He was a carriage-maker, and later a manufacturer of railroad cars, in LeRoy, Genesee County, New York.
On April 17, 1836, he married Mary Munro (1808–1864), and they had six children who all died in infancy.
On January 29, 1856, he was elected President pro tempore of the State Senate (79th Session).
In 1862, he was nominated by President Abraham Lincoln as Secretary of the Territory of New Mexico, but was rejected by the U.S. Senate.
On December 11, 1867, he married Emily Louise Munro (1832–1920, a niece of his first wife), and they had a son who died when six years old.