Charles King (academic)

Charles King
President of Columbia University
Term	1849 – 1864
Predecessor	Nathaniel Fish Moore
Successor	Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard
Born	December 25, 1782(1782-12-25) 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]

Notes

See also: Ivy League Presidents

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. ^ 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, Rufus King article
4. ^ Stanley Thomas Williams, The Life of Washington Irving, 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. http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=7331. Retrieved 2011-01-12. 

External links

• Works by or about Charles King in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

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

Persondata
Name	King, Charles
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1782-12-25
Place of birth	New York City, New York
Date of death	1867
Place of death	Frascati, Italy