John Alsop King papers
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Abstract
Correspondence and a few papers, 1834-1866, of politician John Alsop King (1788-1867), pertaining to his interests as a congressman representing Queens County, New York (1849-1851), as governor of New York State (1857-1858), and as an official of varied institutions.
Biographical Note
John Alsop King, congressman and twentieth governor of New York, was born at New York City on 3 January 1788, the eldest son of Senator Rufus King (1755–1827) and his wife, Mary (Alsop) King. The younger King was educated in England during his father's first appointment as United States minister to that country (1796–1803), and was later sent to Paris to learn French.
Once back in America, the King family settled at Jamaica, Queens. John married Mary Ray (1790–1873) on 3 January 1810. He was admitted to the bar, but his practice was curtailed by the War of 1812, during which he was commissioned a lieutenant of cavalry at New York. After the hostilities John developed an interest in agriculture and cultivated a farm near his father's estate.
Second to farming, politics absorbed King's time. He sat in the New York State Assembly in 1819–1821, and in the New York State Senate in 1823–1825, resigning the latter position to accompany his father to London, where the elder King had once more been appointed minister to the Court of St. James (1825–1826).
When he returned to America, John Alsop King allied with the anti-Masons, National Republicans, and Whigs. He was sent again to the New York State Assembly in 1832, 1838, and 1840. In 1839 he was a delegate to the Whig national convention, and a decade later went to Congress as a Whig representative from Queens County. In Congress King opposed the Fugitive Slave Bill, arguing for California's admission to the Union as a free state.
In 1852 King was again delegate to the Whig national convention. At the New York convention of 1855 he moved that the Whig Party rebrand itself "Republican." He then served as a delegate to the first Republican National Convention in 1856. That year the New York State Republican Convention nominated King for governor. He was elected in November for an uneventful two-year term, 1857–1858, during which he devoted his time to issues of education and canal expansion.
King retired from public life after his term as governor, only to be appointed a member of the New York delegation to the Peace Conference of 1861 at Washington. Back home in Queens, he was stricken with paralysis while delivering a July Fourth oration to his neighbors in 1867. He died three days later, on July 7, at the age of seventy-nine.
King's son, Charles Ray King, MD (1813–1901), edited The Life and Correspondence of Rufus King (1894–1900). Another son, also named John Alsop King (1817–1900), served as president of the New-York Historical Society, 1887–1900.
Arrangement
The John Alsop King Papers, the bulk of which is correspondence, is arranged chronologically, but material from 1854 is lacking. Undated letters and newspaper clippings from the 1840s-1860s come at the end.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains correspondence, mostly letters received, with some drafts of letters sent, and a few papers, 1834-1866, of Queens County congressman and New York governor John Alsop King. Letters pertain to his interests as a congressman representing Queens County (1849-1851), as New York's twentieth governor (1857-1858), as an official of varied institutions, and particularly to Long Island politics, troubles with Canada in 1838, the legacy of Samuel Jones to support the poor of Oyster Bay and North Hempstead in the 1830s, appointments and patronage, slavery, Long Island railroads, the New York State Agricultural College, the Whig and Republican parties, Kansas troubles, elections and conventions, banks, etc. Included are many letters from Benjamin F. Thompson, Robert Ray, James A. Hamilton, and William Kelly, although the majority are occasional letters from various persons, many of whom were prominent in New York affairs. Additional papers include manuscript notes, clippings, circulars, reports, a manuscript sketch on the Kansas question, Erie Canal Commission reports, etc.
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Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers.
Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. (Researchers may not accrue unused copy amounts from previous days.)
Use Restrictions
This collection is owned by the New-York Historical Society. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as the John Alsop King Papers, MS 351, New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Charles King Lenning Jr., 1945.
About this Guide
Repository
Box 1: Correspondence, 1834-1856
Correspondence, 1834-1840
Scope and Contents Note
Includes a letter from John Church Hamilton (1792-1882), son of Alexander Hamilton, 10 December 1838, requesting Rufus King's notes on the debates of the Constitutional Convention.
Correspondence, 1840-1842
Scope and Contents Note
Contains copies of New York State Assembly Document no. 337 of 27 April 1840, "Of the select committee on the petition of the Marine Pavilion and Life-boat Association at Rockaway in the county of Queens"; and New York State Assembly Document no. 422 of 27 April 1840, "An act to incorporate the Marine Pavilion and Life-Boat Association at Rockaway."
Correspondence, 1843-1844
Scope and Contents Note
Contains a printed circular letter (2 copies) from John A. King, dated July 1844, to his tenants at Blenheim, Schoharie County, New York, who refused to pay their rent.
Correspondence, 1845-1846
Scope and Contents Note
Contains a printed circular letter from Henry D. Cruger, 3 January 1846, to Harriet D. Cruger, his wayward wife.
Correspondence, 1847-1849
Correspondence, 1850-1851
Scope and Contents Note
Contains assessment bills for the paving of West 29th Street between Ninth and Eleventh Avenues, Manhattan, dated September and October 1850.
Correspondence, 1852-1853
Correspondence, 1855
Correspondence, 1856
Scope and Contents Note
Includes letters from H. L. Jones, at Kansas City, describing conditions there during "Bleeding Kansas," the border conflict following the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.
Box 2: Correspondence, 1857-1866
Correspondence, 1857
Scope and Contents Note
Contains a printed circular dated 7 December 1857, "A Constitutional Paper Currency, Redeemable in Specie, on demand, beyond the possibility of Failure."
Correspondence, 1858-1859
Correspondence, 1860-1861
Scope and Contents Note
Contains a printed letter dated 13 September 1860, from the New York State Republican Convention designating John A. King as a member of the Electoral College for the presidential election of 1860.
Correspondence, 1862
Scope and Contents Note
Contains a printed circular, dated November-December 1862, encouraging the disuse of "ardent spirits" to promote "the health, the virtue and the happiness of the community." Endorsed by presidents Madison, Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Van Buren, Tyler, Taylor, Fillmore, Polk, Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln.
Correspondence, 1863-1864
Correspondence, 1865-1866
Undated material, undated
Newspaper clippings, 1840s-1860s and undated
Arrangement Note
Grouped by decade of publication.