Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/278

 KING

KING

G. Malbone, Anne Hall, and Washington AUston. He also learned the trade of manufacturing mathematical implements, and on the death of his father he took entire charge of the business. He was married to Amy Vernon. Among his portraits are those of Governor Mumford and his wife, Abraham Redwood, Dr. Isaac Senter and Stephen De Blois. He died at Newport, R.I., Dec. 30, 1819.

KING, Samuel Archer, aeronaut, was born near Philadelphia, Pa., April 9, 1828. He made his first balloon in 1849, and his first ascension from Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 25, 1851. During the forty years following he made 'over 300 ascensions from various points in the eastern states, travelling by balloon in order to view the country east of the Mississippi, and extended his trips beyond that river. He passed through many perils and adventures. In the autumn of 1872 he made a number of ascensions in company with the officers of the U.S. signal service bu- reau, and the results of their experiments were published in the signal service Journal. He carried a photographer on a trip made in 1875, and i)hotographed numerous views of cloud ef- fects, those of thunder-storms being especially interesting. In 1887 he was accompanied by Prof. Henry Hazen, of tlie U.S. signal service, in an ascent from Fairmount park, Philadelphia, remaining in and above the clouds four hours. In connection with George F. Stephens, capital- ist, and Charles Hite, aeronaut, he formed the Hite Navigation company for the purpose of con- structing a flying-machine, and on March 12, 1900, their workshop, containing the flying- machine and four balloons, just completed, was destroyed by fire.

KING, Samuel Ward, governor of Rhode Is- land, was born in Johnston, R.I., May 23, 1786 ; son of William Borden and Welthian (Walton) King ; grandson of Josiah and Mary (King) King and of John and Mercy (Greene) Walton ; great- grandson of Maxey and Meribiah (Borden) King, and of Samuel and Sarah (Coggeshall) Greene. Samuel Ward King was a student at Brown but did not graduate. He studied medicine and prac- tised in Johnston, R.I., and was surgeon on a schooner that sailed from Providence to destroy British commerce early in 1812, when he was captured and pai'oled. He is said to have served on the Was}), and on the Hornet when she cap- tured the Frolic, Oct. 18, 1812. He was also sur- geon on the Chesapeake and witnessed the fight be- tween that vessel and the Shannon in June, 1813, and attended Lawrence when he died. He was married. May 20, 1813, to Catharine Latham, daughter of Olney and Mary (Waterman) Angell. He was town clerk, 1820-43 ; assistant to Governor Sprague, 1838-39, and as first assistant, when the

people failed to elect a governor and lieutenant- governor in 1839, he became governor ex officio. He was elected to the office in 1840, 1841 and 1843, serving, 1839-43. He was called upon to defend his office and the people of the state against the threatened dual government pro- claimed by Dorr who claimed to have been elected by the Suffragist party, and he appealed to the Fedei'al government and was recognized as the lawful governor of the state. He died in Provi- dence, R.I., Jan. 20, 1851.

KING, Thomas Butler, representative, was born at Palmer, Mass., Aug. 27, 1800; son of Daniel and Hannah (Lord) King ; and a descend- ant of John King, who came from Edwardstone, Suffolk county, England, in 1715, and was the first settler of Kingston, afterward known as Palmer, Mass. ; and of Richard Lord of New London, Conn. His father was a captain in the Revolutionary war and removed to Pennsylvania with his family after the war, and died in 1816. Thomas then returned to Massachusetts and lived with his uncle, Gen. Zebulon Butler. He was educated at Westfield academy, studied law with Judge Garrick Mallery of Philadelphia, Pa., and in 1823 settled in Waynesville, Glynn county, Ga., where he became an extensive cotton planter. He was a member of the Georgia state senate, 1832-36, and a Whig representative from Georgia in the 26th, 27th, 29th and 30th congresses, 1839- 43 and 1845-49. As a member of the connnittee on naval affaii's he secured the establishment of the naval observatory at Washington, D.C. He was appointed collector of the port of San Fran- cisco, Cal., by President Taylor in 1849, which position lie held until»1851, when he returned to Georgia. He ^^as elected a state senator in 1859, and was a delegate at large to the Democratic national convention of 1860. He was a member of the Milledgeville anti-tariff convention in 1832 ; of the Macon Railroad convention in 1836, of the Young Men's convention at Baltimore, Md., in 1840, and of the Democratic state convention of June 4, 1860. He was appointed a commissioner from Georgia in 1861, to visit Europe to arrange a line of steamers for direct trade with Georgia, and he served as a Confederate States commis- sioner in Europe, 1861-63. He was married in 1824, to Anna Matilda, only daughter of Major William Page of St. Simon Island, Ga., and their son, Henry Lord Page King, was an aide-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Lafayette McLaws and was killed at Fredericksburg, Va. Thomas Butler King died at Waynesville, Ga., May 10, 1864.

KING, Thomas Starr, clergyman, was born in New York city, Dec. 17, 1824 ; son of the Rev. Thomas Farrington King, a Universalist minister. In 1835 he removed with his ]iarents to (^harles- town, Mass., and after the death of his father in