Religious Leader, Civil War Figure. Born the son of a Unitarian minister, he took his late father's place as minister of the First Unitarian Church in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1846. In 1848, King left Charlestown for Boston where he accepted a position at the Hollis Street Unitarian Church. Drawing upon his strong opposition to oppression, he soon began a preaching crusade against slavery, which led to him becoming one of the most well-known ministers of his time. In 1860, he left the Hollis Street Church and moved to California, where he became minister of the First Unitarian Church of San Francisco. With the outbreak of the Civil War, California's future with the Union became uncertain due to her large originally Southern population. Seeing the possibility of secession, King began a lecture and preaching tour through the state urging for California to remain with the Union. It is because of his efforts, King is credited today as being the man who kept California in the Union. Soon afterwards, he would organize fundraising efforts for the United States Sanitary Commission, ultimately resulting in providing a large percentage of the money the Commission would raise for the entire war. Upon his death in 1864, his body was interred on the grounds of the First Unitarian Church, and today both the church and his grave are California Registered Historical Landmarks. In 1931 a statue of Thomas Starr King was chosen, along with Father Junipero Serra, to represent the state of California in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the United States Capital; it would remain there until 2009, when he was replaced with a statue of President Ronald Reagan. His statue can now be found within the Civil War Memorial Grove at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.