King, John Rhodes, 1816-1898

Born to William King and Rachel Petty in Stewart County, Tennessee, John Rhodes King (1816-1898) immigrated to Texas with his family in 1837. After helping to establish the town of Seguin, King served in a number of military positions, including as a Texas Ranger, a minuteman, and a member of the Texas Auxiliary. During the Mexican War, he joined the General Zachary Taylor’s First Texas Regiment of Mounted Troops and was later appointed first lieutenant of a company of Texas Rangers.

After returning to Seguin in 1949, King served as deputy county clerk of Guadalupe County. A year later, he married Ruth Eliza Wheeler and opened a grocery store, though later managed a gristmill, sawmill, and cotton gin. In 1953, King was elected as the first mayor of Seguin. He later served in the Sixth Legislature and participated in a number of committees concerning public land use as well as military and Native American issues. Following his move to Cibolo Creek in 1859 and later to Stockdale, King enlisted as a captain in Colonel Henry McCullough’s Texas Mounted Riflemen in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. In 1862, he left the army due to illness and returned to Cibolo Creek. King became county commissioner in 1876 and returned to the Texas Legislature in 1882. He continued to remain active in politics, including his reelection to the Nineteenth Legislature in 1884 and his participation in a number of committees until retiring in 1886.

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