The King papers are arranged in two major and two minor biographical series. The two major portions pertain to Charles and to Rufus King, the smaller sections to Charles' son, Rufus King III, and to Captain and Mrs. York, the parents of Charles' wife, Adelaide.
The Rufus King manuscripts consist of correspondence for the years 1835-1874, and of military and financial records, which include letters about his commission, orders, resignation, and personal accounts. The correspondence file is incomplete. It consists of a small collection of letters for the years 1835-1849, 1861-1864, 1867, and 1874, primarily about Whig politics. The collection includes an exchange of letters concerning a political dispute between King and John Spencer (1844) and individual letters from Thurlow Weed (1838) and William H. Seward (1845). In addition, there are a series of letters from European traveler Charles L. Austin (1838-1840) pertaining to the high society of the times and a small group of King's Civil War letters (1861-1864) concerning additions to his command and other matters of a very general nature. There is virtually no information about the famous “Iron Brigade.”
The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, diaries, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous items relating to Charles King. Most of the correspondence is composed of letters from King to his wife, Adelaide, and daughter, Carolyn, in Europe between 1894 and 1901. Earlier correspondence includes a letter to William H. Seward asking for a cadetship at West Point and a series of letters written to his father during the younger King's tour of duty among hostile Indians on the Northern Plains, 1876-1878 (his father died in 1876), describing battles, the pursuit of the Nez Perces, and army life on the frontier. The file also contains some general correspondence between King, relatives and friends primarily dealing with his family's excursions in Europe.
King wrote two diaries while Adjutant General of the Wisconsin National Guard. Besides providing a daily log of his activities, they also contain a personal expense account.
The newspaper clippings pertain almost exclusively to his activities in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War and the Filipino Revolt, while the miscellaneous items include a map produced from his survey expeditions with the Fifth Cavalry in 1876, a few financial records, some general orders for 1897, and portions of pamphlets containing biographical information.
The remainder of the collection contains papers pertaining to Charles' son, Rufus King III, including some graded exams from St. John's Military Academy, Delafield, and telegrams about his acceptance at Annapolis, and a few items accompanying a journal relating to a European voyage taken by Captain and Mrs. York, Adelaide King's parents, in 1841.
