"King" County

William Rufus King

One week ago today was Martin Luther King Day.  The following day, Tuesday, I attended another in a series of lectures by a UW professor dealing with the political peculiarities of today's America.  In passing, and apropos to nothing in particular, he reminded us that King County -- which includes Seattle -- is the only county in America named after Dr. King.

This startled me at first, since my memory of King County goes back further than my memory of Dr. King, and I was sure it had been so named for decades before my time.  But then, I quickly remembered that in 2005, the state legislature finally granted a petition from the King County Council, one then pending for some twenty years, to name the county after the civil rights leader.

Since King County was already named King County, the only real effect observable to most of us was that the county logo was changed from a stylized king's crown to a profile of Dr. King.

But where had the pre-2005 name come from?  Surely, we were never a Royal Province?  No.  Back when we were part of Oregon Territory, the territorial legislature carved King County and Pierce County out of the pre-existing Thurston County to the south.  Pierce County was named after the newly elected president, and King County after William Rufus King, the newly elected vice president.  The following year, Washington Territory was itself carved out of Oregon, and the new territory kept the existing counties intact.

So.  Was there an enormous howl of public outrage that William Rufus King was being dishonored when the county turned its 21st century face to Martin Luthur King instead?  Not really.

King's political résumé was short and uninspiring.  He had served in the Senate from 1819 to 1852 (back when senators were chosen by state legislatures), except for a four-year absence to serve as American minister to France.  He was caught up in the pre-Civil War political battle over the Compromise of 1850.  As Wikipedia summarizes his position:

During the conflicts leading up to the Compromise of 1850, King supported the Senate's gag rule against debate on antislavery petitions and opposed proposals to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, which was administered by Congress.  King supported a conservative, pro-slavery position, arguing that the Constitution protected the institution of slavery in both the Southern states and the federal territories. He opposed both the abolitionists' efforts to abolish slavery in the territories as well as the "Fire-Eaters" calls for Southern secession.

Not the sort of career that Dr. King would have applauded.

Originally from North Carolina, he owned a cotton plantation in Alabama, worked by some 500 slaves.  He was the co-founder of Selma, Alabama.

Wikipedia seems to be especially interested in the probably-romantic relationship between William Rufus King and his long-time roommate, the next U.S. President, James Buchanan, but that issue was never a factor in the decision to leave William in King County's etymological lurch.

Most significant, probably, in addition to his embarrassingly pro-Southern political stance, was the fact that he died of tuberculosis after only 45 days in office as vice president, after being inaugurated in Cuba because he was too ill to return to Washington. The shortest term for any vice president, aside from those who left the office vacant to become president upon the president's death.

Pierce County remains named after the other half of the Pierce-King administration.  Here in King County, we were forced to ask ourselves -- "What did Vice President King ever do for us?  Are we proud of the dude?"  Note that unlike Dr. King, Vice President King's image never appeared on the county's logo or seal.  A king's crown?  At least people knew what a crown was.  I suspect that 99 county residents out of a hundred could never identify William Rufus King as their county's namesake. 

And yet, in his day, he must have been proud to have been elected to the second highest office in the Nation.  Such is the fleeting nature of fame.  He remains honored in Selma, Alabama, where his body has rested since 1882.