Author: KING, William S.
Biography:
KING, William S. (1801-52: ancestry.com)
King seems very likely to have been the author associated with the Charleston Courier who used "William Rufus" (q.v.) as a pseudonym, but as long as the identification is merely tentative, Rufus and King are given separate headnotes. King was not a native of Charleston SC but was "reared at Johnstown [NY]" according to his death notice; other sources suggest Queenstown NY or Hartford CT, but evidence is lacking. He became a printer and was associated from about 1820 with the Charleston Courier, first as a compositor, then as a foreman, and gradually assuming more editorial duties. On 1 Jan. 1833, in a new partnership arrangement, he became part owner and Editor of the paper, and continued in that role until his death in Charleston in 1852. He married Letitia Laidler, with whom he had at least four children, all born in Charleston. He was a Mason, a president of the Typographical Society, and a colonel in the state militia. If Rufiana is indeed his, it was unfavourably reviewed and there are no other literary publications attributed to him. He died of pneumonia after a short illness. (ancestry.com 12 Aug. 2020; findmypast.com 12 Aug. 1872; Times-Picayune [New Orleans] 25 Mar. 1852, reprinting the announcement of his death from the Charleston Courier; William L. King, The Newspaper Press of Charleston, S. C. [1872])