John A. King (1817–1900)

John Alsop King Jr. (July 14, 1817 – November 21, 1900 Manhattan, New York City) was an American politician from New York.

John Alsop King
Member of the New York State Senate from the 1st district
In office January 1, 1874 – December 31, 1875
Preceded by	Townsend D. Cock
Succeeded by	L. Bradford Prince
Personal details
Born	July 14, 1817 Jamaica, New York, U.S.
Died	November 21, 1900 (aged 83) New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Mary Colden Rhinelander ​ ​ (m. after 1839)​
Relations	Rufus King (grandfather) Charles Ray King (brother)
Children	5
Parents	John Alsop King Mary Ray King
Alma mater	Harvard College

Early life

King was born on July 14, 1817 in Jamaica, Queens County, New York. He was the second son of children born to New York Governor John Alsop King (1788–1867) and Mary (née Ray) King (1790–1873). His brother was Charles Ray King and his sister, Elizabeth Ray King, was married to U.S. Congressman Henry Bell Van Rensselaer.

His grandfather was U.S. Senator and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Rufus King,[1] and great-grandfather was John Alsop (1724–1794), a prominent merchant.[2] His uncles included Charles King, who was President of Columbia University, James Gore King, a U.S. Congressman, Edward King, the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives .[3][4][5]

King attended Union Hall Academy in Jamaica; and graduated from Harvard College in 1835.

Career

Then he engaged briefly in mercantile pursuits, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced for some time. However, he spent most of his life as a gentleman farmer, looking after the family estate.

He was a delegate to the 1872 Republican National Convention; a presidential elector in 1872, voting for Ulysses S. Grant and Henry Wilson; and a member of the New York State Senate (1st D.) in 1874 and 1875.[6] In 1876 and 1880, he ran unsuccessfully for the United States Congress.

He was President of the New-York Historical Society for eighteen years from 1887 until his death.[7] The Society commissioned a portrait of King in 1892 by Robert Hinckley.[7]

Personal life

On February 21, 1839, he married Mary Colden Rhinelander (1818–1894), the only daughter of Philip Rhinelander and Mary Colden (née Hoffman) Rhinelander. Mary was a granddaughter of New York Attorney General Josiah Ogden Hoffman (1766–1837), and they had five daughters, several who died young including Cornelia Ray, Ellen and Frederica, including:

• Mary Rhinelander King (1842–1909), a philanthropist[8][9] who did not marry.[10]
• Alice King (1860–1920), who married Gherardi Davis (1858–1941), son of George Henry Davis, on April 7, 1894.[11]

He died of pneumonia at the Savoy Hotel in Manhattan which had been his winter residence for a number of years, and was buried at the Grace Episcopal Churchyard in Jamaica, Queens.[12][13]

Sources

1. Passos, John Dos (2011). The Men Who Made the Nation: Architects of the Young Republic 1782–1802. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing. p. 480.
2. McKenney, Janice E. (2012). Women of the Constitution: Wives of the Signers. Lanham: Rrowman & Littlefield. p. 98.
3. York, Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New (1905). The Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York: History, Customs, Record of Events, Constitution, Certain Genealogies, and Other Matters of Interest. V. 1-. The Saint Nicholas Society.
4. McKenney, Janice E.; The District of Columbia Daughters of the American Revolution (2013). Women of the Constitution: Wives of the Signers. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 97–103. ISBN 9780810884984.
5. "The Founding Fathers: Massachusetts". The Charters of Freedom. Archives.gov. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
6. McElroy, William Henry; McBride, Alexander (1875). Life Sketches of Government Officers and members of the Legislature of the State of New York for 1875. Albany, NY: Weed, Parsons and company, printers. p. 68ff. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
7. "John Alsop King (1817-1900)". www.nyhistory.org. New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
8. Catalogue of the Gallery of Art of the New York Historical Society. New-York Historical Society. 1915. p. 48. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
9. New York City Mission Monthly. 1898. p. 204. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
10. "MISS KING LEFT $1,000,000.; Her Sisters, Historical Society, Church and Charities, the Beneficiaries". The New York Times. 17 September 1909. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
11. "Guide to the Gehardi Davis Papers" (PDF). archives.nypl.org. New York Public Library Archives. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
12. "DEATH LIST OF A DAY; John A. King". The New York Times. November 22, 1900. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
13. "J. ALSOP KING, Historian". The New York Times. November 24, 1900. Retrieved 1 May 2018.

External links

• John A. King at Find a Grave