Born in the State of Virginia in 1833 and came to Iowa in 1855, making his home in Vinton, Benton County. He became the editor of the Vinton Eagle, a Republican journal, and in 1856 was a delegate to the Republican National Convention which nominated John C. Fremont for President. In 1857, when but twenty-five years of age, he was elected to represent Benton County in the House of the Seventh General Assembly. In 1860 he was promoted to a seat in the Senate and secured the location of the Asylum for the Blind at Vinton and an appropriation for the erection of a building for its home. At the beginning of the Rebellion he raised a company of volunteers and was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry. After several months service he received a commission in the regular army and was attached to the Fifth United States Cavalry. He was a gallant officer during the war and was mortally wounded while bravely leading his men in a charge in General Sheridan's army, in the last battle on Virginia soil, which resulted in the surrender of General Lee's army in April, 1865.
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