Portrait of Ann Frazier King (1782-1857)

William King (February 9, 1768June 17, 1852) was an American merchant, shipbuilder, army officer, and statesman from Bath, Maine. A proponent of statehood for Maine, he became its first

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

when it separated from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

in 1820. He was the half-brother of Rufus King, who was a member of the Confederation Congress from Massachusetts, delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, served as United States Senator from New York (from 1789-1796 and again from 1813-1825), and as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James from 1796-1803 and again from 1825-1826.

Personal and business career

William King was born to Richard King, a merchant and shipowner, and Mary Black, on February 9, 1768, at Scarborough, then in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

. His formal education was limited to local schools (he spent one term at Phillips Academy) and ended when he was thirteen. He was largely self-educated. Starting as a hand in a saw-mill, he went on to open his own mill. King was employed in a variety of businesses, including as a shipbuilder, then a ship-owner. He became the largest merchant shipping owner in Maine. He became a successful merchant and a significant real-estate investor. He opened the first cotton mill in Maine, at Brunswick. He founded and was president of the first bank of

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. In 1812, what is now known as the Stone House, King's summer retreat, was built in rural Bath. King was a Scottish Rite Freemason and later -while he was the Governor of the State- he became the first (Past) Grand Master of Maine, elected in June, 1820 by the representatives of twenty-four Lodges which "met, adopted a Constitution, and elected officers".

Political career

King became active politically in 1795 as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. He represented Topsham in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

in 1795 and 1799. After he moved to Bath, he represented that town in 1804. He served in the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

for Lincoln County from 1807 to 1811. When the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

began, Massachusetts made him major general of the militia, in charge of the Maine district. He devoted much of his attention to coastal shipping and defenses. He also led recruiting efforts for the regular army, for which he was made a colonel in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. In 1813 King began a seven-year effort that started with his petition to Massachusetts for separation. In 1816 he was re-elected to the

, and finally secured their approval for Maine to become a separate state, in 1818. The Missouri Compromise allowed Maine to be recognized as a state on March 15, 1820. He was shortly thereafter elected governor of the new state. In May 1821, President James Monroe named him as one of three commissioners to settle land claims from the 1819 Onis-Adams treaty known as the Spanish Claims Commission. King resigned as governor on May 28, 1821, to take the position of U.S. commissioner, serving until 1824. In 1828 he was appointed by president Andrew Jackson to serve as Customs Collector of Bath. With the shifting of political parties, he ran once more for governor, as a Whig in 1835, but lost.

Later life

King continued as a prominent business man, investor, and ship-owner. Even though he had a very limited education, he served for years as a trustee and overseer of Bowdoin College, and as a trustee of Waterville College (now called

Colby College Colby College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the ...

). He died at home, in Bath, Maine, on June 17, 1852, and is buried in the city's Maple Grove Cemetery.''History of Bath and Environs, Sagadahoc County, Maine: 1607-1894'', Parker McCobb Reed (1894)
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References

External links

*
National Governors Association

Architect of the Capitol
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, William 1768 births 1852 deaths Governors of Maine People from Scarborough, Maine People from Bath, Maine Massachusetts state senators Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Maine Democratic-Republicans Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States

Personal and business career

Political career

Later life

See also

Further reading

References

External links