This included one term as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives during the 1851 legislative session.
Before immigrating to Oregon, King lived and worked in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Missouri.
Between 1834 and 1836, the firm operated out of Rutland, New York, selling lime and plaster to local builders.
King also built a wood-frame commercial structure on the corner of First and Oak streets in downtown Portland.
[1] In 1850, King and other community leaders including Reverend Lyman and Josiah Failing attempted to create a public school district in Portland.
However, they were unsuccessful due to local opposition and the difficulty in establishing a new taxing district under existing territorial law.
[3] In 1850, President Zachary Taylor appointed King to the position of Surveyor and Inspector of Revenue for the Port of Portland.
For several years, King and Kittredge sold general supplies to both retail and wholesale customers.
There were three candidates competing for the country's two seats, King, Ralph Wilcox of Hillsborough, and James M. Moore of Linn City.
[10][11] In 1851, King ran for a third term in the Oregon territorial legislature, representing Washington County.
Three members of the House refused to travel to Salem, gathering instead in Oregon City.
On January 9, 1852, Judge Orville C. Pratt, associate justice of the territorial supreme court, read the court's decision confirming the legislature's action that established Salem as the Oregon Territory's seat of government.
[2][13][14][15] In 1852, the Washington County Democratic convention nominated King for another term in the territorial House of Representatives.
The convention also nominated Doctor D. H. Belknap of Plains and John Bonsor of Sauvie's Island to compete for the three Washington County seats in the House.
The 1852 legislature appointed King, Samuel Parker, and Shubrick Norris to an ad hoc board of commissioners tasked with finding a location for a territorial penitentiary and overseeing construction of the facility.
After the penitentiary was built, King and Kittredge sold general supplies to the company that operated the prison.
President Franklin Pierce appointed King to the surveyor of customs position.
During the session, the legislature elected territorial officers and conducted other required business before adjourning on February 5, 1858.
This turned out to be the last meeting of the House of Representative before Oregon achieved statehood in 1859.
[21][23][24][25] After completing his fourth term in the House of Representative, King returned to his business in Portland, but he remained active in local politics.