Homer (Horatio J.) is born in Farmington, Connecticut.

Horatio Homer works at various jobs before arriving in Boston in 1873, where he lives initially in Brighton and works on steamboats running between Boston and Maine. He becomes the first African-American officer in the Boston Police Department in 1878,* and eventually moves to 83 Humboldt Avenue. Homer dies in Roxbury on January 9, 1923, and is buried initially in an unmarked grave in Evergreen Cemetery. A headstone is dedicated on June 26, 2010, and a plaque in his honor is installed at Area B-2 police station in Roxbury on January 5, 2012.