William King was an American businessman, statesman, and politician. He served as a Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate. He was the first Governor of Maine from 1820 to 1821.
Background
William King was born on February 09, 1768 in Scarborough, Maine, United States, then a part of Massachusetts. He was the seventh child of Richard King, a wealthy lumber exporter, and his second wife, Mary (Black). When William was seven years old, his father died, leaving the bulk of his wealth in unproductive lands.
Education
William's formal education was limited to local schools. He studied for one term at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts and ended when he was thirteen.
Career
King worked in sawmills in Saco, and in Topsham, where he later formed a mercantile partnership with his brother-in-law, Dr. Benjamin Porter. In 1800 he moved to Bath, where he spent the remainder of his life as merchant and ship-builder and owner, amassing a large fortune. He was organizer and president of Bath's first bank, one of the principal owners of the first cotton-mill in Maine, at Brunswick (1809), and an extensive owner of real estate, including the township of Kingfield, Franklin County.
He entered politics as the representative of Topsham in the Massachusetts General Court for 1795 and 1799. He represented Bath from 1804 to 1806, and was Lincoln County's senator, 1807 to 1811, and 1818 to 1819. He was twice the defeated candidate for the office of lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts.
The Embargo Act and the War of 1812 seriously affected his business enterprises but he gave freely of his time and money in carrying out measures for the protection of the coast in his capacity as major-general of militia, and in recruiting soldiers as colonel in the United States army. Subsequently, he was accused by his political enemies, of violating the Embargo and of trading with the enemy during the war. King's defense, in which he showed the unreliability of the witnesses against him and charged his accusers of violating the same laws, is a vigorous and powerful, though, as other evidence indicates, not a conclusive vindication.
For seven years until the successful result in 1820, he was the moving force behind the Democracy of Maine. He wrote letters and petitions; organized clubs, caucuses, and conventions; argued, threatened, and cajoled, with such recognized skill and success that he was made president of the constitutional convention of 1819 and elected Maine's first governor with a vote of 21, 083 in a total of 22, 014. As governor, he was nonpartisan in his appointments, and by his moderate policy did much to quiet the fears of the opponents of separation. Failing to put through some cherished plans, and perhaps because he was ambitious for a position in national affairs, he resigned the governorship in 1821 to become a commissioner (1821 - 1824) to put into effect the treaty with Spain. Never a Jacksonian, he failed to be reappointed collector of the customs at Bath, a position which he had occupied from 1830 to 1834.
In 1835, as the Whig candidate for the governorship, he was overwhelmingly defeated. Even in his home town, where he was known as the "Sultan, " his political power was gone. He was a trustee of Waterville (now Colby) College, 1821-1848, overseer of Bowdoin, 1797-1821, and trustee, 1821-1849. Naturally commanding, forceful rather than persuasive, he rode roughshod over all opposition. His lack of education was seriously felt; his opponents made sport of his blunders in grammar and spelling. Yet in thought he was original, and in reason, sometimes profound. Many who knew both Rufus and William King considered William the intellectual superior. Financial and family troubles darkened his old age; his mental powers failed; "his sun went down in great darkness".
Achievements
Politics
King was a member of the Whig Party. He was a staunch advocate of the statehood for Maine.
Connections
In 1802 King married Ann Frazier of Boston, by whom he had two children.