He was born in Wilmot Township in Waterloo County, Ontario, and his parents were of United Empire Loyalist stock.
In 1911, he moved to Manitoulin Island and became a farmer, while still preaching occasionally at the Mennonite church at Little Current.
He was elected in a 1918 by-election held after the death of Robert Roswell Gamey, becoming the first member of his party to sit in the provincial assembly.
He was re-elected in the 1919 provincial election in which the UFO staged an upset victory to form a coalition government with Independent Labour MLAs.
He broke with the majority of UFO MLAs in Ontario following the 1923 provincial election when what had become known as the Progressive Party chose non-farmer William Edgar Raney as its leader.