Rufus King
| Rufus King | |
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Rufus King by Gilbert Stuart, 1819
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United States Senator from New York |
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In office March 4, 1813 – March 4, 1825 |
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| Preceded by | John Smith |
| Succeeded by | Nathan Sanford |
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In office July 16, 1789 – May 23, 1796 |
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| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | John Laurance |
| United States Minister to Great Britain | |
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In office November 11, 1825 – May 10, 1826 |
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| Nominated by | John Quincy Adams |
| Preceded by | Richard Rush |
| Succeeded by | Albert Gallatin |
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In office July 26, 1796 – May 16, 1803 |
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| Nominated by | George Washington |
| Preceded by | Thomas Pinckney |
| Succeeded by | James Monroe |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 24, 1755 Scarborough, Massachusetts (now Maine) |
| Died | April 29, 1827 (aged 72) Jamaica, Queens, New York |
| Resting place | Grace Episcopal Churchyard, Jamaica |
| Political party | Federalist |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Alsop King |
| Children |
James G. King John Alsop King Charles King Edward King Frederic Gore King |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Episcopalian |
| Signature |  |
Rufus King (March 24, 1755 – April 29, 1827) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress. He also attended the Constitutional Convention and was one of the signers of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He represented New York in the United States Senate, served as Minister to Britain, and was the Federalist candidate for both Vice President (1804 and 1808) and President of the United States (1816).
He was born on March 24, 1755 at Scarborough which was then a part of Massachusetts but is now in the state of Maine. He was a son of Isabella (Bragdon) and Richard King, a prosperous farmer-merchant, "lumberman, and sea captain" who had settled at Dunstan Landing in Scarborough, near Portland, Maine, and had made a modest fortune by 1755, the year Rufus was born. His financial success aroused the jealousy of his neighbors, and when the Stamp Act 1765 was imposed, and rioting became almost respectable, a mob ransacked his house and destroyed most of the furniture. Nobody was punished, and the next year the mob burned down his barn. This statement proves true as John Adams once referenced this moment discussing limitations of the "mob" for the Constitutional Convention writing a letter to his wife Abigail and describing the scene as:
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