Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Rufus King,[1] and great-grandfather was John Alsop (1724–1794), a prominent merchant.

[3][4][5] King attended Union Hall Academy in Jamaica; and graduated from Harvard College in 1835.

Then he engaged briefly in mercantile pursuits, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced for some time.

He was a delegate to the 1872 Republican National Convention; a presidential elector in 1872, voting for Ulysses S. Grant and Henry Wilson; and a member of the New York State Senate (1st D.) in 1874 and 1875.

Mary was a granddaughter of New York Attorney General Josiah Ogden Hoffman (1766–1837), and they had five daughters, several who died young including Cornelia Ray, Ellen and Frederica, including: He died of pneumonia at the Savoy Hotel in Manhattan which had been his winter residence for a number of years, and was buried at the Grace Episcopal Churchyard in Jamaica, Queens.