 During the Civil War he enlisted as a private soldier in the Sixty-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.After the war he engaged in commercial pursuits in New York, moved to Minnesota in 1876 and settled in Minneapolis.He organized and built the Midland Railway in southern Minnesota and engaged in agricultural pursuits and the mining of iron ore.

he was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives 1884–1888; was elected as a Republican to the 51st United States Congress (March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1891).