As a boy he did farm work and excelled in school attending the St. Clair Academy, where he was allowed to remain until the age of sixteen.

[2] He enthusiastically helped raise a Civil War regiment in 1862, serving as the colonel of the 23rd Michigan Infantry, and was an active Union supporter throughout his subsequent state senate service.

[1] As a reward for his service to the Union, he was elected a 3rd Class member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

[4] He was also an alternate delegate to the 1868 Republican National Convention, and, appointed by Governor John J. Bagley, a member of the Michigan state constitutional commission in 1873 from the 8th district, and was Chairman of the Committee on Finance.

Six years after leaving office, he was appointed and served on the Cherokee Commission, which attained land from the Indians to form the Oklahoma Territory.