29 - Rufus King (MA)

#29 - Rujus King (MA)
Birthplace: Scarboro, MA (Present day Scarborough, Maine)
Age at Convention: 32

1) Religion
-- Rarely spoke or wrote about his views on church and state
-- Supported a provision in an early draft of the Northwest Ordinance that would have set aside land in the Northwest Territory for the support of religious organizations (this provision was ultimately rejected by Congress)
-- Supported the provision in the 1821 Massachusetts Constitution that provided aid to ministers of the Gospel.
-- Remarked that he had never wished to see the "lawn sleeves" of Episcopal bishops in America. "I never liked the Hierarchy of the Church--an equality in the teacher of Religion, and a dependence on the people, are republican sentiments--but if the Clergy combine, they will have their influence on Government" (Rufus King: American Federalist, pp. 56-57, emphasis ours).

2) Slavery
-- Early opponent of slavery
-- In 1820, "believing that the issue of slavery could not be compromised but must be settled once and for all by the immediate establishment of a system of compensated emancipation and colonization, he denounced the Missouri Compromise"

3) Upbringing
-- Eldest son of prosperous merchant farmer
-- Graduated from Harvard

References:
1) http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/delegates/king.html
2) http://candst.tripod.com/tnppage/qking.htm

Running tabulation:
1) Religiously Active (18) or Primarily Secular (9)
2) Abolitionist (12), Partial Abolitionist (11) or Non-Abolitionist (4)
3) Wealthy (10) or Middle-Class/Poor (17)