KING, Judge Alfred R.., b 1857; 1905 Bio, Delta County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/delta/bios/kingar.txt --------------------------------------- Donated September 21, 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Judge Alfred R. King Judge Alfred R. King, of Delta, is one of the prominent citizens of the state and has been one of the leading promoters of the interests of the section in which he lives. As an able lawyer, a zealous and conscientious county attorney and a learned, discreet and impartial judge, he has dignified and adorned his profession, and as an enterprising, broad-minded and public-spirited man in the development of his town and county and the advancement of their best interests, he has honored the citizenship of the state and rendered signal service to his people. He comes of distinguished ancestry and in his career he has well upheld the traditions and examples of his family. One of his ancestors, William King, was the first governor of Maine, and a marble statue of him now stands in the Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol at Washington, one of the two his state is allowed to place there in honor of her most distinguished men. Farther back his ancestors on both sides of the house were Revolutionary soldiers and bore themselves gallantly in the great struggle for American independence. Judge King was born in Henry county, Illinois, on February 12, 1857, and is the son of Rufus D. and Rebecca J. (Whitney) King, the former a native of Maine and the latter of Ohio. The father was a farmer and settled in Indiana when a young man. He was married there and soon afterward located in Henry county, Illinois, where he died in 1885, and where the mother still lives. They had six children, three of whom are living, the Judge being the second in the order of birth. His older brother, Rev. George D. King, is a Methodist Episcopal minister in Montana. For a number of years he was president of the University of Montana and he is now presiding elder of the Bozeman district in that state. The Judge was reared on the Illinois homestead and began his education in the public schools. He attended Hedding College at Abingdon, Illinois, two years, and then entered Union College Law School in Chicago, completing the course in one year. He was admitted to the bar of the supreme court by examination in 1882, and came immediately to Colorado, locating at Gunnison. A year later he moved to Delta, being one of the first lawyers in the county which had just been organized. He was soon after his arrival appointed county attorney, and in the fall of 1883 was elected county judge at the first election held for county officers. Three years later he was re-elected, serving two terms. In the spring of 1885 he was elected mayor of Delta and his duties in this office were unusually important. The town site had been entered as government land and during his term as mayor it was surveyed as such, so that all the titles to lots in it from the government passed through his hands as the chief executive of the corporation. Governor Crawford was instrumental in organizing the townsite company and owned its property and franchises until his death. Then Judge King took charge of his estate as one of the trustees, and some time later he and George Stephan bought the interests of the company, and they have since owned and handled its business. Judge King has been actively connected with every enterprise involving the welfare and progress of the town. He was one of the organizers of its first bank and is now a stockholder in the successor of that institution, the present First National Bank of Delta. He takes an active and serviceable part in politics as a regular or Wolcott Republican, and in the fall of 1894 was a candidate for the state senate on the ticket nominated by that party, but in the confusion of party affairs brought about by the silver issue he had no show for election and of course was defeated. The district comprised the counties of Gunnison, Delta and Mesa. In 1900 he was nominated for the lower house of the state legislature for the district composed of Montrose and Delta counties, and his fidelity to Senator Wolcott again defeated him. But he is now, as he has always been, a stanch Republican. On December 23, 1884, he was married at Cambridge, Illinois, where she was born, to Miss Annie R. Caldwell, a daughter of Edward and Ann (Hutchinson) Caldwell, who were born in Philadelphia. Her father is dead and her mother lives with her and Judge King. In the King household four children have been born, Fred R., Ula M., Edward and Neil. The Judge has been a member of the school board during the past twelve years and the excellence of the schools in the town is a tribute to his intelligence, fidelity and enthusiasm in behalf of the system. Fraternally he is an Elk and a Freemason in lodge, chapter and commandery. Professionally he is attorney for the Denver & Rio Grande Railway Company and the Utah Fuel Company. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. 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