James Upshure King

James Upshure King was born in Allen, Maryland in 1876. He attended Howard University from 1899-1902, then Yale Divinity School from 1902-1903. He then earned his bachelor's of philosophy at Chicago Seminary of Science in 1906. He later returned to Howard and received a bachelor's of divinity in 1910. Some time prior to 1917, he married Anna R. King. He had a long career as a minister, serving churches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Washington, DC. There, he was leader for the Washington conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1923, King, along with James Weldon Johnson and three other men, received an honorary degree from Howard University. In 1924, King married his second wife, Esther Butler, who was a musician and educator. He was a member of the Masons and Knights of Pythias. King died in 1931 in Delaware.