He campaigned for two offices as a member of the Republican Party and initially received the majority of votes, but was not formally elected due to ballot interference by the Democrats.

Judge Henry Clay Caldwell appointed him to the position of crier and messenger of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

He ran for Little Rock police court judge,[c] a position he won by a large majority, but was counted out, like his election to Circuit Clerk.

[1] They chose the name Mosaic Templars to reflect their religious motivations: they sought to provide leadership and succor for African Americans in the years after Reconstruction just as Moses had done for the Children of Israel during the escape from Egypt in the biblical story of Exodus.

With his friend, John E. Bush, he founded the Mosaic Templars to provide life and burial insurance, in 1882.

[5] They were initially motivated by the sight of former slaves having to beg for money to help overcome illness or pay for the burial of family members.