March 24, 1934
Page Eight THE STATE
How Come Nobody Pays Any Mind to
WILLIAM RUFUS KING?
★ WE hear quite a bit about men who weren't
half as prominent as he was. For some
reason
о
NE of the greatest , .
men that North haS mQ(l
Carolina has ever get that
produced was XV i 1 1 i a m
Rufus King.
Practically everybody upon reading
that sentence will pause to inquire:
“And who in the world is William
Rufus King?’'
It is surprising how few people have
ever hoard of this man who was as
great a legislator, statesman, diplomat,
and patriot as can lx* found in the
annals of American history.
William Rufus King was a native
of Sampson County, North Carolina.
Here are a few of his outstanding
achievements:
Member of the state legislature.
Vice president of the United States.
A member of Congress, both as rep¬
resentative and senator.
Secretary to Foreign Legations.
In addition to the above, he was
offered the post of Minister to France,
lie was a personal friend of the king
of that country and was a big factor
in bringing about the annexation of
Texas without interference from Eu¬
ropean powers.
All of which goes to show that Wil¬
liam Rufus King was quite a man.
So far as modern North Carolinians
are concerned, however, he is unknown.
Many people pass through the town
of Clinton in Sampson County and
quite a few of them stop at the Hotel
Rufus King in that city. It is sur¬
prising how frequently some of them
will ask for "Mr. King” at the desk.
They evidently are of the opinion that
the hotel was named for the proprietor.
Some few of these visitors may display
enough interest in the monument which
has been erected on the courthouse
square at Clinton. Upon reading the
inscription thereon they may obtain
a brief resume of his career.
It is positively astonishing when
you consider the ignorance of the aver¬
age person concerning this distin¬
guished citizen of North Carolina.
He was born on April 7, 1780, the
son of a planter in independent cir¬
cumstances. Educated in the Univer¬
sity of North Carolina, which he en¬
tered at the age of twelve years, young
’ other, North Carolina apparently
2 up her mind deliberately to for-
there ever was such a mon.
r\
WILLIAM RUFUS KING
Vice President of the United States
By CAPT. FITZHUGH WHITFIELD
- ★ -
King upon graduation entered the law-
office ot William Duffy, a distinguished
lawyer residing in the town of Fayette¬
ville. In
180Г»
he obtained a license to
practice in the superior courts of the
state and opened an office in Clinton.
In 1806, he was elected a member of
the state legislature from the county
of Sampson.
CAPTAIN WHITFIELD, who wrote
this article, is a resident of
Clinton. He is
о
World War
veteran and is well known in that
section of the state.
He was only 24 years old when he
was elected a member of Congress from
the Wilmington district. Tn the spring
of 1816, Colonel King resigned his
scat in the House of Representatives
and accompanied William Pinckney of
Maryland as secretary of legations,
first to Naples and then to St. Peters¬
burg to which court Mr. Pinckney had
l>ccn appointed minister plenipoten¬
tiary.
Returning to this country. Colonel
King interested himself in the efforts
which the territory of Alabama was
making to acquire the full rights of
statehood. He moved down to that sec¬
tion of the country and was a mem¬
ber of the committee appointed to
draw a draft of the state Constitution.
In recognition for services, he was
elected one of the first senators in the
Congress of the United States from
the new state of Alabama. That was
in 1823. His first term was for four
years. He was reelected again in 1828.
1834, and in 1840.
In the spring of 1844, Colonel King
was offered the post of minister to
France which he declined just as on
previous occasions he had refused to
accept other diplomatic situations
which had boon tendered him, pre¬
ferring — us lie declared — the senator-
ship of Alabama to any office which
could be conferred on him by the
federal government. About that time,
the proposition for annexing Texas
was pending and there was much rea¬
son to believe that the British govern¬
ment was urging France to unite with
her in a protest against such annexa¬
tion. Colonel King was a decided ad¬
vocate of the annexation program and
when urged hv the president and many
friends in congress to go to Europe
and explain our position in detail to
the French government he consented
to do so. He gave up his seat in the
Senate and took passage for Havre.
Arriving in Paris, lie obtained an au¬
dience with the Kiug, presented his
credentials and at once entered upon
the object of his mission.
After frequent conferences with the
King of France, who had kindly con¬
sented that Senator King discuss the
subjeet with him without going through
the usual routine of communicating
through the foreign office, he succeeded
in convincing his Majesty that the con¬
templated protest, while it would not
arrest the proposed annexation, would
engender in the minds of American
people a feeling of hostility toward
France which would operate most in¬
juriously to the interests of both coun¬
tries which were then united by the
closest bonds of friendship. So his
(Continued on page twenty-six)