Representative from Davis county, was born January 2, 1871, on a farm near Dean, Appanoose county, Iowa. Attended rural school and assisted on the farm and in the timber during vacation. At the age of fourteen he began to work as a farm hand on the farms of Appanoose county, attending school two or three months in the winter. In 1887 he moved with his parents to a farm near Bloomfield in Davis county, and continued to work as a farm hand, attending school in the home district a few weeks each winter, and studying at night during the summer to keep up with his class. In 1893 he attended the Southern Iowa Normal School at Bloomfield three months, and secured a certificate to teach. He taught in the rural districts of Davis county six years, continuing to work as a farm hand during vacation. In 1898 he married Miss Stella Good. They have two sons, both of whom graduated from the Southern Iowa Normal, taught school a number of years and are now engaged in farming. He and his two sons own and operate six hundred and forty acres of land, three miles southwest of Bloomfield in Wyacondah township. He served on the school board several years as president or secretary, and three years as president of the Davis county farm bureau. He is an elder in the Christian church. Was elected representative in 1930 on the democratic ticket.