Born near Mechanicsville, Jones county, Iowa, September 24, 1844. He was for a time engaged in bridge building with A. Spaulding & Co., who were afterward known as the "Dubuque Bridge Company." He came to Greene in 1871 and engaged in the real estate business. In the meantime he turned his attention to the study of the law, and was admitted in Judge D. W. Wilson's court, at Waterloo, January 5, 1877, and at once entered into the practice of his profession here. He was elected to represent Butler County in the Twenty-third General Assembly, 1890. He married Miss Ella L. Newell, on October 26, 1871. She was the daughter of Lorenzo Newell, an early settler of Benton County.