KING BECOMES A MINISTER

In January of 1844, William travelled to Scotland to pursue a Divinity degree from the University of Edinburgh (Free Church College), leaving his young family and holdings in the care of his father-in-law. The Free Church had been established in 1842 by Rev. Thomas Chalmers when the Church of Scotland broke away from the British Parliament, thus the Free Church lost all former manse properties.  While King was a student an abolitionist delegation from the U.S. (including Frederick Douglas) visited protesting the Free Church for accepting money to build new facilities from slave states and denounced the morals of Free Church for allowing a slave owner to be a student (William King).  Despite King's dubious connections to slavery, he impressed Rev. Chalmers and was asked to be a church school superintendent in Chalmers "City of God".

King returned to the U.S. to collect his family on the ship Patrick Henry, working as the First Mate, because he could not book a passage and landed in Jackson, Louisiana in June 1845.  Prior to moving his family with him to Great Britain, he made provisions for his slaves to run the plantation in his absence (when he returned 3 years later, he was $1,000 in debt due to army worm).

Before returning to Scotland, William, Mary, and Theophilus, travelled to Ohio to visit the King family farm. Sadly, young Theophilus caught a fever and died during their visit in Ohio, at only 3 years old and was buried near William's mother (who had died in 1839).