Born in Frankfort, Kentucky, on the 5th of January, 1847. His education was acquired in the public schools and in a private academy. He came to Iowa in 1854 and studied law. The first office he held was that of city attorney of Davenport. In 1877 he was chosen one of the Representatives in the House of the Seventeenth General Assembly on the Republican ticket. On the 28th of June, 1887, he was appointed by Governor Larrabee to fill a vacancy in the office of judge of the Seventh Judicial District caused by the death of Judge John H. Rogers. He was elected for a full term in November of that year and reelected in 1800 and 1894. In the summer of 1897 he received the nomination at the Republican State Convention for judge of the Supreme Court and was elected in November, taking his place on the bench the 1st of January, 1898.