william rufus king was very much a unionist. of course, he was in all of this events of cessation a the civil war, but he was firm unionist and when separatism ambulance to blow he rooted in the sense we must stay together. we must not separate. close friend of james buchanan. they were close senators and they lived together in years ton for about 20 before he returned to alabama. >> there was speculation that had more than just a friendship relationship, but basis and no proof to that there. has never been any kind of letters found or anything like that. in 1852, he was chosen as the running mate to franklin pierce, and they won the election. he had developed tb and was ill he went to cuba under the advisement of his doctor in down there.uperate while he was in cuba, the senate bill that ecial allowed them to go -- as vice president of the united states, the only executive branch official that has ever been sworn in on foreign territory. he was in cubale that he was not going to recuperate and continued -- his continued to decl

william rufus king and his team --ablished a pen tatian establish a plantation at chestnut hill. when alabama became a state come he was a founder of the city of selma. he named selma as one of his favorite cities. in 1819, when alabama was moving toward statehood, he was chosen to represent in huntsville, alabama. he wrote the state constitution for alabama. he was chosen as one of the two senators in washington, d.c. he was a unionist. he was in office before secession. he was a firm unionist. rooted in the sense we must stay together as a union. james a close friend of buchanan. they were co-senators. they lived together in washington for 20 years before he returned alabama. there was speculation they had more than just a friendship relationship. there is no basis or proof to it. there were no letters found or anything like that. in 1852, he was chosen as the running mate to franklin pierce. they won the election. he developed a brick and was -- and went tuberculosis to cuba to recuperate. he is the only executive french official -- executive officials warned on foreign territ

william rufus king was very much thee was in all senses event of suspension -- secession. he was a firm unionist. began to secede, he was firmly rooted in the sense that we must stay together as a union, we must not separate. he was a close friend of james buchanan. they lived together in washington for about 20 years before he returned to alabama. they was speculation that had more than just a friendship relationship, but there is no basis or proof to that. there has never been any letters found or anything like that. in 1852, he was chosen as the running mate to franklin pierce and they won the election. he had developed tuberculosis and was ill, so he went to cuba on -- under the advisement of his doctor in order to recuperate down there. while he was in cuba, the senate passed a special bill that he is the only executive branch official that has ever been sworn in on foreign territory. cubaalized while he was in that he was not going to recuperate and continued to decline. so he came back to the plantation in selma and died the following day. originally, he was buried

the city was founded in 1820 and given its name by alabama's only vice president, william rufus king. learn more about selma all weekend here on american history tv. >> during the civil war, selma became the second largest manufacturing and distribution point of war material within the confederate states of america. in the latter part of the year, the last year and a half of the war, it is estimated that selma supplied a half to two-thirds of all the munitions and supplies used in the western portion of the confederacy. at the time of selma's capture, the inventory of the arsenal was cataloged and made a matter of record and at that time within the arsenal was over a million small arm cartridges, over 60,000 artillery shells on, and on and on so selma was not insignificant. at the beginning of the war, though, selma was not really involved in the manufacturing process and at the time of secession, selma was not in the role or even being looked at as becoming such a manufacturing and distribution site. in the first year of the war, selma contributed over 600 men into the war effort. be

the city was founded in 1820 and given its name by alabama's only vice president, william rufus king. learn more about selma all weekend here on american history tv. >> during the civil war, selma became the second largest manufacturing and distribution point of war material within the confederate states of america. in the latter part of the year, the last year and a half of the war, it is estimated that selma supplied a half to two-thirds of all the munitions and supplies used in the western portion of the confederacy. at the time of selma's capture, the inventory of the arsenal was cataloged and made a matter of record and at that time within the arsenal was over a million small arm cartridges, over 60,000 artillery shells on, and on and on so selma was not insignificant.

vice president, william rufus king.lma's history here on american history tv. >> i want to let them you to the site of alabama's most famous ghost town, but also in archaeological park on the alabama historical commission. our mission here is to let visitors know that history is not just in books, not just in museums or historical homes, but these landscapes throughout the black belt. other than mobile, this is as big as it got in alabama or the south, these river ports where people got cotton to ship them out. this is special because it was created, carved out of the wilderness, by the first governor to be the first state chapel. they gave us one square mile to build the capital. they designed a plan and sold the lots and that's how we built the first treasury. it served as a capital from 1819 to 1826, then to tuscaloosa, then eventually to montgomery. county seat as a for dow list county. it was really during the -- it was more of a frontier town. as a county seat, it continued to grow. that town went on to prosper an