Porter King (November 24, 1857 – October 24, 1901) was an American attorney and politician who is known primarily for having been Mayor of
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
, 1895–1897.
Born in
Marion, Alabama
Marion is a city in, and the county seat of, Perry County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 3,686, up 4.8% over 2000. First known as Muckle Ridge, the city was renamed for a hero of the American Revolu ...
, he attended
Howard College
Howard College is a community college in the U.S. state of Texas with its main campus in Big Spring and branch campuses in San Angelo and Lamesa.
History
Howard County Junior College was established in Big Spring in 1945. 148 students be ...
(now Samford University) and graduated in 1878. He studied law at
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
in Charlottesville.
King moved in 1882 to Atlanta, the capital of Georgia, where he set up a law practice. He also entered politics, joining the Democratic Party. In 1889 he was elected to represent the
Sixth Ward in the city council.
[Avery, p.96] In 1894 King was elected as the 34th Mayor of the city, serving one term from 1895 to 1897. Although reluctant to run for any other office, he was persuaded to run for the
Georgia General Assembly in 1900, and won. King served one week but resigned and returned to private life. After leaving office, he died later that year from a "stroke of
apoplexy
Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...
" suffered at home.
References
* Avery, I.W., City of Atlanta, Inter-State Publishing Company, Louisville, KY, 1892
Notes
1857 births
1901 deaths
People from Marion, Alabama
Mayors of Atlanta
Members of the Georgia House of Representatives
19th-century American politicians
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