 He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1864, 1872, 1876, 1880, and 1884.He studied law at the University of Virginia in 1866, was admitted to the Delaware Bar the same year and practiced in Dover until 1867.He then returned to Seaford and engaged in agricultural and horticultural pursuits, and served as director of the Delaware Board of Agriculture, president of the Peninsula Horticultural Society, and lecturer of the Delaware State Grange.