{{Short description|American politician (1799–1888)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = John Pendleton King |image = John Pendleton King.jpg |jr/sr = United States Senator |state = [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] |term_start = November 21, 1833 |term_end = November 1, 1837 |predecessor = [[George Troup]] |successor = [[Wilson Lumpkin]] |birth_date = {{birth date|1799|4|3}} |birth_place = [[Glasgow, Kentucky|Glasgow]], [[Kentucky]] |death_date = {{death date and age|1888|3|19|1799|4|3}} |death_place = [[Summerville, Georgia|Summerville]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] |party = [[Jacksonian democracy|Jacksonian]] |signature = Signature of John Pendleton King (1799–1888).png }} '''John Pendleton King''' (April 3, 1799{{spaced ndash}}March 19, 1888) was an attorney, planter, and politician, serving as [[United States Senator]] from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. He resigned in 1837 before the end of his term to devote himself to his plantation and business, serving for nearly 40 years as president of the [[Georgia Railroad and Banking Company]], and becoming a cotton manufacturer. He acquired large plantation holdings, and by 1860 owned 69 slaves to work the cotton fields and related trades.
==Early life and education== Born in [[Glasgow, Kentucky]], King moved in infancy with his parents to [[Bedford County, Tennessee]], and then to [[Augusta, Georgia]], in 1815. He graduated from the [[Academy of Richmond County]] in Augusta, and studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1819 and practiced in Augusta.
==Marriage and family== After beginning his practice, King married Mary Louise Woodward, daughter of John Woodward and wife Harriet Bixby. They had at least two daughters and a son together. Grace Sterling King married John McPherson Berrien Connelly and they had children. Mary Livingstone King married [[Henry Paget, 4th Marquess of Anglesey]] (1835–1898).
==Studies and politics== King studied in Europe from 1822 to 1824. He returned and continued the practice of law in Augusta until 1829. He was a member of the State constitutional conventions in 1830 and 1833. He was appointed [[judge]] of the [[Georgia Court of Common Pleas|Court of Common Pleas]] in 1831. He was elected in 1833 as a Jacksonian (later [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]) to the [[United States Senate]] to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of [[George M. Troup]]. He was reelected in 1834 and served from November 21, 1833, until November 1, 1837, when he resigned. In that year, the United States was in the midst of a [[Panic of 1837|financial panic]], which King blamed entirely on the policies of [[Andrew Jackson]], which included removal of federal deposits from the [[First Bank of the United States|Bank of the United States]] and the [[Specie Circular]] requiring purchases of federal land to be made in gold or silver currency, rather than bank notes or other instruments.<ref>{{cite web |last1=King |first1=John Pendleton |title=Speech of Mr. King, of Georgia, on the bill imposing additional duties, as depositaries...delivered in the Senate of the U.S., Sept. 23, 1837. |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015077844291&view=1up&seq=8 |publisher=Gales & Seaton |access-date=31 October 2022 |date=1837}}</ref>
==Business and plantation== After his time in politics, King became president of the [[Georgia Railroad and Banking Company]], serving from 1841 to 1878. He worked as a railroad promoter and [[cotton]] manufacturer. In 1865 he was a member of the State constitutional convention in 1865.
During this period he also continued as a planter and expanded his landholdings considerably, amassing a large estate. From 1830, he more than tripled the number of slaves he owned, in order to work those properties. In 1830, he owned 22 slaves in Augusta, Georgia.<ref>{{cite census | url = | title = 1830 United States Census| year = 1830| location = Augusta, Georgia| roll = | page = 274, 275| line = | enumdist = | filmnum = | nafilm = | accessdate = 6 March 2016}}</ref> In 1840, he owned 55 slaves.<ref>{{cite census | url = | title = 1840 United States Census| year = 1840| location = Augusta Ward 5, Richmond, Georgia| roll = | page = | line = | enumdist = | filmnum = | nafilm = | accessdate = 6 March 2016}}</ref> In 1850, he owned 57 slaves.<ref>{{cite census | url = https://archive.org/stream/7thcensus0094unit#page/n473/mode/2up| title = 1850 United States Census, Slave Schedules| year = 1850| location = Division 73, Richmond, Georgia| roll = | page = 931, 983| line = | enumdist = | filmnum = | nafilm = | accessdate = 6 March 2016}}</ref> In 1860, he owned 68 slaves.<ref>{{cite census | url = https://archive.org/stream/acpl_slavecensus_10_reel10#page/n167/mode/2up| title = 1860 United States Census, Slave Schedules| year = 1860| location = Augusta City Ward 2, Richmond, Georgia| roll = | page = 306, 310| line = | enumdist = | filmnum = | nafilm = | accessdate = 6 March 2016}}</ref> King died in [[Summerville, Georgia]] and was interred in St. Paul's Churchyard, Augusta.
==Honors and legacy== King is the namesake of the city of [[Kingston, Georgia]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IP4vAAAAIBAJ&pg=4161%2C244037 | title=Kingston | work=Calhoun Times | date=September 1, 2004 | access-date=24 April 2015 | pages=20}}</ref> Pendleton King Park in Augusta, Georgia is named for his grandson, John Pendleton King II, who died at age 29 of a brain aneurysm.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pendleton King Park History|url=http://www.pendletonkingpark.com/history/|access-date=25 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.augustaga.gov/981/The-Sunken-Blue-Garden|title=The Sunken Blue Garden| author=<!--Not stated--> |website=The Sunken Blue Garden }}</ref> Kings Mill was also named after him.
==References== {{Reflist}} {{CongBio|K000207}} * Dictionary of American Biography * Mellichamp, Josephine. "John King." In Senators From Georgia. pp. 107–10. Huntsville, Ala.: Strode Publishers, 1976.
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-sen}} {{U.S. Senator box| state=Georgia|class=2| before=[[George Troup]]| alongside=[[John Forsyth (politician)|John Forsyth]], [[Alfred Cuthbert]]| years=November 21, 1833 - November 1, 1837| after=[[Wilson Lumpkin]] }} {{s-hon}} {{succession box | title=Most senior living U.S. senator <BR> (Sitting or former) | before= [[Peleg Sprague (Maine politician)|Peleg Sprague]] | after= [[Henry A. Foster]] | years= October 13, 1880 - March 19, 1888}} {{s-end}}
{{USSenGA}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, John Pendleton}} [[Category:1799 births]] [[Category:1888 deaths]] [[Category:People from Glasgow, Kentucky]] [[Category:Jacksonian United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state)]] [[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats]] [[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges]] [[Category:People from Bedford County, Tennessee]] [[Category:People from Summerville, Georgia]] [[Category:Politicians from Augusta, Georgia]] [[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers]] [[Category:Academy of Richmond County alumni]] [[Category:United States senators who owned slaves]] [[Category:19th-century United States senators]]