's:A quiet evening inside Sanders' Restaurant...
1960's: Finally, Josephine King, as an elderly lady.
Josephine King passed away on December 6th, 1975. She was 87 years old.
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