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William King | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Portrait_of_William_King,_First_Governor_of_Maine_1820-1821.jpg) portrait by Gilbert Stuart, 1806 | |
| 1st Governor of Maine | |
| In office March 15, 1820 – May 28, 1821 | |
| Succeeded by | William D. Williamson |
| Member of the Massachusetts Senate | |
| In office 1807–1811 1816–1820 | |
| Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives | |
| In office 1795–1799 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 9, 1768 Scarborough, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America |
| Died | June 17, 1852 (aged 84) Bath, Maine, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican |
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Portrait_of_Ann_Frazier_King_(1782-1857).jpg)
William King (February 9, 1768 – June 17, 1852) was an American merchant, shipbuilder, army officer, and statesman from Bath, Maine. A proponent of statehood for Maine, he became its first governor when it separated from Massachusetts in 1820. He was the half-brother of Rufus King, who was a member of the Confederation Congress from Massachusetts, delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, served as United States Senator from New York (from 1789 to 1796 and again from 1813 to 1825), and as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James from 1796 to 1803 and again from 1825 to 1826.