Andrew Jackson King

Who was Andrew Jackson King?

Andrew Jackson King or A. J. King, an early settler who played a part in the early history of the city of Los Angeles and held both State and city offices as a lawman, lawyer, legislator and judge.

Andrew Jackson King was born in Cherokee Purchase Land in Union County, Georgia. Later his father, Samuel King, who was a tanner and a saddler, took the family to Helena, Arkansas. In 1849 the family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory. In 1852, Samuel King brought his family and forty or fifty other families of pioneers overland to El Monte the oldest American settlement in Los Angeles County, located along the San Gabriel River, was inhabited by a mixture of emigrants, largely Texans. The King family laid out a town there which was called Lexington.

King studied law in Los Angeles with Judge Hayes, the first district Judge of the County. Then these two young lawyers and Judge Scott opened a law office on Main Street a short distance south of the Plaza. King became the first County Clerk of San Bernardino County in 1853.

In March, 1854, A. J. King was one of the members of the California Militia Company called the Monte Rangers, organized by John G. Downey and others. The unit was active operating against Indian raiders and bandits that plagued Southern California after they were driven out of San Francisco and the northern gold fields by vigilantes.