John Pendleton King

Who was John Pendleton King?

John Pendleton King was a United States Senator from Georgia.

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. He married Mary Louise Woodward, daughter of John Woodward and wife Harriet Bixby, and had at least two daughters: Grace Sterling King, married to John McPherson Berrien Connelly and had issue, and Mary Livingstone King, married to Henry Paget, 4th Marquess of Anglesey.

King pursued studies 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 Court of Common Pleas in 1831. He was elected in 1833 as a Jacksonian 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.