Horatio B. King, the son of John and Sarah King, was born in Raynham in 1820 and became one of the pioneers of Taunton Photography. He married Elisabeth Cotton in 1844, but she died in Raynham in 1847 a little over a month after the death of their infant son.
In 1849 King was operating a daguerreotypye studio at 121 Washington Street in Boston, while boarding at 33 Brattle Street. At some point in 1849 he closed the business and relocated to Taunton. An advertisement in the Taunton Gazette on October 11, 1849 announced the temporary opening of his studio above the G. B. Atwood & Company at 10 Main Street.
He is listed in the 1850 United States Census living in Taunton at age 30, with his wife Ellen (Forbes), who he married that same year. King's Studio remained at 10 Main Street until November 27, 1859, when fire destroyed the building. Losing all of his stock and equipment in the fire, King relocated to 9 Union Block. King remained at this location until his retirement from photography circa 1872.
King is listed in the Taunton Directories as a Daguerreotypist through 1861, and then as a photographist or photographer from 1864 onward. The 1870 United States Census lists him as a photographer but he seems to have stopped around 1872. The Bridgewater Town Directory lists him as a Bee Dealer in starting in 1874 with a residence on Pleasant Street in Scotland until his death in 1889.
Addresses associated with Horatio King in the various Taunton Directories:
1850: 11 Main Street
1855: Main Street
1857-1859: 10 Main Street
1861-1872: 9 Union Block
1874 Bee-Dealer in Bridgewater
Residence 1855-1870, 15 Summer Street
1872 Scotland Village
King appears to have been quite prolific as a photographer. One of his reputed pieces is a daguerreotype of Seth Eastman at Dighton Rock.
Photographs:
Ed Walsh's Police Memorabilia Web Site 
