 He came to Wisconsin in 1865 and settled at Darlington, becoming by occupation a lawyer and farmer.He was elected as Clerk of the Circuit Court for Lafayette County, Wisconsin in 1868 and re-elected in 1870.In 1872 he was elected for a one-year term as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1873 as a Republican, with 2,078 votes to 1,972 for Democrat Amos W. Hovey, succeeding fellow Republican Thomas Bainbridge.