Overview
Rufus King (January 26, 1814October 13, 1876) was an American newspaper editor, public servant, diplomat, and soldier. He served as a Union Army brigadier general in the American Civil War, and was responsible for assembling the famed Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac. He was later U.S. minister (ambassador) to the Papal States from 1864 to 1867 and was instrumental in the capture of accused Lincoln assassination plotter . Earlier in life, he had been a member of the first board of regents of the University of Wisconsin.
Early life
King was born in New York City, New York, to Charles King, president of Columbia College, and Eliza Gracie. He was the grandson of Rufus King, delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention and U.S. Senator from New York. The Kings were part of the King family of Massachusetts, New York, and Maine. After graduation from Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, King enrolled in the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1829 and graduated the fourth in his class. He was commissioned into the United States Corps of Engineers in 1833 but resigned in 1836 to become the civil engineer for the New York and Erie Railroad.
After three years with the railroad, King decided to change his career path and became a newspaper editor. He worked at the Albany Daily Advertiser and the Albany Evening Journal, which were published by Thurlow Weed, a leading figure in the New York's Whig Party. In 1839, King was appointed adjutant general of the New York State Militia by Governor William H. Seward, a political ally of Weed, and held this post until 1843.
Family
In 1836, King married Ellen Eliot, who died two years into marriage; they had no children. After five years, King married her sister Susan Eliot, and they had two children. His son Rufus King Jr. became a Union Army officer of the U.S. Horse Artillery Brigade and was awarded the Medal of Honor; his other son, Charles King became a brigadier general of volunteers during the Spanish–American War and a writer of Western novels.
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