Born in Abingdon, Iowa, October 10, 1849. His early years were spent in his native town where he received the elements of the business training which afterwards enabled him to build up one of the largest wholesale grocery houses in Iowa. From 1870 to 1880 he engaged in the retail and wholesale grocery business in Fairfield, removing in the latter year to Muscatine where he has since conducted a flourishing wholesale business. He was married to Miss Margaret Edmiston at Fairfield on May 1, 1872. He was elected mayor of Muscatine in 1886 and re-elected for a second term, but resigned in order to serve as Senator in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth General Assemblies. He later acted as mayor for a third term.

Born in Abingdon, Iowa, October 10, 1849. His early years were spent in his native town where he received the elements of the business training which afterwards enabled him to build up one of the largest wholesale grocery houses in Iowa. From 1870 to 1880 he engaged in the retail and wholesale grocery business in Fairfield, removing in the latter year to Muscatine where he has since conducted a flourishing wholesale business. He was married to Miss Margaret Edmiston at Fairfield on May 1, 1872. He was elected mayor of Muscatine in 1886 and re-elected for a second term, but resigned in order to serve as Senator in the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth General Assemblies. He later acted as mayor for a third term.