Charles King (Columbia University president)

Charles King
9th President of Columbia University
In office
1849–1864
Preceded by Nathaniel Fish Moore
Succeeded by Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard
Personal details
Born (1782-12-25)December 25, 1782
New York City, New York
Died October 1867 (aged 78)
Frascati, Italy

Charles King (March 16, 1789 – October 1867) was an American academic, politician and newspaper editor. He succeeded Nathaniel Fish Moore to become the ninth president of Columbia College (now Columbia University), holding the role from 7 November 1849 to 1864.[1] On his formal inauguration, on November 28, 1849, he spoke on the duties and responsibilities of the university staff, and espoused the virtues of copying the English university system.[2]

Educated in Harrow, England, King was captain of a volunteer regiment in the early part of the War of 1812, and served in 1814 in the New York Assembly, before becoming a newspaper publisher.[3] A Democrat, he was editor of the New York American from 1823 to 1845,[4] where he repeatedly clashed with Mordecai M. Noah, then Editor of the New York Enquirer; Noah nicknamed King "Charles the Pink".[5]

He was the son of one-time trustee, the lawyer and politician Rufus King and his wife Mary Alsop. He was married first to Eliza Gracie, the daughter of shipping magnate Archibald Gracie. Their son Rufus King was father of the soldier and writer General Charles King.[6] After Eliza's death in 1825, Charles married secondly Henrietta Liston Low, daughter of Nicholas Low. Their daughter, Mary Alsop King Waddington, became a writer. Charles King is buried in the Grace Church Cemetery in Jamaica, Queens, New York, New York.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Maria Lydig Daly, Diary of a Union Lady, 1861-1865, p. 150 (ISBN 0803266235)
  2. ↑ Columbia University, Addresses at the Inauguration of Mr. Charles King (1848), Ch. 4, pp. 3-53
  3. ↑  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "King, Rufus". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  4. ↑ Williams, Stanley Thomas. [,http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1JodAAAAIAAJ The Life of Washington Irving] Check |url= value (help). p. 342.
  5. ↑ Jacob Rader Marcus, United States Jewry, 1776-1985, p. 529 (ISBN 0814321860)
  6. ↑ Biography of Gen. Charles King
  7. ↑ Larry E. Gobrecht (June 1983). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Grace Episcopal Church Complex". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2011-01-12.

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by
Nathaniel Fish Moore		 President of Columbia College
1849–1864 		Succeeded by
Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard


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