Austin King
1802–1870
Source: Library of Congress
Biography
Austin King was a distinguished American politician and jurist who served Missouri during the antebellum and Civil War periods. He held multiple positions of authority, including service in the U.S. House of Representatives and as a state official, where he was instrumental in shaping Missouri's political direction during the contentious slavery debates of the 1850s. King was respected as a legal mind and political leader who navigated the complex sectional tensions that defined his era.