the barn, and clerked in a hardware store. He graduated from Danbury High School in 1892, Cornell College (in Mount Vernon, Iowa) in 1898, and from University of Iowa College of Law at Iowa City in 1899.
He was admitted to the bar in 1899 and commenced practice in Algona, Iowa, Kossuth County in the north-central part of the state. He was a second lieutenant in the 52nd Infantry, Iowa National Guard, from 1900 to 1902 and was city clerk of Algona from 1900 to 1904.